Jaggayyapeta: Cakravartin

INDIA, Andhra Pradesh, Jaggayyapeta

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.