CBSE Class 12 · Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings: Cultural Developments (c. 600 BCE-600 CE)

Reading Buddhist Sculpture: Stories, Symbols and Popular Traditions (Class 12)

Updated 15 October 2026 · Fact-checked

Art historians read Sanchi's sculpture by matching it with Buddhist texts and hagiographies. Scenes like the Vessantara Jataka tell stories; symbols such as the empty seat, stupa and wheel stand for the Buddha's meditation, mahaparinibbana and first sermon; motifs like the shalabhanjika, Gajalakshmi and serpent show popular, pre-Buddhist traditions.

Early sculptors showed the Buddha through symbols: the empty seat means meditation, the stupa his mahaparinibbana, and the wheel his first sermon.

Illustration drawn for QuestionBuddy.

Understand Reading Buddhist Sculpture

Why this topic matters. Theme 4's learning outcome asks students to 'elucidate the rich religious sculpture and infer the stories hidden in it'. CBSE sets 1-mark matching items on symbols and 8-mark questions on how art historians understood Buddhism through Sanchi's sculpture. NCERT sections 9 and 11.

1. Why sculptures were removed. Many sculptures were taken from stupas to Europe because viewers found them beautiful and valuable and wanted them. That makes careful reading of what remains even more important.

2. Stories in stone. Wandering storytellers carry painted scrolls (charanachitras) and point to scenes as they narrate; the carved gateways at Sanchi may echo such unfurling scrolls. A panel that looks like a rural scene with huts and trees has been identified by art historians as a scene from the Vessantara Jataka, the story of a generous prince who gave away everything to a Brahmana and went to the forest with his wife and children. Method: historians understand sculpture by comparing it with textual evidence.

3. Symbols of worship. Art historians had to learn the hagiographies of the Buddha. Many early sculptors did not show the Buddha in human form; they showed his presence through symbols:

Symbol	What it stands for
Empty seat (with the Bodhi tree)	The Buddha's meditation (enlightenment under a tree)
Stupa	The mahaparinibbana
Wheel	The first sermon at Sarnath ('setting in motion the wheel of dhamma')

Such images cannot be read literally: the tree is not just a tree but an event in the Buddha's life. To read them, historians must know the traditions of those who made them.

4. Popular traditions. Some carvings were probably not directly inspired by Buddhist ideas:

Shalabhanjika: beautiful women swinging from the gateway's edge, holding a tree. Scholars were puzzled, as it seemed unrelated to renunciation; other literature showed that, by popular belief, a shalabhanjika's touch caused trees to flower and bear fruit. It was probably an auspicious symbol integrated into the stupa's decoration. It suggests that people who turned to Buddhism enriched it with pre-Buddhist and non-Buddhist beliefs.
Animals: fine elephants, horses, monkeys and cattle. Some come from Jataka stories; many were carved to make lively scenes; animals also symbolised human qualities (elephants = strength and wisdom).
Gajalakshmi or Maya? A woman surrounded by lotuses and elephants that seem to sprinkle water on her (abhisheka). Some identify her as Maya, the Buddha's mother; others as Gajalakshmi, the goddess of good fortune linked with elephants; devotees may have seen both.
Serpent: found on several pillars, a motif from popular traditions not always recorded in texts. James Fergusson thought Sanchi was a centre of tree and serpent worship, because he studied the images alone, without Buddhist literature (most of which was then untranslated).

5. Paintings. Paintings survive best on cave walls, most famously at Ajanta (Maharashtra): Jataka stories, courtly life, processions, people at work and festivals, with shading for a three-dimensional effect.

6. Can we 'see' everything? (section 11)

Grappling with the unfamiliar: nineteenth-century European scholars were sometimes horrified by images with many arms or human-animal forms. They compared Indian sculpture with ancient Greek art, often judging it inferior, but admired Buddha and Bodhisatta images from the north-west (Taxila, Peshawar, where Indo-Greek rulers had kingdoms in the second century BCE) because these resembled Greek statues. They used yardsticks from the familiar to judge the unfamiliar.
When text and image do not match: the great rock panel at Mahabalipuram (Tamil Nadu) clearly tells a story, but art historians are divided: the descent of the Ganga (the natural cleft as the river) or Arjuna's penance to obtain arms (the central ascetic).
Unrecorded practice: many rituals and beliefs were never recorded in monuments, sculpture or paintings; what survives is the tip of the iceberg.

