Which of the following statements about sculptures at Sanchi is/are correct? 1. In some sculptures there is representation of Shalabhanjika. 2. The figure of Shalabhanjika is represented by a woman surrounded by lotuses and elephants. 3. The Shalabhanjika motif was not directly inspired by Buddhist ideas. Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- (a)1, 2 and 3
- (b)2 and 3 only
- (c)2 only
- (d)1 and 3 only
Correct — D, 1 and 3 only. Statement 1 is right: the shalabhanjika, a woman standing beside a tree with her hand raised to grasp a branch above her head, is one of the best-known sculptural types at Sanchi, carved as a bracket figure on the gateways of the Great Stupa. Statement 3 is right as well: the motif is not a Buddhist invention. It draws on much older popular belief in tree spirits and fertility, and on the sala and ashoka trees of an ancient game of gathering blossom, and it was absorbed into Buddhist art rather than generated by Buddhist doctrine. Statement 2 is the one that fails, and it fails by describing a different figure. A woman surrounded by lotuses and elephants is Gajalakshmi, shown on a lotus with elephants pouring water over her — a distinct image that also appears in the early Buddhist repertoire, on the Bharhut railings of about 125 to 100 BCE. The shalabhanjika holds a tree, not lotuses, and has no elephants.
- (a)1, 2 and 3 — Takes in statement 2 as well. But lotuses and elephants belong to Gajalakshmi; the shalabhanjika is defined by the woman-and-tree pairing and by the raised arm grasping a branch.
- (b)2 and 3 only — Keeps the false statement and throws out the true one. Statement 1 is straightforwardly correct — shalabhanjika figures are among the most reproduced sculptures at Sanchi.
- (c)2 only — Selects only the statement that misidentifies the figure, and drops both correct ones. This is the option for a candidate who has met the Gajalakshmi image and attached its description to the wrong name.
The Great Stupa at Sanchi in Madhya Pradesh, begun under Ashoka and enlarged in the Shunga and Satavahana periods, carries four carved gateways or toranas of the first century BCE. Their sculpture is a mixture of Buddhist narrative and older popular imagery. The shalabhanjika is a woman beside a sala tree, usually grasping a branch above her head; in Buddhist telling the pose recalls Queen Maya at the birth of the Buddha under a sala tree, but the type itself is drawn from a much older stock of tree and fertility figures found equally in Hindu and Jain architecture.
Statements questions on art history are usually decided by whether the candidate can hold two similar images apart, and here the pair is shalabhanjika and Gajalakshmi. One is a woman with a tree; the other is a goddess on a lotus with elephants bathing her. Fix those two pictures and both statement 2 and the trap fall into place. Statement 3 is the more interesting claim and it deserves care, because saying a motif is not Buddhist in origin is not saying it is out of place at a Buddhist site. Early Buddhist art borrowed freely from popular religion — yakshas, yakshis, tree spirits, nagas — and gave the borrowings new work to do, in this case an association with the Buddha's birth. On the wider point, the concept of the stupa itself also predates Buddhism, which is a related and frequently examined idea.
- A shalabhanjika is a woman shown next to a tree, characteristically grasping a branch over her head with one hand.
- At Sanchi these figures appear on the carved gateways of the Great Stupa, the eastern torana being the most reproduced example.
- In Buddhist iconography the pose recalls Queen Maya giving birth to the Buddha beneath a sala tree.
- Scholars trace the type to older tree deities of Indian popular religion associated with fertility, and to games of gathering blossom from sala and ashoka trees.
- Gajalakshmi is the separate image of a goddess on a lotus flanked by elephants pouring water; the earliest examples include the Bharhut railings of about 125 to 100 BCE.
- Attaching the lotus-and-elephant description to the shalabhanjika instead of to Gajalakshmi.
- Assuming that anything carved on a Buddhist monument must be Buddhist in origin.
- Confusing Sanchi's stone sculpture with mural painting, which belongs to Ajanta and Lepakshi rather than to Sanchi.
As a statements item on the sculpture of a named site, or as a match of motif to description, often pairing shalabhanjika with Gajalakshmi to see if the two are kept apart.
With reference to ancient India, consider the following statements: 1. The concept of Stupa is Buddhist in origin. 2. Stupa was generally a repository of relics. 3. Stupa was a votive and commemorative structure in Buddhist tradition. How many of the above statements are correct?
- (a) Only one
- (b) Only two
- (c) All three
- (d) None
Answer(b) Only two
The same instinct tested one level up. Just as the shalabhanjika motif was absorbed rather than invented by Buddhism, the stupa form itself has pre-Buddhist antecedents — which is exactly why the first statement in that UPSC item fails.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The image of a goddess seated or standing on a lotus and flanked by elephants pouring water over her is known as
- (a)Shalabhanjika
- (b)Gajalakshmi
- (c)Yakshi
- (d)Apsara
Answer(b) Gajalakshmi — the shalabhanjika is instead a woman beside a tree, grasping a branch above her head.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The pose of the shalabhanjika is associated in Buddhist tradition with which event?
- (a)The first sermon at Sarnath
- (b)The birth of the Buddha beneath a sala tree
- (c)The enlightenment at Bodh Gaya
- (d)The mahaparinirvana at Kushinagar
Answer(b) The birth of the Buddha beneath a sala tree — Queen Maya is shown holding a branch, and the sculptural type echoes that posture.