List of Major debates about the Mauryan pillars

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List of Major debates about the Mauryan pillars

1. Were some of them pre-Mauryan or do all of them belong exclusively to the Mauryan period and especially to the reign of Asoka who had his edicts frequently engraved on them? (This is an important question for art historians but UPSC syllabus doesn't concern it. We assume that all the Ashokan pillars were invariably Ashokan).

2. Do such pillars have specific symbolism? (Upinder Singh calls the location as Axis Mundi and also gives a detailed discussion about possible Buddhist meanings of symbols used in Mauryan period. UPSC has started asking some questions on iconology and iconography recently - may it be in Prelims (mudra) or Mains (stupa symbols). There is an entire page given to similar analysis in the new NCERT as well which definitely makes it a question worthy topic)

3. Considering that monolithic free-standing columns are not found in any other period of Indian history, are all examples of such columns Mauryan, although their diameter and polish do not always conform to those of the classic Mauryan examples? (There is a recent discovery of a Mauryan pillar in MP Deurkothar where the inscription names it's patron as a Bhikkhu. So it was contemporary to Ashoka, stylistically Ashokan but not Ashokan)

4. Is it possible to chronologically arrange the capitals along with their animals in a stylistic sequence? (Many art historians have tried to do this but no attempt is satisfactory. Therefore, unlike Gandhara scultpural art, here it is difficult to bring out an evolutionary perspective of the Mauryan style)

5. In view of the fact that the stone sculptural tradition of the Mauryas was the first of its kind in the early historic period of India, can one ascribe its beginning to a cultural impact from a non-Indian source—the Achaemenid art tradition, for instance? (This one is asked by UPSC a couple of times in the past and is typically covered by basic books and Delhi based coachings)

Debates about the dating of major Mauryan sculptures.

1. According to some scholars these specimens are Mauryan but according to others they are post-Mauryan. Is there a separate category of Late Mauryan sculptures' as opposed to the classical Mauryan specimens? (Upinder and Fine Arts NCERT both mention about some debatable Mauryan sculptures like Manibhadra Yaksha and Parkham Yaksha. But this point is important only from Prelims point viewpoint)

2. Why do the Mauryan terracotta figures not conform to the stone sculpture idiom of the period? Why is the terracotta disc tradition so very different? (Read about Chandraketugarh and terracotta. This site is asked at least two times in last 5/6 years by UPSC in mapping)

Other debates regarding Mauryan art

1. Why is the Mauryan wooden palisade wall of the capital Pataliputra unique in the contemporary examples of Indian fortifications? 

2. Mauryan art has been labelled as essentially the product of the Mauryan court and its imperial ideology. To what extent can we take this opinion seriously? (This is another very important aspect/debate, a potentially UPSC question. But it has not been asked by UPSC yet,).