________________ 134 Homage to Vaisali ning with the advent of the Muslims from the west. Such a difference is easily noticed in womens' dress. It would be difficult to think of womens' dress to day in northern Iodia without any cover for the body between the neck and the waist. Art critics have been giving us a number of reasons to account for such a portrayal in Vaisali terracottas. But the one fundamental reason for the exposure of the upper part of the body is the climatic conditions which were then the same as they are to-day, requiring few clothes. The excellent execution of the anatomical features of the figures, particularly of the famale as revealed in these terracottas suggests another factor, no less important than the first. The desire to look more "attractive" from the point of view of physical anatomy appears to have influenced the artist and craftsman of Vaisali, though nowhere there is any attemt to cover the parts vital and sensitive to cold. A picture of the common man of Vaigali and his environment or surroundings is not so much obtained from the gold coins of the Guptas or the coins of the earlier Kusanas (1-2 centuries A.D.) as it is obtained from these terracottas. The tunic and trousers that we find associated with the figure of the King as portrayed on the Gupta gold coins are not seen in the Vaisali terracottas, nor do we meet with the veil or cover for the face of the female, such as has been believed to have been the fashion of the times by scholars while trying to interpret Kalidasa's description of Sakuntala when she stands before Dusyanta in his court कास्विद् अवगुष्ठनवती नातिपरिस्फुटशरीरलावण्या। मध्ये तपोधनानों किसलयमिव पाण्दुपत्राणाम् // afunger , V-V, 13 "WHO IS THIS LADY WITH THE VEIL ?" If EGUSH is veil, the female figures as depicted in Vaigali terracottas do not show it. Yet the forest-maiden Sakuntala, who was brought up by innocent sages like Kanva amidst innocent deer (मगसममेधितो जनः) and trees and gardens wears the a uon or veil and that even before her own Nayaka. Surely, the absence of ( TUS) in Vaisali terracottas reflects state of ancient Indian Society and by inference suggests that the Vaigali terracottas are ugeless but certainly earlier than the Gupta and the Kusana. Coins and seals which have also been found at Vaigali point to a period 300 A.D. to 500 A.D. and have helped to show that (Tirhut) under the Guptas. Coins of the Kusanas, Kadphises II, Kaniska
