An Introduction to Indian Art Part I

AN INTRODUCTION TO

INDIAN ART

Textbook in Fine Artsfor Class XI

PART I

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First EditionSeptember 2012 Asvina 1934

PD 5T MJ

© National Council of EducationalResearch and Training, 2012

`̀̀̀̀ 120.00

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Published at the Publication Division bythe Secretary, National Council ofEducational Research and Training, SriAurobindo Marg, New Delhi 110 016and printed at Gita Offset Printers,C-90, Okhla Industrial Area Phase-I,New Delhi 110 020

ALL RIGHTS RESERVEDNo part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in aretrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means,electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwisewithout the prior permission of the publisher.This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by wayof trade, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise disposed ofwithout the publisher’s consent, in any form of binding or coverother than that in which it is published.The correct price of this publication is the price printed on thispage, Any revised price indicated by a rubber stamp or by asticker or by any other means is incorrect and should beunacceptable.

Publication Team

Head, Publication : A.K. SrivastavaDivision

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ISBN- 978-93-5007-187-8

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FOREWORD

The National Council of Educational Research and Training(NCERT) has constantly been working for the past fiftyyears to bring in an impact on the country’s schooleducational system. In the recent years, specially with theNational Curriculum Framework (NCF) - 2005, there has beena significant shift in the development of textbooks, theirpresentation and inter-disciplinary approach, the typologyof exercises, etc. All these efforts have made the textbookschild friendly. At the senior secondary stage, which is alsothe school leaving stage, students should have more optionsto move further in different fields of higher education orprofessional education. With this view, the NCERT for thefirst time took the initiatives of developing the curriculumand syllabi in different art related areas for this stage.

At this stage of education, the emphasis has been givento a professional approach towards the subject of Fine Artsmaking it a discipline rather than on creating awarenessand knowledge, which was generic in nature till secondaryclasses. The teaching objectives also shift towardssharpening of skills in fine arts and develop a perspectiveof design and instead of free expression and doing artsemphasis is on students’ expressing themselves in theirown style and medium. Also, there has been a need todevelop a historical perspective of art in context of theworld as well as India. Art History is a part of studies ofarts and in itself it is a major area of education from whichstudents learn about their cultural heritage.

It was observed that many of the education boards offerFine Arts as an optional subject at the senior secondarystage which includes painting, sculpture, applied arts orcommercial arts. These were reviewed and a new syllabuswas formed. Since this course apart from the practicalcomponent include theory which introduces students tothe art historical heritage of country’s diverse art andarchitecture, the textbook ‘An Introduction to Indian Art’has been developed for Classes XI and XII.

The textbook for Class XI extensively covers the traditionof cave paintings in the pre-historic era and theircontinuation in mural paintings of Buddhist era and later

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on in various parts of the country, Buddhist, Jain andHindu sculptural and architectural developments. Duringthe Indo-Islamic period and before the Mughal rule,another era dawned upon India, which saw massiveconstructions in the form of forts and palaces. Differentaspects of all these styles have been discussed to introducestudents with the fabric of India’s culture.

The NCERT appreciates the hard work done by theTextbook Development Committee responsible for makingthis book. We wish to thank the Chief Advisor for thistextbook, Professor Ratan Parimoo, Retired Head,Department of Art History and Dean, Faculty of Fine Arts,M. S. University of Baroda, for guiding the work of thiscommittee. It was a challenge for other art historiansinvolved in making of this textbook for students at theschool level and their efforts are praiseworthy. We areindebted to the institutions and organisations which havegenerously permitted us to draw upon their resourcematerials and personnel. We are especially grateful to themembers of the National Monitoring Committee, appointedby the Department of Secondary and Higher Education,Ministry of Human Resource Development under theChairpersonship of Professor Mrinal Miri and ProfessorG.P. Deshpande, for their valuable time and contribution.As an organisation committed to the systemic reform andcontinuous improvement in the quality of its products,NCERT welcomes comments and suggestions which willenable us to undertake further revision and refinement.

DirectorNew Delhi National Council of EducationalSeptember 2012 Research and Training

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PREFACE

During the nineteenth century (the period of British rule),a few British colonial officers took active interest to studyIndia’s past in collaboration with some Indian scholars andit is out of such endeavours that a systematic study ofarchitectural monuments, sculptures and paintings beganin the Indian sub-continent. The first attempt in this regarddocument the monuments as they represent a very visibleevidence of the bygone era. Over a period of time with thearchaeological explorations and excavations, many art-historical sites were discovered. Decipherment ofinscriptions, and coins played a very significant role inour understanding of the past art traditions. With the studyof religious texts, history of religion was studied andidentification of icons/sculptures and paintings wasinitiated, which became a dominant area of earlyscholarship. Study of art history has developed inassociation with the archaeological studies, however, it isnow recognised as a specialised discipline. In the West,mainly in Europe, the art-historical discipline has grownconsiderably with numerous methodological inputs,whereas in India it is still in the process of developing itsinvestigating mechanisms.

As the study of art history has grown out of extensivedocumentations and excavations, one finds description ofart objects as a prominent method of study. There are afew significant studies of the early twentieth century, wherethe concerns are addressed beyond mere description.Subsequently, several generations of outstanding Westernand Indian scholars of Indian art history have studied thesubject at great depth making us realise the glorious pastof the Indian civilisation through its creations reflected inthe architectural monuments, sculptures and paintings.We can claim a distinct Indian approach to the arts of thebuilding edifices, the sculpture making and the languageof painting in comparison with the European art on onehand and the far Eastern art on the other. Therefore, theIndian art historical studies have emerged as a prestigiousacademic discipline at a university level education.

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While political and religious history contributed towardsreconstructing historical developments, sculptural andarchitectural history has been reconstructed within thetime-frame of political history. The styles of manymonuments and sculptures have been attributed to thedynastic affiliations like the Mauryan art, Satavahana art,Gupta art, etc. Alternatively the periodisations of art followsreligious denominations such as the Buddhist, Hindu andIslamic periods. However, such deterministicnomenclatures are only partially useful for understandingthe art traditions.

