King Asoka's Lion Capital

A Fitting Symbol of the Buddha

- BY BHANTE S. DHAMMIKA of Australia

In 1904 the British engineer Fredrich Oertel was directed to do archaeological explorations at Sarnath, known in ancient times as Isipatana, the place where the Buddha first proclaimed the Dhamma to the world.

Excavations had already been done there several times before but Oertel chose to dig at the side of a previously ignored high pile of bricks and rubble. Almost immediately he uncovered what he correctly guessed to be one of King Asoka's pillars broken into three pieces. A bit more digging and clearing of earth revealed the face of a lion, then another, and soon four in all. Oertel had discovered the pillar King Asoka erected to commemorate the Buddha's first sermon and the magnificent lion capital that had once crowned it.

The capital was immediately recognized as a masterpiece, the earliest monolithic sculpture ever produced in India and one whose aesthetic and technical perfection would not be surpassed for another 800 years. Arrangements were made to ship it to the British Museum but Lord Curzon, the then viceroy, ordered that from then on, all India's art treasures should stay in the country. Thus, the lion capital is now proudly displayed in the entrance hall of Sarnath's archaeological museum, at independence in 1947 it became India's national emblem, and the wheel from it was chosen to be on the country's flag.

The whole capital is carved out of a single block of fine-grained buffcolored Chunar sandstone stone, 2.1 meters or seven feet high, its shining polish gives the impression of being cast out metal and its three elements (originally four) are perfectly proportioned to each other.