Which of the following sculptures does not originate from the Mathura region’s Kushana-period artistic production?
- (a)Katra Keshav Dev fragment
- (b)Govind Nagar Yaksha
- (c)Bala Buddha of Sultanganj
- (d)Standing Buddha from Govindnagar
Answer
Why
Correct — C. The statue from Sultanganj, in Bihar's Bhagalpur district, is cast in copper and dated to about 500–700 CE, centuries after the Kushanas. It was found in 1861 and is now in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
The remaining options name finds from Mathura itself, home of the Kushana-period red-sandstone school. Sultanganj is the one option found outside that region → option (c).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)Katra Keshav Dev fragment — Katra Keshav Dev is a site in Mathura city. Sculpture from the Katra mound, such as the seated Katra Bodhisattva, belongs to Mathura's own school.
- (b)Govind Nagar Yaksha — Govind Nagar is a locality of Mathura, and the yaksha is the indigenous figure type that Mathura's Buddha images drew on.
- (d)Standing Buddha from Govindnagar — Govindnagar is a locality of Mathura, so this is Mathura work. The best-known standing Buddha found there is Gupta-dated, but only option (c) comes from outside the Mathura region.
Concept
The Mathura school flourished under the Kushanas, roughly the 1st to 3rd centuries CE. It carved spotted red sandstone and gave the Buddha an indigenous, yaksha-like body rather than a Greek one.
Its contemporary in the north-west, Gandhara, worked in grey schist with Hellenistic features.
The label 'Bala Buddha of Sultanganj' is the paper's own. The statue is usually called simply the Sultanganj Buddha.
'Bala' is also the name on a Kushana image: the red-sandstone Bala Bodhisattva found at Sarnath, dedicated by the monk Bala in year 3 of Kanishka. That is a different statue.
Option (d) names no particular statue. The best-known standing Buddha from Govindnagar, now in the Government Museum, Mathura, is inscribed Gupta Era year 115, which is 434 CE, so period alone does not separate it from (c).
What sets (c) apart is where it was found: every other option is a Mathura find.
Key facts
- Mathura school: spotted red sandstone, indigenous style, flourishing under the Kushanas.
- Katra Keshav Dev and Govindnagar are find-spots in Mathura.
- Sultanganj Buddha: copper, about 500–700 CE, found in 1861 in Bhagalpur district, Bihar, now in the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
- Gandhara school: grey schist, Hellenistic (Greco-Roman) features.
Study next
Common traps
- Treating any Buddha image as a Mathura clue. Buddha images come from many schools and centuries.
- Being pulled by 'Bala' in the option. The Bala Bodhisattva is a Kushana piece, but the Sultanganj statue is a copper image from Bihar.
The Mathura school is asked from several sides: its Kushana-period Brahmanical deities at 26 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.5, its contrast with Gandhara at 24 Sep 2025, 09:00, GA Q.14, its Yaksha-influenced style at 24 Sep 2025, 12:30, GA Q.3, and its patrons at 14 Sep 2025, 09:00, GA Q.2.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.