Often the study of art objects is based on two importantapproaches, (i) formalistic or stylistic analysis and(ii) content and contextual studies. The first categoryinvolves study of formalistic characteristics of architecture/sculpture/paintings, whereas the second categoryconcentrates at various levels of content analysis whichhas several components such as iconographic study,iconology, narrative and semiotics.

Iconography involves identification of images throughcertain symbols/signs and relevant myths or narrativeepisodes, whereas iconology involves study of evolution ofsuch signs and symbols in its historical, social andphilosophical context. Today, the methodological frameworktries to explore various concerns and issues in the processof art productions and attempts to go beyond the traditionalmeanings. It may be observed that the political intentionsof various religious ideologies are yet to become the partof the larger investigative process. Religious ideologies alsowere instrumental in shaping the social and economicformulations in ancient India. Therefore, it becomesimportant to study such factors that have influenced artforms. Large body of material has come from the religioussites but it does not mean that there was no art in non-religious domains. Terracotta figurines are the best examplesin this category, however, due to space constraint they havebeen only mentioned but not extensively discussed. In thepresent text, the authors have tried to move away from thenormative traditional descriptive writings to broaderdevelopment of art and architectural monuments in termsof their stylistic developments as well as their social andpolitical affiliations.

Cultural manifestations have diverse ideologies in theform of architecture, sculpture and paintings. They needto be studied with their religious and social view points,hence, unilinear projection of the cultural tradition needsto be reconsidered as it is away from realities of the ancientpast. Different categories of artisans existed in the actual

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working situation. A guild of artisans may have beenemployed by the religious and political authorities formaking monuments and accordingly the artisans had towork and devise their execution techniques along withnecessary innovations, etc. In this textbook only anintroductory outline has been attempted from pre- andproto-historic times till the times of the Islamic monumentsduring the late medieval period.

Considering the level of the young generation readersbelonging to the higher secondary stage, the present bookoutlines just a few examples to create an understanding ofthe nature of developments in Indian art. It is not intendedto discard such examples which we know are importantbut all the contributors have made a conscious attempt topresent convincing holistic pictures. The chapters in thebook provide an outline of different forms of arts from mostof the regions of the country.

Human civilisation begins with the emergence of thehuman being on the earth. In this book a simpler but atthe same time a distinct vocabulary has been introduced.The idea is not only to present the vast amount of dataavailable but also to generate interest in understandingthe visual traditions of Indian art. For any student of finearts it is necessary to be aware of the visual tradition inthe past as to understand present art production.Understanding of visual tradition enriches visualunderstanding. Hope the young minds find the bookenriching as is intended.

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viii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We are thankful to Ratan Parimoo, Chief Advisor,Y.S. Alone, Advisor and all the members of the TextbookDevelopment Committee for bringing out this textbook toits present form. Apart from them various people andinstitutions have been directly or indirectly involved inthe development of the syllabus and the textbook, we aregrateful to all of them. We especially acknowledge theefforts of Surendra Kaul, the then Director General, Centrefor Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT), whogenerously permitted us to draw upon the resources ofCCRT. We are also grateful to G.P. Bhagoria, Expert,Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

Thanks are also due to Pawan Sudhir, Head, Departmentof Education in Arts and Aesthetics, VijayamSankaranarayan, Editor (Retd.) and Shveta Uppal, ChiefEditor, Publication Division, NCERT for going through themanuscript and giving their valuable suggestions.

Special thanks are due to Surender Kumar, PublicationDivision, NCERT and Tanveer Ahmad, DTP Operators.© N

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TEXTBOOK DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

Chief AdvisorRatan Parimoo, Professor and Dean (Retd.), Faculty of FineArts, M.S. University of Baroda

AdvisorY.S. Alone, Assistant Professor, School of Arts andAesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

MembersK.C. Chitrabhanu, Professor of Art History (Retd.),Government College of Fine Arts, Thiruvananthapuram

Naman Ahuja, Associate Professor, School of Arts andAesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Seema S. Ojha, Assistant Professor, HistoryDepartment of Education in Social Sciences, NCERT,New Delhi

Shama Mitra Chenoy, Associate Professor, HistoryShivaji College, University of Delhi

Suchita Raut, PGT (Fine Arts), Delhi Public School, Bhopal

Santosh Jain, Head, Department of Painting, Delhi PublicSchool, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi

Member CoordinatorJyotsna Tiwari, Associate Professor, Department ofEducation in Arts and Aesthetics, NCERT, New Delhi

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Gandhiji’s TalismanGandhiji’s TalismanGandhiji’s TalismanGandhiji’s TalismanGandhiji’s Talisman

I will give you a talisman. Wheneveryou are in doubt or when the selfbecomes too much with you, apply thefollowing test:

Recall the face of the poorest andthe weakest man whom you may haveseen and ask yourself if the step youcontemplate is going to be of any useto him. Will he gain anything by it?Will it restore him to a control overhis own life and destiny? In otherwords, will it lead to Swaraj for thehungry and spiritually starvingmillions?

Then you will find your doubts andyour self melting away.

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CONTENTS

FOREWORD iii

PREFACE v

1. Prehistoric Rock Paintings 1

2. Arts of the Indus Valley 9

3. Arts of the Mauryan Period 19

4. Post-Mauryan Trends in Indian Art and 27Architecture

5. Later Mural Traditions 61

6. Temple Architecture and Sculpture 69

7. Indian Bronze Sculpture 103

8. Some Aspects of Indo-Islamic 109Architecture

GLOSSARY 126

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Map showing prehistoric sites(Outline map not to scale)

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PREHISTORIC ROCKPAINTINGS

T HE distant past when there was no paper or languageor the written word, and hence no books or written

documents, is called prehistory, or, as we often say,prehistoric times. How people lived in those times wasdifficult to surmise until scholars began to discover theplaces where prehistoric people lived. Excavation at theseplaces brought to light old tools, pottery, habitats, bonesof ancient human beings and animals, and drawings oncave walls. By piecing together the information deducedfrom these objects and the cave drawings, scholars haveconstructed fairly accurate knowledge about whathappened and how people lived in prehistoric times. Whenthe basic needs of food, water, clothing and shelter werefulfilled people felt the need to express themselves. Paintingand drawing were the oldest art forms practised by humanbeings to express themselves, using the cave walls as theircanvas.

