"These little balusters are of considerable interest, as their sculptured statues are much superior in artistic design and execution to those of the railing pillars. They are further remarkable in having Arian letters engraved on their bases or capitals, a peculiarity which points unmistakably to the employment of Western artists, and which fully accounts for the superiority of their execution. The letters found are p, s, a, and b, of which the first three occur twice. Now, if the same sculptors had been employed on the railings, we might confidently expect to find the same alphabetical letters used as private marks. But the fact is just the reverse, for the whole of the 27 marks found on any portions of the railing are Indian letters. The only conclusion that I can come to from these facts is that the foreign artists who were employed on the sculptures of the gateways were certainly not engaged on any part of the railing. I conclude, therefore, that the Raja of Sungas, the donor of the gateways, must have sent his own party of workmen to make them, while the smaller gifts of pillars and rails were executed by the local artists." in The stūpa of Bharhut: a Buddhist monument ornamented with numerous sculptures illustrative of Buddhist legend and history in the third century B. C, by Alexander Cunningham p. 8 (Public Domain)
Greek Gods in the East, Stančo, Ladislav, Charles University in Prague, Karolinum Press, 2012 p.167
"There is evidence of Hellensitic sculptors being in touch with Sanchi and Bharhut" in The Buddha Image: Its Origin and Development, Yuvraj Krishan, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1996, p.9
The Buddha Image: Its Origin and Development, Yuvraj Krishan, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1996, p.17-18 Note 3
Ancient Indian History and Civilization, Sailendra Nath Sen, New Age International, 1999 p.170
Buddhist Architecture Huu Phuoc Le Grafikol, 2010 p.161
Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, C. Third Century BC to Fifth Century AD, by Julia Shaw, Left Coast Press, 2013 p.90
Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi Hill and Archaeologies of Religious and Social Change, C. Third Century BC to Fifth Century AD, Julia Shaw, Left Coast Press, 2013 p.88ff
Buddhist Architecture, Huu Phuoc Le, Grafikol, 2010 p.149ff
Ashoka: The Search for India's Lost Emperor, Charles Allen, Hachette UK, 2012 p.122
"In Gandhara the appearance of a halo surrounding an entire figure occurs only in the latest phases of artistic production, in the fifth and sixth centuries. By this time in Afghanistan the halo/mandorla had become quite common and is the format that took hold at Central Asian Buddhist sites." in "Metropolitan Museum of Art". www.metmuseum.org.
