In the post-Mauryan period, the techniques of cloth-making, silk- weaving, and the manufacture of luxury articles developed. Mathura was a great center for the manufacture of a special type of cloth which was called shataka.
Lion was one of the motifs used in Ashokan pillars. Lion is a solar symbol and it also represents the Buddha, as he is referred to as Sakyasimha which also means a lion among the Sakyas.