English: This red sandstone doorjamb was found dumped inside an old well in Mathura in 1913. It is a broken piece of doorjamb of some destroyed Hindu temple of the style in pre-6th century era. The doorjamb is carved on one side, flat on the other. Archaeologists studying the doorjamb noticed that the flat side has an inscription. It turned out to be Brahmi script, in a style that suggested 1st century CE or earlier. The inscription has been deciphered and it has led scholars to date it between 0-25 CE.

The inscription and artwork relates to a temple dedicated to Vasudeva (Krishna) of the Vaishnavism tradition. This inscription is one of many that have been discovered in India between 1860 and 1980 that suggest that ancient Indians were building statues and temples dedicated to Hindu deities between 2nd century BCE and 1st-century CE. Ancient inscriptions relating to Vishnu, Shiva and Shakti have been found in India.

This is a photograph from a personal copy of the book published in 1920 by w:Ramaprasad Chanda (d. 1942), titled Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India, No. 5. The 1920 photographs are 2D-Art, and PD-Art-100-70 guidelines apply. The artwork and the 2-D inscription therein itself is from the 1st-century CE, by an unknown artist(s) of ancient India.

The original photographs are found as Plate XXV and XXVI, in the appendix section of the 1920 published book (pages 174-177). Any rights I have are herewith donated to wikimedia under Creative Commons 4.0 license.

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1st-century CE relief sculpture side, Vasu doorjamb.jpg

1st-century CE inscribed side, Vasu doorjamb.jpg