National Emblem: Lions of Peace

AS A PERSON desires to be distinguishable from his fellows by his singular personality, the American historian Granville Austin once wrote in his book The Indian Constitution, so newly created nations are con­cerned with their nationality. “The first concern of newly independent people is to establish, in their own eyes, and in those of the world, their national identity and raison d’être.”

Austin, an expert on the Indian Constitution, was referring to the adoption of this important document. But his statement could so well be expanded to incorporate the impulse of newly independent nations when they choose their national flags, anthems and emblems. The founders of free India were, of course, looking to craft a new national identity when they imbued tunes, colourful materials, and historical iconography with national power and prestige. But in their choice, they were also looking for symbols that linked newly independent India to its ancient past, and which evoked a certain ideal and philosophy.

This is why the recent unveiling of the national emblem atop the new Parliament building, where the four Asiatic lions appear to be snarling— instead of the original depiction where they exhibit a graceful calm—has created such a furore. Its creators have defended their work saying its perceived ferocity is due to the larger size of the structure (it is 6.5m tall and 9,500 kg heavy) and the angle from which it is viewed.

The national emblem was adopted from the lion capital of Ashoka that was unearthed somewhere between 1904 and 1905 by an official named FO Oertel at Sarnath. The structure, believed to have been built sometime around 250 BCE, consisted of four lions standing on a base depicting other animals interspersed with the 24-spoked ‘Dharmachakra’ or the wheel of the moral law, all of this over an inverted bell-shaped lotus. Like other such discovered Ashokan lion capitals, this structure sat atop a pillar, and itself served as a base for a large Dharmachakra with 32 spokes, but Oertel only discovered pieces and fragments of these. Unlike the lion capital discovered at Sanchi in the 1850s, the one at Sarnath was in much better condition and, according to experts, was far superior in artistry.

These new finds at Sarnath were deemed so important that India’s first onsite museum was built to house them. According to the British historian Charles R Allen, the mastery of sculptures such as Sarnath’s lion capital signals the emergence of carvers and masons, possibly from the north-west, and the development of a new style of masonry. Calling its sculptor a Mauryan Michelangelo, he writes in Ashoka: The Search for India’s Lost Emperor, “This new fluency points to the arrival of a group of sculptors and stonemasons and a dramatic move away from working in wood to stone, a very costly break with tradition only made possible by royal command and patronage.”

The discovery at Sarnath came at a time when archaeologists under the British Raj were unearthing India’s ancient Buddhist past and discovering the scale of Ashoka’s empire. And like many of India’s founding fathers, Jawaharlal Nehru was deeply impressed. In a speech, he once said, “The adoption of the Ashoka lions was deliberately done because these signs denoted a sincere desire for peace and would work as a constant reminder to the people to continue to make incessant efforts in that direction.”

According to many historians, India adopted Ashokan symbols such as the chakra and the Sarnath lion capital, along with the phrase “Satyameva Jayate” (“truth alone triumphs”, a quote from the Mundaka Upanishad) because it was trying to highlight India’s non-sectarian past to suit its contemporary secular needs, especially after the Partition of India on communal lines.

The original lion capital was a distinctly Buddhist structure, the animals and chakras representing some aspects of Buddhism. But by disinvesting these symbols of their religious connotations, while retaining the Ashokan ideals of peace, India’s founding fathers arrived at a national emblem that, in Nehru’s words, worked as a constant reminder to its citizens of the ideals of peace.

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