Why did prehistoric people draw these pictures? Theymay have drawn and painted to make their homes morecolourful and beautiful or to keep a visual record of theirday-to-day life, like some of us who maintain a diary.

The prehistoric period in the early development ofhuman beings is commonly known as the Old StoneAge or the Palaeolithic Age.

Prehistoric paintings have been found in many parts ofthe world. We do not really know if Lower Palaeolithic peopleever produced any art objects. But by the Upper Palaeolithictimes we see a proliferation of artistic activities. Aroundthe world the walls of many caves of this time are full offinely carved and painted pictures of animals which thecave-dwellers hunted. The subjects of their drawings werehuman figures, human activities, geometric designs andsymbols. In India the earliest paintings have been reportedfrom the Upper Palaeolithic times.

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AN INTRODUCTION TO INDIAN ART

It is interesting to know that the first discovery of rockpaintings was made in India in 1867–68 by anarchaeologist, Archibold Carlleyle, twelve years before thediscovery of Altamira in Spain. Cockburn, Anderson, Mitraand Ghosh were the early archaeologists who discovered alarge number of sites in the Indian sub-continent.

Remnants of rock paintings have been found on the wallsof the caves situated in several districts of Madhya Pradesh,Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Bihar. Somepaintings have been reported from the Kumaon hills inUttarakhand also. The rock shelters on banks of the RiverSuyal at Lakhudiyar, about twenty kilometres on the Almora–Barechina road, bear these prehistoric paintings.Lakhudiyar literally means one lakh caves.The paintingshere can be divided into three categories: man, animal andgeometric patterns in white, black and red ochre. Humansare represented in stick-like forms. A long-snouted animal,a fox and a multiple legged lizard are the main animal motifs.Wavy lines, rectangle-filled geometric designs, and groupsof dots can also be seen here. One of the interesting scenesdepicted here is of hand-linked dancing human figures.There is some superimposition of paintings. The earliest arein black; over these are red ochre paintings and the lastgroup comprises white paintings. From Kashmir two slabswith engravings have been reported. The granite rocks ofKarnataka and Andhra Pradesh provided suitable canvasesto the Neolithic man for his paintings. There are several suchsites but more famous among them are Kupgallu, Piklihaland Tekkalkota. Three types of paintings have been reportedfrom here—paintings in white, paintings in red ochre overa white background and paintings in red ochre. These

Hand-linked dancing figures, Lakhudiyar,Uttarakhand

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Wavy lines, Lakhudiyar, Uttarakhand

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PREHISTORIC ROCK PAINTINGS

paintings belong to late historical, earlyhistorical and Neolithic periods. The subjectsdepicted are bulls, elephants, sambhars,gazelles, sheep, goats, horses, stylisedhumans, tridents, but rarely, vegetal motifs.

But the richest paintings are reported fromthe Vindhya ranges of Madhya Pradesh andtheir Kaimurean extensions into UttarPradesh. These hill ranges are full ofPalaeolithic and Mesolithic remains, and theyare also full of forests, wild plants, fruits,streams and creeks, thus a perfect place forStone Age people to live. Among these thelargest and most spectacular rock-shelter islocated in the Vindhya hills at Bhimbetka inMadhya Pradesh. Bhimbetka is located forty-five kilometres south of Bhopal, in an area often square kilometres, having about eighthundred rock shelters, five hundred of whichbear paintings.

The caves of Bhimbetka were discoveredin 1957–58 by eminent archaeologist V.S.Wakankar and later on many more werediscovered. Wakankar spent several years insurveying these inaccessible hills and junglesto study these paintings.

The themes of paintings found here are of great variety,ranging from mundane events of daily life in those times tosacred and royal images. These include hunting, dancing,music, horse and elephant riders, animal fighting, honeycollection, decoration of bodies, and other household scenes.

The rock art of Bhimbetka has been classified intovarious groups on the bases of style, technique andsuperimposition. The drawings and paintings can becatagorised into seven historical periods. Period I, UpperPalaeolithic; Period II, Mesolithic; and Period III,Chalcolithic. After Period III there are foursuccessive periods. But we will confineourselves here only to the first three phases.

Upper Palaeolithic Period

The paintings of the Upper Palaeolithic phaseare linear representations, in green and darkred, of huge animal figures, such as bisons,elephants, tigers, rhinos and boars besidesstick-like human figures. A few are washpaintings but mostly they are filled with

Can you figure out what theartist is trying to depict in

this painting?

Cave entrance, Bhimbetka,Madhya Pradesh

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AN INTRODUCTION TO INDIAN ART

geometric patterns. The green paintings are of dancersand the red ones of hunters.

Mesolithic Period

The largest number of paintings belong to Period II thatcovers the Mesolithic paintings. During this period thethemes multiply but the paintings are smaller in size.Hunting scenes predominate. The hunting scenes depictpeople hunting in groups, armed with barbed spears,pointed sticks, arrows and bows. In some paintings theseprimitive men are shown with traps and snares probablyto catch animals. The hunters are shown wearing simpleclothes and ornaments. Sometimes, men have beenadorned with elaborate head-dresses, and sometimespainted with masks also. Elephant, bison, tiger, boar, deer,antelope, leopard, panther, rhinoceros, fish, frog, lizard,squirrel and at times birds are also depicted. TheMesolithic artists loved to paint animals. In some pictures,animals are chasing men. In others they are being chasedand hunted by men. Some of the animal paintings,especially in the hunting scenes, show a fear of animals,but many others show a feeling of tenderness and lovefor them. There are also a few engravings representingmainly animals.