The method in one line. Read sculpture with the texts of the people who made it, notice popular motifs, and admit the limits of what images can tell.

Key quotations

Short lines worth knowing by heart: who says them, when, and why they matter.

Many early sculptors did not show the Buddha in human form
NCERT, Theme 4, section 9.2: Before explaining the empty seat, stupa and wheel.
Why symbols matter in early Buddhist art.
such sculptures cannot be understood literally
NCERT, Theme 4, section 9.2: On symbols such as the tree standing for an event.
The core of 'how to read' Buddhist sculpture.
a woman whose touch caused trees to flower and bear fruit
NCERT, Theme 4, section 9.3: Popular belief about the shalabhanjika.
Shows how popular beliefs entered Buddhist art.
just the tip of the iceberg
NCERT, Theme 4, section 11.2: On rituals and beliefs that left no lasting record.
The limit of visual evidence.

Reading Buddhist Sculpture: key facts

Three symbols: Empty seat meditation/enlightenment
Stupa mahaparinibbana
Wheel first sermon at Sarnath; Early sculptors avoided the human form of the Buddha.
Story panel: Rural scene with huts and trees: Vessantara Jataka (generous prince gives all to a Brahmana); Identified by comparing sculpture with texts.
Popular motifs: Shalabhanjika (auspicious, makes trees fruit)
Gajalakshmi or Maya
Serpent
Animals (elephant: strength and wisdom); Pre-Buddhist and non-Buddhist beliefs enriched Buddhism.
Fergusson's error: Studied images alone, without Buddhist texts → called Sanchi a centre of tree and serpent worship; Most Buddhist literature was untranslated then.
Unfamiliar yardsticks: Nineteenth-century scholars judged Indian art by Greek models; admired Gandhara (Taxila, Peshawar) images; Indo-Greek kingdoms, second century BCE.
Text-image mismatch: Mahabalipuram panel: descent of the Ganga or Arjuna's penance?; Art historians are sharply divided.

Empty seat	meditation/enlightenment
Stupa	mahaparinibbana
Wheel	first sermon at Sarnath

How to answer Reading Buddhist Sculpture questions

Expect 1-mark matching items (symbol and meaning, shalabhanjika, Gajalakshmi), 3-mark questions on symbols or popular traditions, picture-based items, and 8-mark questions on how art historians understood Buddhism through Sanchi's sculpture.

1Start with the method: compare sculpture with texts and hagiographies.
2Give the story example (Vessantara Jataka) and the three symbols with their meanings.
3Add popular traditions: shalabhanjika, Gajalakshmi or Maya, serpent, animals.
4Show the danger of reading without texts (Fergusson) or with foreign yardsticks (Greek models).
5End with the limits: mismatch between text and image (Mahabalipuram) and unrecorded practices.

Reading Buddhist Sculpture in real life

The idea, met in an everyday situation. Answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.

Symbols must be read through their tradition

Suppose someone who has never seen a cricket match finds a photo of a raised finger in front of a batsman and concludes it is a greeting.

What mistake has the person made, and which nineteenth-century scholar made a similar one at Sanchi?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

The raised finger means 'out' only within cricket's rules.
Without knowing the tradition, the viewer reads it literally.
Fergusson studied Sanchi's images without Buddhist texts and called it a site of tree and serpent worship.

Answer: The viewer read a symbol without knowing its tradition; Fergusson did the same with Sanchi's carvings, misreading Buddhist symbols as tree and serpent worship.

Memory hook: No rulebook, wrong reading.

Popular beliefs absorbed into a new faith

Imagine a new festival in a town that keeps an older local custom, like tying threads on a particular tree, because people believe it brings good luck.

Which Sanchi motif shows the same process, and what does it tell us about Buddhism?

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

An older auspicious belief is kept inside a new practice.
At Sanchi, the shalabhanjika, whose touch made trees fruit, decorates the gateway.
People who turned to Buddhism brought their own beliefs with them.

Answer: The shalabhanjika: it shows that Buddhism was enriched by pre-Buddhist and non-Buddhist beliefs of its followers.

Memory hook: Old luck, new faith.

Tricks to remember Reading Buddhist Sculpture

Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.

