We have the
earliest dancing scene in a slab recovered from Tezpur. Th e slab is divided into a number
of sunken panels by
means of circular pilasters, each containing a male or female, two females, or two males.
Beginning from the right we find a man fighting with a lion, a male playing on a flute,
and a female dancing by his side, one playing on a pipe, another on a drum, a male playing
on a drum and a female dancing, a man playing on cymbals and a woman dancing, a male
playing on a lyre and another dancing to his right, a male playing on a drum' and another
dancing to his left*6. The whole composition seems
to be natural, full of action, and lively, and is represented with considerable success.
The temple walls were generallydecorated with sculptures depicting various scenes from the
Epics and the social anddomestic life led by the people of the period. We have already
noticed a frieze from theruins of this temple, which illustrates the Mahabharata story of
Pandu. |