Though animals were painted in a naturalistic style,humans were depicted only in a stylistic manner. Womenare painted both in the nude and clothed. The young andthe old equally find place in these paintings. Children arepainted running, jumping and playing. Community dancesprovide a common theme. There are paintings of peoplegathering fruit or honey from trees, and of women grindingand preparing food. Some of the pictures of men, womenand children seem to depict a sort of family life. In many

of the rock-shelters we find hand prints,fist prints, and dots made by thefingertips.

Chalcolithic Period

Period III covers the Chalcolithic period.The paintings of this period reveal theassociation, contact, and mutualexchange of requirements of the cavedwellers of this area with settledagricultural communities of the Malwaplains. Many a time Chalcolithic ceramicsand rock paintings bear common motifs,e.g., cross-hatched squares, lattices.

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One of the few images showingonly one animal, Bhimbetka

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PREHISTORIC ROCK PAINTINGS

Pottery and metal tools are also shown. Butthe vividness and vitality of the earlierperiods disappear from these paintings.

The artists of Bhimbetka used manycolours, including various shades of white,yellow, orange, red ochre, purple, brown,green and black. But white and red weretheir favourite colours. The paints weremade by grinding various rocks andminerals. They got red from haematite(known as geru in India). The green camefrom a green variety of a stone calledchalcedony. White might have been made out of limestone.The rock of mineral was first ground into a powder. Thismay then have been mixed with water and also with somethick or sticky substance such as animal fat or gum orresin from trees. Brushes were made of plant fibre. Whatis amazing is that these colours have survived thousandsof years of adverse weather conditions. It is believed thatthe colours have remained intact because of the chemicalreaction of the oxide present on the surface of the rocks.

The artists here made their paintings on the walls andceilings of the rock shelters. Some of the paintings arereported from the shelters where people lived. But someothers were made in places which do not seem to have beenliving spaces at all. Perhaps these places had some religiousimportance. Some of the most beautiful paintings are veryhigh up on rock shelters or close to the ceilings of rock-shelters. One may wonder why early human beings choseto paint on a rock in such an uncomfortable position. Thepaintings made at these places were perhaps for people tobe able to notice them from a distance.

The paintings, though from the remote past, do not lackpictorial quality. Despite various limitations such as acuteworking conditions, inadequate tools, materials, etc., thereis a charm of simple rendering of scenes of theenvironment in which the artists lived. The men shown inthem appear adventurous and rejoicing in their lives. Theanimals are shown more youthful and majestic thanperhaps they actually were. The primitive artists seem topossess an intrinsic passion for storytelling. These picturesdepict, in a dramatic way, both men and animals engagedin the struggle for survival. In one of the scenes, a groupof people have been shown hunting a bison. In the process,some injured men are depicted lying scattered on theground. In another scene, an animal is shown in the agonyof death and the men are depicted dancing. These kinds

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Why has the animal beenshown so big and man

so small?

Painting showing a manbeing hunted by a beast,

Bhimbetka

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DANCING SCENE

Hunting scenes predominate in Mesolithic paintings. This is one such scenewhere a group of people are shown hunting a bison. Some injured men aredepicted lying scattered on the ground. These paintings show mastery in theskill of drawing these forms.

In this picture hand-linked figures in dancing mode are shown. In fact, this is arecurrent theme. It also recalls the dancing scene from the Lakhudiyar rockpainting found in Uttarakhand.

AN INTRODUCTION TO INDIAN ART6

HUNTING SCENE

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EXERCISE

1. According to your observation how did the people ofprehistoric times select themes for their paintings?

2. What could have been the reasons for depicting more animalfigures than human figures in cave paintings?

3. Many visuals of prehistoric cave paintings have been givenin this chapter. Among these which one do you like themost and why? Give a critical appreciation of the visual.

4. Other than Bhimbetka, which are the other major siteswhere these prehistoric paintings have been found? Preparea report on different aspects of these paintings with picturesor line drawings.

5. In modern times, how have walls been used as a surface tomake paintings, graphics, etc?

7PREHISTORIC ROCK PAINTINGS

of paintings might have given man a sense of power overthe animals he would meet in the open.

This practice is common among primitive people oftoday also. They engrave or paint on rocks as part ofthe rituals they perform at birth, at death, at comingof age and at the time of marriage. They dance,masked, during hunting rites to help them killanimals difficult to find or kill.

The paintings of individual animals show the masteryof skill of the primitive artist in drawing these forms. Both,proportion and tonal effect, have been realisticallymaintained in them.

It is interesting to note that at many rock-art sitesoften a new painting is painted on top of an older painting.At Bhimbetka, in some places, there are as many as 20layers of paintings, one on top of another. Why did theartists paint in the same place again and again? Maybe,this was because the artist did not like his creation andpainted another painting on the previous one, or some ofthe paintings and places were considered sacred or specialor this was because the area may have been used bydifferent generations of people at different times.

These prehistoric paintings help us to understand aboutearly human beings, their lifestyle, their food habits, theirdaily activities and, above all, they help us understandtheir mind—the way they thought. Prehistoric periodremains are a great witness to the evolution of humancivilisation, through the numerous rock weapons, tools,ceramics and bones. More than anything else, the rockpaintings are the greatest wealth the primitive humanbeings of this period left behind.

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Map of Indus Valley sites (Outline map not to scale)

Mohenjo-daro Kot diji

PAKISTAN

AmriSokhtakhoh

Chanhu-daro

Karachi

Surkotada

LothalRangpur

Rojdi

Rehmandheri

Harappa

Gumla

Peshawar Srinagar

Manda

KathpalonNagar

Dadheri Ropar

Bhagwanpura

HulasBanawali

Balu

Siswal

Kalibangon

Delhi

AFGHANISTAN

NEPAL

INDIA

Bhagatrav

Daimabad

Mumbai

Chennai

BAY

OF

BENGAL

Kolkata

AR

AB

IA

N

SE

A

Kagen-dor

Ancient cities

Modern towns

Alamgirpur

SriLanka

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THE arts of the Indus Valley Civilisation emerged duringthe second half of the third millennium BCE. The forms

of art found from various sites of the civilisation includesculptures, seals, pottery, gold jewellery, terracotta figures,etc. The artists of that time surely had fine artisticsensibilities and a vivid imagination. Their delineation ofhuman and animal figures was highly realistic in nature,since the anatomical details included in them was unique,and, in the case of terracotta art, the modelling of animalfigures was done in an extremely careful manner.

