1889.] 



on the Civilization of Ancient India. 



123 



eating for whom the portraits were intended. I think it more likeJy 

 that these so-called royal figures are not portraits of individuals, but 

 that they are ideal representations, in some cases of kings, and in some 

 cases of saints. 



The museums in London and Calcutta possess several examples of 

 sculptures of this class. Two from the upper monastery at Nuttu are 

 depicted in Major Cole's heliogravure plates Nos, 24 and 25. The 

 statue or statuette shown in the latter plate represents a man of dwarf- 

 ish figure, standing, as if preaching, with a nimbus behind his bead. 

 The legs are thick and badly executed, and the work seems to me to be 

 of comparatively late date, probably subsequent to A. D. 300. This 

 figure, in spite of the ornaments and moustaches, appears intended to 

 represent a preaching saint rather than a king. 



The works above described were all, so far as is known, associated 

 with Buddhist buildings, though in themselves not obviously Buddhist 

 in subject. I shall now proceed to describe sculptures, the subjects of 

 which are taken from the rich stores of Buddhist mythology. 



The birth-scene of Gautama, or Prince Siddhartha, who in after 

 days won the honourable title of the Buddha, or the Enlightened, is a 

 favourite subject with Buddhist artists, and recurs in their works almost 

 as frequently as representations of the Nativity are met with in Chris- 

 tian art. 



Sir A. Cunningham, in the catalogue of sculptures excavated, 

 chiefly at Jamalgarhi, under his supervision, enumerates four examples 

 of this favourite subject, two of which are now in the Indian Museum, 

 (0.1 and 2).* See Plate IX, fig. 1. Major Cole gives a plate of a 

 tolerably well-preserved specimen discovered at the upper monastery of 

 Nuttu during subsequent explorations in the Yusufzai country.t 



According to Buddhist belief, Maya Devi, the Buddhist Madonna, 

 was standing under a sal tree, when she gave birth to the holy infant, 

 who sprang from her right side, and was received in a golden net by 

 Brahma, attended by the devas, or angels. This legend appears to be, 

 like the sculptures which express it, descended from a Greek original. 

 Mr. Beal has pointed out that, in several respects, it closely resembles 

 the Greek myth of the birth of Apollo in Delos.J 



The details of the scene vary considerably in different sculptures, 

 but the traditional grouping of the principal figures is never materially 

 changed. The description of one specimen will, therefore, suffice for all. 

 * Dr. Anderson's Catalogue, Part I, pp. 199, 202. 



f Sovon examples of sculptures of tho nativity of Buddha preserved in tha 

 Lahore Museum aro enumerated in Cunningham's Descriptive Surij, which, as nsual, 

 givos no indication of tho localities whore they were discovered. 



% Indian Antiquary, Vol. IX, p. 68. 

 Q 



