2.Railing pillar fragment with flowering vase of plenty
- ca. 150–100 BCE
- Bharhut mahācaitya, Satna district, Madhya Pradesh
- Allahabad Museum, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh
This upper section of a stūpa enclosure railing pillar is filled with a wide-mouthed vase brimming with lush plants. On the upper frieze a pair of geese (haṃsa), holding flower buds in their beaks, are flanked by blue lotuses and fish. The design’s symmetry and stylized blooms recall West Asian imagery popular in northern India during the preceding two centuries. However, the wide-mouthed vase is purely Indian in from. The surge of plant life emerging from a five-pronged form seen here is associated with the primordial man (puruṣha).
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