The two major sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation,along the Indus river—the cities of Harappa in the northand Mohenjodaro in the south—showcase one of earliestexamples of civic planning. Other markers were houses,markets, storage facilities, offices, public baths, etc.,arranged in a grid-like pattern. There was also a highlydeveloped drainage system. While Harappa andMohenjodaro are situated in Pakistan, the important sitesexcavated in India are Lothal and Dholavira in Gujarat,Rakhigarhi in Haryana, Ropar in the Punjab,Kalibangan and Balathal in Rajasthan, etc.

Statues whether in stone, bronze or terracottafound in Harappan sites are not abundant, but refined.

Stone Statues

The stone statuaries found at Harappa andMohenjodaro are excellent examples of handling three-dimensional volumes. In stone are two male figures—one is a torso in red sandstone and the other is abust of a bearded man in steatite—which areextensively discussed.

The figure of the bearded man interpreted as apriest, is draped in a shawl coming under the rightarm and covering the left shoulder. This shawl isdecorated with trefoil patterns. The eyes are a littleelongated, and half-closed as in meditativeconcentration. The nose is well formed and of medium

ARTS OFTHE INDUS VALLEY

Bust of a bearded priest

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size; the mouth is of average size with close-cut moustacheand a short beard and whiskers; the ears resemble doubleshells with a hole in the middle. The hair is parted in themiddle, and a plain woven fillet is passed round the head.An armlet is worn on the right hand and holes around theneck suggest a necklace.

Bronze Casting

The art of bronze-casting was practised on a wide scale bythe Harappans. Their bronze statues were made using the‘lost wax’ technique in which the wax figures were firstcovered with a coating of clay and allowed to dry. Then thewax was heated and the molten wax was drained outthrough a tiny hole made in the clay cover. The hollowmould thus created was filled with molten metal whichtook the original shape of the object. Once the metal cooled,the clay cover was completely removed. In bronze we findhuman as well as animal figures, the best example of theformer being the statue of a girl popularly titled ‘DancingGirl’. Amongst animal figures in bronze the buffalo withits uplifted head, back and sweeping horns and the goatare of artistic merit. Bronze casting was popular at all themajor centres of the Indus Valley Civilisation. The copperdog and bird of Lothal and the bronze figure of a bull fromKalibangan are in no way inferior to the human figures ofcopper and bronze from Harappa and Mohenjodaro. Metal-casting appears to be a continuous tradition. The lateHarappan and Chalcolithic sites like Daimabad inMaharashtra yielded excellent examples of metal-cast

Mother goddess, terracotta A terracotta figurine

Bronze castingtechniques of thesame nature arepractised even nowin many parts of thecountry, having acontinuoustradition.

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ARTS OF THE INDUS VALLEY 11

sculptures. They mainly consist of human and animalfigures. It shows how the tradition of figure sculpturecontinued down the ages.

Terracotta

The Indus Valley people made terracotta images also butcompared to the stone and bronze statues the terracottarepresentations of human form are crude in the IndusValley. They are more realistic in Gujarat sites andKalibangan. The most important among the Indus figuresare those representing the mother goddess. In terracotta,we also find a few figurines of bearded males with coiledhair, their posture rigidly upright, legs slightly apart, andthe arms parallel to the sides of the body. The repetition ofthis figure in exactly the same position would suggest thathe was a deity. A terracotta mask of a horned deity hasalso been found. Toy carts with wheels, whistles, rattles,birds and animals, gamesmen and discs were also renderedin terracotta.

Seals

Archaeologists have discovered thousands of seals, usuallymade of steatite, and occasionally of agate, chert, copper,faience and terracotta, with beautiful figures of animals,such as unicorn bull, rhinoceros, tiger, elephant, bison,goat, buffalo, etc. The realistic rendering of these animalsin various moods is remarkable. The purpose of producingseals was mainly commercial. It appears that the sealswere also used as amulets, carried on the persons of theirowners, perhaps as modern-day identity cards. Thestandard Harappan seal was a square plaque 2×2 squareinches, usually made from the soft river stone, steatite.Every seal is engraved in a pictographic script which isyet to be deciphered. Some seals have also been found ingold and ivory. They all bear a great variety of motifs, mostoften of animals including those of the bull, with or without

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the hump, the elephant, tiger, goat and alsomonsters. Sometimes trees or human figureswere also depicted. The most remarkable sealis the one depicted with a figure in the centreand animals around. This seal is generallyidentified as the Pashupati Seal by somescholars whereas some identify it as the femaledeity. This seal depicts a human figure seatedcross-legged. An elephant and a tiger aredepicted to the right side of the seated figure,while on the left a rhinoceros and a buffaloare seen. In addition to these animals twoantelopes are shown below the seat. Sealssuch as these date from between 2500 and1500 BCE and were found in considerablenumbers in sites such as the ancient city ofMohenjodaro in the Indus Valley. Figures andanimals are carved in intaglio on theirsurfaces.

Square or rectangular copper tablets, withan animal or a human figure on one side andan inscription on the other, or an inscriptionon both sides have also been found. The figuresand signs are carefully cut with a burin. Thesecopper tablets appear to have been amulets.Unlike inscriptions on seals which vary in eachcase, inscriptions on the copper tablets seemto be associated with the animals portrayedon them.

Pashupati seal/female deity

Unicorn seals

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Pottery

A large quantity of pottery excavated from the sites, enableus to understand the gradual evolution of various designmotifs as employed in different shapes, and styles. TheIndus Valley pottery consists chiefly of very fine wheel-made wares, very few being hand-made. Plain pottery ismore common than painted ware. Plain pottery is generallyof red clay, with or without a fine red or grey slip. It includesknobbed ware, ornamented with rows of knobs. The blackpainted ware has a fine coating of red slip on whichgeometric and animal designs are executed in glossy blackpaint.

