118 Notes on Sanskrit Inscriptions from Mathura* [No. 2, 



red sandstone, so common in Delhi and Agra, and including a lot 

 of statues, cornices, bas-reliefs and pillars. " These were," accord- 

 ing to Mr. Best, " all more or less mutilated, and appeared to be of 

 varying antiquity." " It was probable," he therefore thought, " that 

 the building had passed through several stages of decay, repair and 

 additions, before its final destruction." Although most of the sculp- 

 tures are of very inferior workmanship, " they are," says General 

 Cunningham, " very interesting on account of their variety, as they 

 comprise statues of all sizes, bas-reliefs, pillars, Buddhist railings, 

 votive stupas, stone umbrellas, and many other objects peculiar 

 to Buddhism, of a date as early as the first century of the Christian 

 era. Amongst the broken statues, there is the left hand of a colos- 

 sal figure of Buddha, the teacher, which measures one foot across 

 the palm. The statue itself, therefore, could not have been less than 

 from 20 to 24 feet in height. Stone statues of this great size are so 

 difficult to move, that they can be very rarely made. It is 

 true that some of the Jain statues of Gwalior are larger, such as 

 the standing colossus in the Urwdld of the fort, which is 57 feet 

 high, with a foot 9 feet in length, and the great-seated figure on the 

 east side of the fort, which is 29 feet, with a hand 7 feet in length. 

 But these figures are hewn out of the solid rock to which they are 

 still attached by the back."* * "I look therefore with great interest 

 to the discovery of other portions of the Mathura colossus, especially 

 to that of the pedestal, on which we may expect to find the 

 name of the donor of this costly and difficult work."* Some of 

 them are interesting also, from the circumstance of their bearing 

 inscriptions in the ancient Gupta character with dates in figures of 

 a new type. One of the sculptures is thus described by General 

 Cunningham. 



"The most remarkable piece of sculpture is that of a female of 

 rather more than half life size. The figure is naked, save a girdle 

 of beads round the waist, the same as is seen in the Bhilsa sculp- 

 tures and Ajanta paintings. The attitude and the positions of the 

 hands are similar to those of the famous statue of Venus of the 

 Capitol. But in the Mathura statue, the left hand is brought 

 across the right breast, while the right hand holds up a small portion 

 * Archaeological Report for 1862-63, p. 4. 



