Early Buddhist Art
Artist: unknown
Title: Mauryan Temple of the First Sermon at Sarnath, Ashokan
pillar capital, wheel fragments
Material: Chunar sandstone
Site: Sarnath, India
Current Location: Sarnath Site Museum, India
Period/Date: Mauryan period (ca. 323-185 B.C.E.)
Iconography/Iconology: The wheel that surmounted the lions is presumed
to be a dharmacakra (the wheel of the teachings) and represents the
act of teaching the First Sermon by Sakyamuni. In subsequent periods, the
wheel has come to mean the totality of the Buddhist teachings, whether by
Sakyamuni or his successors.
Stylistic Comments: The painted reconstruction shows how the wheel
would have originally looked.