Polychrome pottery is rare and mainly comprises smallvases decorated with geometric patterns in red, black, andgreen, rarely white and yellow. Incised ware is also rareand the incised decoration was confined to the bases ofthe pans, always inside and to the dishes of offering stands.Perforated pottery includes a large hole at the bottom andsmall holes all over the wall, and was probably used forstraining liquor. Pottery for household purposes is foundin as many shapes and sizes as could be conceived of fordaily practical use. Straight and angular shapes are anexception, while graceful curves are the rule. Miniaturevessels, mostly less than half an inch in height are,particularly, so marvellously crafted as to evoke admiration.

Beads and Ornaments

The Harappan men and women decorated themselves witha large variety of ornaments produced from everyconceivable material ranging from precious metals andgemstones to bone and baked clay. While necklaces, fillets,armlets and finger-rings were commonly worn by both

PotteryPerforated pot

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sexes, women wore girdles, earrings and anklets. Hoardsof jewellery found at Mohenjodaro and Lothal includenecklaces of gold and semi-precious stones, copperbracelets and beads, gold earrings and head ornaments,faience pendants and buttons, and beads of steatite andgemstones. All ornaments are well crafted. It may be notedthat a cemetery has been found at Farmana in Haryanawhere dead bodies were buried with ornaments.

The bead industry seems to have been well developedas evident from the factories discovered at Chanhudaroand Lothal. Beads were made of cornelian, amethyst,jasper, crystal, quartz, steatite, turquoise, lapis lazuli, etc.Metals like copper, bronze and gold, and shell, faience andterracotta or burnt clay were also used for manufacturingbeads. The beads are in varying shapes—disc-shaped,cylindrical, spherical, barrel-shaped, and segmented. Somebeads were made of two or more stones cemented together,some of stone with gold covers. Some were decorated byincising or painting and some had designs etched ontothem. Great technical skill has been displayed in themanufacture of these beads.

The Harappan people also made brilliantly naturalisticmodels of animals, especially monkeys and squirrels, usedas pin-heads and beads.

It is evident from the discovery of a large number ofspindles and spindle whorls in the houses of the Indus

Beadwork and jewellery items

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Valley that spinning of cotton and wool was very common.The fact that both the rich and the poor practised spinningis indicated by finds of whorls made of the expensive faienceas also of the cheap pottery and shell. Men and womenwore two separate pieces of attire similar to the dhoti andshawl. The shawl covered the left shoulder passing belowthe right shoulder.

From archaeological finds it appears that the people ofthe Indus Valley were conscious of fashion. Differenthairstyles were in vogue and wearing of a beard was popularamong all. Cinnabar was used as a cosmetic and face-paint, lipstick and collyrium (eyeliner) were also known tothem. Many stone structural remains are also found atDholavira which show how the Indus Valley people usedstone in construction.

The artists and craftsmen of the Indus Valley wereextremely skilled in a variety of crafts—metal casting, stonecarving, making and painting pottery and making terracottaimages using simplified motifs of animals, plants and birds.

EXERCISE

1. Would you agree that the people of the Indus ValleyCivilisation were great art lovers? Give reasons for youranswer.

2. What kind of similarities and differences do you findbetween present-day terracotta and the Indus Valleyterracotta?

3. Seals were made of different materials. With the IndusValley seals as a reference try to make seals with adifferent medium. Which are the animals that you wouldlike to carve on your seals and why?

4. What do the art objects that have survived tell us aboutthe daily life of the people of the Indus Valley Civilisation?

5. Imagine you are a curator working in a museum and youhave been given the task to create a museum exhibit onIndus art. Collect illustrations of at least ten objects madeof stone, metal and terracotta produced and used duringthe Indus Valley Civilisation and create this exhibit.

Terracotta toys

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BULL

This bronze figure of a bull fromMohenjodaro deserves mention. Themassiveness of the bull and the furyof the charge are eloquentlyexpressed. The animal is shownstanding with his head turned to theright and with a cord around theneck.

DANCING GIRL

One of the best known artefacts from the Indus Valleyis this approximately four-inch-high copper figureof a dancing girl. Found in Mohenjodaro, thisexquisite casting depicts a girl whose long hair istied in a bun. Bangles cover her left arm, a braceletand an amulet or bangle adorn her right arm, anda cowry shell necklace is seen around her neck.Her right hand is on her hip and her left hand isclasped in a traditional Indian dance gesture. Shehas large eyes and flat nose. This figure is full ofexpression and bodily vigour and conveys a lot ofinformation.


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MOTHER GODDESS

The mother goddess figures are usually crude standing femalefigures adorned with necklaces hanging over prominent breastsand wearing a loin cloth and a girdle. The fan-shaped head-dresswith a cup-like projection on each side is a distinct decorativefeature of the mother goddess figures of the Indus Valley. Thepellet eyes and beaked nose of the figures are very crude, and themouth is indicated by a slit.

MALE TORSO

In this red sandstone figure, there are socket holes in the neckand shoulders for the attachment of head and arms. The frontalposture of the torso has been consciously adopted. Theshoulders are well baked and the abdomen slightly prominent.

PAINTED EARTHEN JAR

Found in Mohenjodaro, this jar is made on apotter’s wheel with clay. The shape wasmanipulated by the pressure of the craftyfingers of the potter. After baking the claymodel, it was painted with black colour. Highpolishing was done as a finishing touch. Themotifs are of vegetals and geometric forms.Designs are simple but with a tendencytowards abstraction.

17ARTS OF THE INDUS VALLEY

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Map showing Mauryan sites (Outline map not to scale)

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SIXTH century BCE marks the beginning of newreligious and social movements in the Gangetic valley

in the form of Buddhism and Jainism which were part ofthe shraman tradition. Both religions became popular asthey opposed the varna and jati systems of the Hindureligion. Magadha emerged as a powerful kingdom andconsolidated its control over the other regions. By the fourthcentury BCE the Mauryas established their power and bythe third century BCE, a large part of India was underMauryan control. Ashoka emerged as the most powerfulking of the Mauryan dynasty who patronised the shramantradition in the third century BCE. Religious practices hadmany dimensions and were not confined to just oneparticular mode of worship. Worship of Yakshas and mother-goddesses were prevalent during that time. So, multipleforms of worship existed. Nevertheless, Buddhism becamethe most popular social and religious movement. Yakshaworship was very popular before and after the advent ofBuddhism and it was assimilated in Buddhism and Jainism.

