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Jaggayyapeta: Cakravartin
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Jaggayyapeta: Cakravartin
INDIA, Andhra Pradesh, Jaggayyapeta; circa 2nd–1st century BCE; Limestone; H: 102.7 cm; Government Museum, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
This stele once decorated the great stupa at Jaggayyapeta. The lean figure standing on a cushion at the center is a cakravartin, the wheel-turning king. His right arm is outstretched to the sky, from which square-shaped coins are falling. The figure wears a regal array of jewelry, a short belted skirt and an ornate crown with pendants. He is surrounded by the seven treasures ascribed to the cakravartin: a thousand-spoked wheel of office, which hangs on one of the palace columns above him; the righteous woman to his left; the all-seeing minister paying reverence to the right, along with a token soldier representing military strength; wealth, represented by the rain of coins; the horse and elephant at his feet. The artwork resembles the somewhat rigid figures found on the Bharhut stupa. |
