Explanation:

 Bharhut stupa (located in MP) may have been first built by the Maurya king Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE, but many works of art were apparently added during the Shunga period, with many friezes from the 2nd century BCE. Queen Maya’s dream, preceding the birth of the Buddha, is also a major theme on the railing of the Bharhut “stupa”. In the early arts of Buddhism, the figure of the Buddha was never represented. Instead, there were symbols (anonical form) of him, such as a seat, footprints, the Bodhi tree, the wheel and the “stupa”. Unlike the imperial art of the Mauryas, the inscriptions on railings of Bharhut stupa show that the reliefs and figures were donated by lay people, monks and nuns. Thus, it is one of the earliest examples of Maurya popular art.