Pillars, Sculptures and Rock-cut Architecture

Construction of stupas and viharas as part of monasticestablishments became part of the Buddhist tradition.However, in this period, apart from stupas and viharas,stone pillars, rock-cut caves and monumental figuresculptures were carved at several places. The tradition ofconstructing pillars is very old and it may be observedthat erection of pillars was prevalent in the Achamenianempire as well. But the Mauryan pillars are different fromthe Achamenian pillars. The Mauryan pillars are rock-cutpillars thus displaying the carver’s skills, whereas theAchamenian pillars are constructed in pieces by a mason.Stone pillars were erected all over the Mauryan Empirewith inscriptions engraved on them. The top portion of thepillar was carved with capital figures like the bull, thelion, the elephant, etc. All the capital figures are vigorous

ARTS OF THEMAURYAN PERIOD

Pillar capital and abacuswith stylised lotus

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Yaksha, Parkham

and carved standing on a square or circular abacus. Abacusesare decorated with stylised lotuses. Some of the existing pillarswith capital figures were found at Basarah-Bakhira, Lauriya-Nandangarh, Rampurva, Sankisa and Sarnath.

The Mauryan pillar capital found at Sarnath popularlyknown as the Lion Capital is the finest example of Mauryansculptural tradition. It is also our national emblem. It iscarved with considerable care—voluminous roaring lionfigures firmly standing on a circular abacus which is carvedwith the figures of a horse, a bull, a lion and an elephantin vigorous movement, executed with precision, showingconsiderable mastery in the sculptural techniques. Thispillar capital symbolising Dhammachakrapravartana (thefirst sermon by the Buddha) has become a standard symbolof this great historical event in the life of the Buddha.

Monumental images of Yaksha, Yakhinis and animals,pillar columns with capital figures, rock-cut caves belongingto the third century BCE have been found in different partsof India. It shows the popularity of Yaksha worship andhow it became part of figure representation in Buddhistand Jaina religious monuments.

Large statues of Yakshas and Yakhinis are found at manyplaces like Patna, Vidisha and Mathura. These monumentalimages are mostly in the standing position. One of thedistinguishing elements in all these images is their polishedsurface. The depiction of faces is in full round with pronouncedcheeks and physiognomic detail. One of the finest examplesis a Yakshi figure from Didarganj, Patna, which is tall andwell-built. It shows sensitivity towards depicting the humanphysique. The image has a polished surface.

Terracotta figurines show a very different delineation ofthe body as compared to the sculptures. Depiction of amonumental rock-cut elephant at Dhauli in Orissa showsmodelling in round with linear rhythm. It also has Ashokanrock-edict. All these examples are remarkable in theirexecution of figure representation. The rock-cut cave carvedat Barabar hills near Gaya in Bihar is known as the LomusRishi cave. The facade of the cave is decorated with thesemicircular chaitya arch as the entrance. The elephantfrieze carved in high relief on the chaitya arch showsconsiderable movement. The interior hall of this cave isrectangular with a circular chamber at the back. Theentrance is located on the side wall of the hall. The cavewas patronised by Ashoka for the Ajivika sect. The LomusRishi cave is an isolated example of this period. But manyBuddhist caves of the subsequent periods were excavatedin eastern and western India.

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ARTS OF THE MAURYAN PERIOD 21

Due to the popularity of Buddhism and Jainism, stupasand viharas were constructed on a large scale. However,there are also examples of a few Brahmanical gods in thesculptural representations. It is important to note that thestupas were constructed over the relics of the Buddha atRajagraha, Vaishali, Kapilavastu, Allakappa, Ramagrama,Vethadipa, Pava, Kushinagar and Pippalvina. The textualtradition also mentions construction of various other stupason the relics of the Buddha at several places includingAvanti and Gandhara which are outside the Gangetic valley.

Stupa, vihara and chaitya are part of Buddhist and Jainamonastic complexes but the largest number belongs to theBuddhist religion. One of the best examples of the structureof a stupa in the third century BCE is at Bairat inRajasthan. It is a very grand stupa having a circular moundwith a circumambulatory path. The great stupa at Sanchi(which will be discussed later) was built with bricks duringthe time of Ashoka and later it was covered with stone andmany new additions were made.

Subsequently many such stupas were constructed whichshows the popularity of Buddhism. From the secondcentury BCE onwards, we get many inscriptional evidencesmentioning donors and, at times, their profession. Thepattern of patronage has been a very collective one andthere are very few examples of royal patronage. Patronsrange from lay devotees to gahapatis and kings. Donationsby the guilds are also mentioned at several sites. However,there are very few inscriptions mentioning the names ofartisans such as Kanha at Pitalkhora and his discipleBalaka at Kondane caves. Artisans’ categories like stonecarvers, goldsmiths, stone-polishers, carpenters, etc. arealso mentioned in the inscriptions. The method of working

Elephant, Dhauli Lomus Rishi cave-entrance detail

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LION CAPITAL, SARNATH


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The Lion Capital discovered more than a hundred years agoat Sarnath, near Varanasi, is generally referred to as SarnathLion Capital. This is one of the finest examples of sculpturefrom the Mauryan period. Built in commemoration of thehistorical event of the first sermon or the Dhammachakrapravartanaby the Buddha at Sarnath, the capital was built by Ashoka.

The capital originally consisted of five component parts:(i) the shaft (which is broken in many parts now), (ii) a lotusbell base, (iii) a drum on the bell base with four animalsproceeding clockwise, (iv) the figures of four majestic addorsedlions, and (v) the crowning element, Dharamchakra, a largewheel, was also a part of this pillar. However, this wheel islying in a broken condition and is displayed in the site museumat Sarnath. The capital without the crowning wheel and thelotus base has been adopted as the National Emblem ofIndependent India.

