Section of Monolithic Railing with Bather and Lotus Medallions

Railings demarcated a sacred space, such as a tree shrine or a stupa. Images associated with purifying waters were carved on the railings, as if to symbolically cleanse those who passed through the gate. Under a fruit-bearing tree is a young woman squeezing water from her hair. In a visual depiction of an ancient Indian poetic trope, a goose mistakes the drops of water for pearls and comes to eat them.