Early Buddhist Art
Artist: unknown
Title: Mauryan Temple of the First Sermon at Sarnath, site of
the Ashokan pillar
Material: Chunar sandstone (pillar)
Site: Sarnath, India
Current Location: Sarnath, India
Period/Date: Mauryan period (ca. 323-185 B.C.E.)
Iconography/Iconology: The pitha (seat) of the First Sermon by
Sakyamuni Buddha. In approximately 250 B.C.E. established a pillar and
built a temple to commemorate the First Sermon by Sakyamuni. The pillar
was placed there by the Mauryan king Ashoka to mark the site. His pillars
are the highest order of evidence (that data nearest the actual time of
the event) that we have at any Buddhist site.
Stylistic Comments: The polished chunar sanstone pillars originated
during the Mauryan period without any Indic stone precedent. They were
presumably produced by Persian carvers, or their successors, who may have
immigrated to India after Alexander the Great destroyed the Empire in the
late 4th century B.C.E.
