Bell capital
Also called: Persepolitan capital · Topic: Early Indian Art and Architecture: Stupas, Rock-cut Caves, Temples · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A bell capital is the bell-shaped top part of an Ashokan pillar, just below the animal figure. A capital is the decorated head of a pillar. The bell is really a lotus turned upside down, and its petals hang downward. Above it sits a flat slab called the abacus, and the carved animal or animals stand on the abacus. Some scholars link this shape to columns built by the Achaemenid kings of Persia, so it is also called the Persepolitan capital. Others see the lotus as an Indian design. It matters because Mauryan art came out of a mix of Indian and foreign ideas.
Example
The Sarnath lion capital of Ashoka (c. 3rd century BCE) has an inverted lotus bell. Above it is an abacus carved with a wheel and four animals, and four lions stand back to back on top.
Don't confuse with
- Abacus: the flat slab between the bell and the animal figures. It is not the bell itself.