The art and architecture of India - Buddhist, Hindu, Jain (Art Ebook)

144 ROMANO-INDIAN ART
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None of these different types of construction
was meant to be seen. They served only as a
the portrait of Kanishka at Mathura [96] and a
second image, perhaps of a Kushan prince, represented
wearing a
fur-lined mantle or pustin
base or a core for an outer decoration of polychromed
stucco.
Excavations at Surkh Kotal in northern
Afghanistan have brought to light a fire temple
with a plan recalling that of the Jandial sanctuary
and earlier examples in Iran [85]. Another
temple was apparently dedicated to the cult of
the Kushan king. 28 An inscription in Greek
found at this site records the dedication by the
great King Kanishka to Oanindo, the Kushan
genius of victory. Among the statues found at
Surkh Kotal is a fragmentary effigy resembling
[86]. The rigid frontality of these statues is
strongly suggestive of Parthian portrait sculpture,
and the indication of the drapery in a convention
of raised ridges approximates the
technique of late Gandhara sculpture [68].
Many of the Kushan royal portraits have
haunting resemblances to Parthian prototypes
at Hatra and elsewhere. Fragments of a great
many royal effigies have been found in the vast
palaces of ancient Chorasmia (Khwarezm,
U.S.S.R.), and it is possible that the Kushan
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85. Surkh Kotal, fire temple
86. Kushan prince from Surkh Kotal.
Kabul, Museum