The Sarnath capital is a pillar
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
, sometimes also described as a "stone bracket", discovered in the archaeological excavations at the ancient
Buddhist site of
Sarnath in 1905.
The pillar displays
Ionic volutes and
palmettes.
It used to be dated to the 3rd century BCE, during the
Mauryan Empire
The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...
period,
but is now dated to the 1st century BCE, during the
Sunga Empire
The Shunga Empire (IAST: ') was an ancient Indian dynasty from Magadha that controlled areas of the most of the northern Indian subcontinent from around 185 to 73 BCE. The dynasty was established by Pushyamitra, after taking the throne of the M ...
period.
One of the faces shows a galloping horse carrying a rider, while the other face shows an elephant and its
mahaut.
The capital is suggestive of the
Hellenistic
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
Ionic order, and is often discussed in conjunction with the
Pataliputra capital. The two capitals have also been described as "quasi-Ionic", and compared for example to the
anta capitals of the
Temple of Apollo in Didyma.
The capital is now located in the
Sarnath Museum.
See also
*
Hellenistic influence on Indian art
References
{{Sarnath Museum
Indian architectural history
Sarnath