Seat, Stupa, Wheel = Sit, Sleep, Speak
Empty seat: he Sat (meditation); stupa: final Sleep (mahaparinibbana); wheel: he Spoke (first sermon).
Use it when: Matching symbols to events.
S-G-S-A: popular motifs
Shalabhanjika, Gajalakshmi, Serpent, Animals.
Use it when: Popular traditions at Sanchi.
Fergusson Forgot the Texts
F-F-T: he read images alone and saw tree and serpent worship.
Use it when: The danger of reading images without texts.

Reading Buddhist Sculpture: solved examples

Ordered from board level to HOTS. Try each one before you open the solution.

Example 1: The wheel · 1 mark · MCQBoard level

In early Buddhist sculpture, the wheel symbolised
(a) the birth of the Buddha
(b) the Buddha's meditation
(c) the first sermon at Sarnath
(d) the mahaparinibbana

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

The wheel stood for the first sermon, delivered at Sarnath (1 mark).

Answer: (c) the first sermon at Sarnath

Example 2: Shalabhanjika · 3 marks · Short answerBoard level

Who was a shalabhanjika, and why was the motif carved at Sanchi? (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Beautiful women swinging from the gateway, holding a tree; scholars were initially puzzled (1 mark).
By popular belief, a shalabhanjika's touch made trees flower and bear fruit; an auspicious symbol (1 mark).
Shows that followers enriched Buddhism with pre-Buddhist and non-Buddhist beliefs (1 mark).

Answer: The shalabhanjika is the figure of a beautiful woman swinging from the edge of a Sanchi gateway, holding onto a tree. Scholars at first found it puzzling, since it seemed unconnected with renunciation. Other literary traditions showed that, according to popular belief, a shalabhanjika's touch caused trees to flower and bear fruit, so it was probably regarded as auspicious and included in the decoration. The motif suggests that people who turned to Buddhism brought their own pre-Buddhist and non-Buddhist beliefs into it.

Example 3: Assertion and reason on Fergusson · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level

Assertion (A): James Fergusson regarded Sanchi as a centre of tree and serpent worship.
Reason (R): He studied the images without knowledge of Buddhist literature, most of which had not yet been translated.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true but R is false.
(d) A is false but R is true.

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Both true; his conclusion came from studying images on their own (1 mark).

Answer: (a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Example 4: Source-based: Maya or Gajalakshmi? · 4 marks · Source-basedHarder board level

Read the source (written for this page from the NCERT account) and answer.

A carved panel shows a woman seated among lotuses while two elephants pour water over her, as in a consecration. One scholar names her as the mother of the Buddha; another names her as a goddess of good fortune associated with elephants. A third suggests that worshippers may have seen her as both.

(i) Name the two identifications. (1)
(ii) What ritual does the scene seem to show? (1)
(iii) What does the third view suggest about how ordinary devotees related to Buddhist art? (2)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

(i) Maya, the Buddha's mother, and Gajalakshmi, goddess of good fortune (1 mark).
(ii) Abhisheka, consecration by sprinkling water (1 mark).
(iii) Devotees brought popular beliefs into Buddhism; images could carry more than one meaning at once (2 marks).

Answer: (i) Maya, the mother of the Buddha, or Gajalakshmi, the goddess of good fortune linked with elephants. (ii) An abhisheka or consecration, with elephants sprinkling water. (iii) That devotees did not keep Buddhist and popular beliefs in separate boxes: a single image could mean both, so Buddhism absorbed and was enriched by older traditions of the people who followed it.

Example 5: Reading symbols · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level

"Early Buddhist sculptures cannot be understood literally." Explain with three examples. (3 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Early sculptors avoided the human form; they used symbols (1 mark).
Empty seat with tree = meditation; stupa = mahaparinibbana (1 mark).
Wheel = first sermon at Sarnath; reading them needs knowledge of hagiographies (1 mark).

Answer: Many early sculptors did not depict the Buddha in human form but showed his presence through symbols. The empty seat beneath a tree indicated his meditation and enlightenment; a stupa represented his mahaparinibbana; and a wheel stood for his first sermon at Sarnath. A viewer who took the tree only as a tree would miss the event it stands for, so historians must know the hagiographies and traditions of those who made the sculptures.

