Image title: Figure 76. Nagaraja and attended by Nagis

Figure 76:—Pillar medallion portraying an anonymous nagaraja in the anthropomorphic form with an elaborate tree-like serpent hood above him, flanked by a pair of chowry (fly whisk) holding hybrid mermaid-like nagis with the coiled serpent tail present below the waist, Bharhut, Bharhut Gallery, Indian Museum, Kolkata. (Photograph by the author).

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The art of Bharhut, dominated by sculptural reliefs narrating a popular facet of Buddhism in the form of the immense Jataka literature, represent the emergence of visual narrative art in India.—Bharhut represents the earliest evidence of narrative art which display many story telling techniques.