Museum Explorer
Tools and technology in Asia
The Kulu vase
From: Gondla, northern Himachal Pradesh, India
Date: 1st century BC
This bronze vase was made over 2,000 years ago and is probably the oldest known Indian object with this kind of decoration. It is hard to see, but you can just make out a procession in which a ruler is riding in a chariot with a parasol over his head.
The vase was buried under the ground for centuries. Then in 1857 a great landslide uncovered the ruins of a Buddhist monastery, where a chamber containing this vase was discovered.
