The Indo-Corinthian columns were ancient and both Indian and Hellenistic. Their Acanthus leaf decorations and frieze designs are evidence of Alexander the Great’s Eastward conquest (c356 BCE) of South Asia via Greek culture. This combination created Gandharan art with its distinctive style.

These columns were initially modelled on Indian temple architecture in wood, but eventually realised in stone. "Corinthian" is the Greek word for Classical Greek building that incorporated Acanthus, meaning immortal and reborn. This pattern was copied for Islamic buildings, and continued to be used in Indian constructions.

Hellenistic elements from Bactria and Peshawar soon spread to Pataliputra and Vidisha. At its best, Gandharan painting juxtaposed these columns with Buddhist edifices such as stupas, and invariably depicted Buddhas or Bodhisattvas standing beneath the Corinthian boughs.

These included Indo-Corinthian columns from Jamalgiri monastery, Peshawar and Taxila. They fused with native styles such as the Chitra Skambha, which were creative, not imitative. Yet, despite changes in religious and cultural patronage, the Indo-Corinthian column appeared ubiquitous on monuments and buildings.

It lives on today, in state buildings and monuments, the Acanthus motif extending itself across centuries of artifice to the Indian subcontinent.

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