Example 6: Long answer: how art historians understood Buddhism through Sanchi · 8 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency

"Reading Sanchi's carvings needed Buddhist texts, but texts were not always enough." Discuss how art historians interpreted the sculpture at Sanchi, and the limits of their methods. (8 marks)

Try it first, then show the solutionSolution

Introduction: sculpture removed and admired; need for careful reading (1 mark).
Stories in stone: Vessantara Jataka; comparing with texts (1 mark).
Symbols: empty seat, stupa, wheel; not literal (1 mark).
Popular traditions: shalabhanjika and its meaning (1 mark).
Gajalakshmi or Maya; serpent; animals as symbols (1 mark).
Fergusson's error without texts (1 mark).
Limits: Greek yardsticks; Mahabalipuram text-image mismatch (1 mark).
Conclusion: much unrecorded; tip of the iceberg (1 mark).

Answer: Sanchi's sculptures were so admired in the nineteenth century that many were taken to Europe, but understanding them required art historians to learn the traditions of the people who carved them.

First, they compared sculpture with texts. A panel that looks like a village scene with huts and trees was identified as part of the Vessantara Jataka, the story of a generous prince who gave everything away to a Brahmana and went to live in the forest with his family. Second, they used hagiographies to decode symbols. Early sculptors did not show the Buddha in human form: the empty seat stood for his meditation, the stupa for his mahaparinibbana and the wheel for his first sermon at Sarnath. Such images could not be read literally.

Third, they recognised popular traditions. The shalabhanjika, a woman swinging from a tree at the gateway's edge, puzzled scholars until literature showed she was believed to make trees flower and fruit, an auspicious figure. A woman bathed by elephants might be Maya or Gajalakshmi, or both to devotees. Serpents and finely carved elephants, horses and monkeys also reflect popular beliefs and Jataka stories; elephants symbolised strength and wisdom. These motifs show that followers enriched Buddhism with older beliefs.

The methods have limits. James Fergusson, reading images without the then-untranslated texts, called Sanchi a centre of tree and serpent worship. Other nineteenth-century scholars judged Indian art by Greek standards. Even with texts, matching can fail, as at Mahabalipuram, where scholars disagree whether a panel shows the descent of the Ganga or Arjuna's penance. And many religious practices were never recorded in stone, so what we see is only the tip of the iceberg.

Where students lose marks in Reading Buddhist Sculpture

The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.

Mistake: Mismatching symbols
Three similar items.
Wrong working
The wheel represents the Buddha's death.
Right working
The wheel = first sermon; the stupa = mahaparinibbana; the empty seat = meditation.
Do this: Sit, sleep, speak.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: Calling the shalabhanjika a Buddhist goddess
It appears on a Buddhist monument.
Wrong working
The shalabhanjika was a Buddhist nun.
Right working
It is a popular, auspicious motif from pre-Buddhist belief, integrated into the decoration.
Do this: Popular tradition, not Buddhist doctrine.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: Giving one identity to an ambiguous figure
Wanting a single answer.
Wrong working
The figure is definitely Gajalakshmi.
Right working
Some say Maya, others Gajalakshmi; devotees may have seen both.
Do this: Report the debate.
Usually costs: Evaluation mark.
Mistake: Describing images without the method
Long answers become lists of carvings.
Wrong working
Sanchi has elephants, women and wheels.
Right working
Art historians compared carvings with texts and hagiographies, identified symbols and popular motifs, and noted limits.
Do this: Lead with the method in every paragraph.
Usually costs: Up to 3 marks.

Exam tips

Asked in: 2023 board paper 61/3/1 Q28(b) (8 marks, how art historians understood Buddhism through Sanchi's sculptures); 1-mark matching items on Sanchi symbols, shalabhanjika and Gajalakshmi in 2024 (61/1/1) and 2025 (61/2/1); picture-based items on schools of art. Answers are our own.
Learn the three symbols and three popular motifs; together they answer most 1- and 3-mark items.
In 8-mark answers, end with the limits (Fergusson, Greek yardsticks, Mahabalipuram) for the evaluation marks.
Name the method every time: 'by comparing sculpture with textual evidence'.

Practice questions on Reading Buddhist Sculpture

Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.

Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level
Match the Sanchi symbol with its meaning: (A) Empty seat (B) Stupa (C) Wheel; (1) First sermon (2) Mahaparinibbana (3) Meditation of the Buddha.
(a) A-3, B-2, C-1
(b) A-1, B-2, C-3
(c) A-2, B-3, C-1
(d) A-3, B-1, C-2
Hint
Sit, sleep, speak.
Answer
(a) A-3, B-2, C-1.
Q2 · 2 marks · Very short answerBoard level
What is the Vessantara Jataka, and how was it identified at Sanchi? (2 marks)
Hint
A generous prince.
Answer
It is the story of a generous prince who gave away everything to a Brahmana and went to the forest with his wife and children. Art historians identified a Sanchi panel that looked like a rural scene as this story by comparing it with the text.
Q3 · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level
Why did nineteenth-century European scholars consider Gandhara images of the Buddha the best examples of early Indian art? (3 marks)
Hint
Familiar yardsticks.
Answer
They tried to make sense of unfamiliar Indian sculpture by comparing it with ancient Greek sculpture, which they knew. They often found Indian images inferior or even grotesque. Images of the Buddha and Bodhisattas from the north-west, from Taxila and Peshawar where Indo-Greek rulers had kingdoms in the second century BCE, were based on Greek models, so they looked most like Greek statues and were rated highest: a yardstick drawn from the familiar.
Q4 · 2 marks · Very short answerHarder board level
Why were animals such as elephants, horses and monkeys carved at Sanchi? (2 marks)
Hint
Stories, liveliness, symbols.
Answer
Some illustrate animal stories from the Jatakas; many were carved to create lively scenes that drew viewers; and animals symbolised human qualities, elephants for example standing for strength and wisdom.
Q5 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level
Assertion (A): Art historians agree that the Mahabalipuram rock panel shows the descent of the Ganga.
Reason (R): A natural cleft runs through the centre of the rock surface.
(a) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true but R is false.
(d) A is false but R is true.
Hint
Are they agreed?
Answer
(d) A is false but R is true: historians are sharply divided between the descent of the Ganga and Arjuna's penance.
Q6 · 3 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency
Suppose a museum labels a Sanchi figure only as 'Maya, mother of the Buddha'. Would you change the label? Justify. (3 marks)
Hint
Two identifications.
Answer
Yes. The figure surrounded by lotuses and elephants sprinkling water is identified by some historians as Maya and by others as Gajalakshmi, the goddess of good fortune associated with elephants; devotees may have seen her as both. A fair label would give both identifications and explain that the motif reflects popular traditions absorbed into Buddhist art.
Q7 · 4 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency
"Visual evidence alone can mislead historians." Evaluate with two examples from Theme 4. (4 marks)
Hint
Fergusson; Greek yardsticks; Mahabalipuram.
Answer
Largely true. Fergusson, studying Sanchi's images without Buddhist texts, concluded it was a centre of tree and serpent worship, missing the symbols of the Buddha's life. Nineteenth-century scholars, judging by Greek models, ranked Gandhara images highest and found other Indian sculpture grotesque. But texts do not solve everything either: at Mahabalipuram, even with the Puranas and epics, historians disagree about the story shown. So images must be read with texts and context, and with humility about what cannot be known.

Test your recall

Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.

1.What does the empty seat symbolise?Show answer
The meditation (enlightenment) of the Buddha.
2.What were charanachitras?Show answer
Painted scrolls used by wandering storytellers.
3.What did elephants symbolise in Sanchi's sculpture?Show answer
Strength and wisdom.
4.Who called Sanchi a centre of tree and serpent worship?Show answer
James Fergusson.
5.Where are the most famous early cave paintings?Show answer
Ajanta (Maharashtra).
6.Name the two readings of the Mahabalipuram panel.Show answer
The descent of the Ganga, or Arjuna's penance.

Reading Buddhist Sculpture: frequently asked questions

How did art historians understand Buddhist sculpture at Sanchi?

By comparing the sculpture with Buddhist texts and hagiographies, decoding symbols such as the empty seat, stupa and wheel, and recognising popular motifs such as the shalabhanjika.

Why was the Buddha shown through symbols?

Many early sculptors did not depict him in human form, so they indicated his presence and key events through symbols like the empty seat, the stupa and the wheel.

What is a shalabhanjika?

A carved woman swinging from a tree at the gateway; by popular belief her touch made trees flower and bear fruit, so the motif was auspicious.

Why is the Gajalakshmi figure debated?

Some identify the woman bathed by elephants as Maya, the Buddha's mother, others as Gajalakshmi, goddess of good fortune; devotees may have seen her as both.