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iconographical features. The basic similarity of the later
iconographic conceptions of many Hindu deities is found in
their vedic counterparts.
The different periods of ancient Indian history like
Sunga, Kusana and Gupta are the major sources for the study of
iconography. The reputed art centres of ancient India such as
Mathura, Gandhara, Sarnatha, Amaravati etc. were the homelands
of master artists. The symbols on the earliest Indian coins
are religious in character. The innumerable varieties of seals
and similar objects found in various parts of Northern India
dating from the 3rd or 4th millenium B.C. to the late Gupta
period throw a flood of light on this subject. The deities
appearing on the coins of Sunga, Kusana and Imperial Gupta
rulers illustrate in a very characteristic manner the peculiar
features of their style of sculpture. Some metal and terracotta
seals of the Kusana and the Gupta periods supply us with
characteristic representations of such Hindu gods as Vismu and
Siva as well as a few of their emblems. The earliest figure of
a deity seated on a lotus seat in a Dhyana yoga or Samadhi
mudra appearing on certain copper coins of Ujjayini can be
dated in the 2nd 3rd Century B.C. In Gandhara some of the
Buddha figures are shown with their hands in this pose. Many
images, Brahmanical, Buddhist and Jain of the Gupta age
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(C.319 A.D.
-
600 A.D.) as well as of the early and late
medieval periods show this pose. Two Yogasana Visnu figures in
the Mathura museum. characteristically portray it.