Now kept in the archaeological museum at Sarnath, thecapital has four lions firmly seated back to back on a circularabacus. The lion figures of the capital are very impressive andmassive. The monumentality of the image is easily noticeable.The facial musculature of the lions is very strong. The inversedlines of the lips and its subsequent effect of projection at theend of the lips show the sculptor’s observation for naturalisticdepiction. The lions appear as if they have held their breath.The lines of the mane are sharp and follow the conventionsthat were in practice during that time. The surface of thesculpture is heavily polished which is typical of the MauryanPeriod. Their curly manes have protruding volume. The weightof the body of each lion is firmly shown by the stretched musclesof the feet. The abacus has the depiction of a chakra (wheel)having twenty-four spokes in all the four directions and a bull,a horse, an elephant and a lion between every chakra is finelycarved. The motif of the chakra becomes significant as arepresentation of the Dhammachkra in the entire Buddhist art.Each animal figure, despite sticking to the surface, isvoluminous, its posture creating movement in the circularabacus. Despite having limited space between each chakra,these animal figures display considerable command over thedepiction of movement in a limited space. The circular abacusis supported by an inverted lotus capital. Each petal of thelotus is sculpted keeping in mind its density. The lower portionhas curved planes neatly carved. Being a pillar image, it wasconceived to be viewed from all the side, thus there are noboundations of fixed view points. A lion capital has also beenfound at Sanchi but is in a dilapidated condition. The motif oflion-capital-pillar continued even in the subsequent period.


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DIDARGUNJ YAKSHINI


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The life-size standing image of a Yakshini holding a chauri (flywhisk)from Didargunj near modern Patna is another good example of thesculptural tradition of the Mauryan Period. Kept in Patna Museum,it is a tall, well-proportioned, free-standing sculpture in round madein sandstone with a polished surface. The chauri is held in the righthand whereas the left hand is broken. The image showssophistication in the treatment of form and medium. The sculptor’ssensitivity towards the round muscular body is clearly visible. Theface has round, fleshy cheeks, while the neck is relatively small inproportion; the eyes, nose and lips are sharp. Folds of muscles areproperly rendered. The necklace beads are in full round, hanging tothe belly. The tightening of garment around the belly creates theeffect of a bulging belly. The lower garment has been rendered withgreat care. Every fold of the garment on the legs is shown byprotruding lines clinging to the legs, which also create a somewhattransparent effect. The middle band of the garment falls till the feet.Thick bell-ornaments adorn the feet. The image stands firmly on itslegs. Heaviness in the torso is depicted by heavy breasts. The backis equally impressive. The hair is tied in a knot at the back. Theback is bare. Drapery at the back covers both legs. The flywhisk inthe right hand is shown with incised lines continued on the back ofthe image.


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was collective in nature and at times only a specific portionof the monument is said to have been patronised by aparticular patron. Traders recorded their donation alongwith their place of origin.

In the subsequent century, stupas were elaborately builtwith certain additions like the enclosing of thecircumambulatory path with railings and sculpturaldecoration. There were numerous stupas constructed earlierbut expansions or new additions were made in the secondcentury BCE. The stupa consists of a cylindrical drumand a circular anda with a harmika and chhatra on thetop which remain consistent throughout with minorvariations and changes in shape and size. Apart from thecircumambulatory path, gateways were added. Thus, withthe elaborations in stupa architecture, there was amplespace for the architects and sculptors to plan elaborationsand to carve out images.

During the early phase of Buddhism, Buddha is depictedsymbolically through footprints, stupas, lotus throne,chakra, etc. This indicates either simple worship, or payingrespect, or at times depicts historisisation of life events.Gradually narrative became a part of the Buddhisttradition. Thus events from the life of the Buddha, theJataka stories, were depicted on the railings and torans ofthe stupas. Mainly synoptic narrative, continuous narrativeand episodic narrative are used in the pictorial tradition.While events from the life of the Buddha became animportant theme in all the Buddhist monuments, the Jatakastories also became equally important for sculpturaldecorations. The main events associated with the Buddha’slife which were frequently depicted were events related tothe birth, renunciation, enlightenment, dhammachakra-pravartana, and mahaparinibbana (death). Among theJataka stories that are frequently depicted are ChhadantaJataka, Vidurpundita Jataka, Ruru Jataka, Sibi Jataka,Vessantara Jataka and Shama Jataka.

Stupa worship, Bharhut

EXERCISE1. Do you think that the art of making sculptures in India

began during the Mauryan period?

2. What was the significance of the stupa and how did stupaarchitecture develop?

3. Which were the four events in the life of the Buddha whichhave been depicted in different forms of Buddhist art? Whatdid these events symbolise?

4. What are the Jatakas? How do the Jatakas relate toBuddhism? Find out.

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FROM the second century BCE onwards, various rulersestablished their control over the vast Mauryan Empire:

the Shungas, Kanvas, Kushanas and Guptas in the northand parts of central India; the Satvahanas, Ikshavakus,Abhiras, Vakataks in southern and western India.Incidentally, the period of the second century BCE alsomarked the rise of the main Brahmanical sects such asthe Vaishnavas and the Shaivas. There are numerous sitesdating back to the second century BCE in India. Some ofthe prominent examples of the finest sculpture are foundat Vidisha, Bharhut (Madhya Pradesh), Bodhgaya (Bihar),Jaggayyapeta (Andhra Pradesh), Mathura (Uttar Pradesh),Khandagiri-Udaigiri (Odisha), Bhaja near Pune and Pavaninear Nagpur (Maharashtra).

Bharhut

Bharhut sculptures are tall like the images of Yaksha andYakhshini in the Mauryan period, modelling of thesculptural volume is in low relief maintaining linearity.Images stick to the picture plane. In the relief panelsdepicting narratives, illusion of three-dimensionality isshown with tilted perspective. Clarity in the narrative isenhanced by selecting main events. At Bharhut, narrativepanels are shown with fewer characters but as the timeprogresses, apart from the main character in the story,others also start appearing in the picture space. At timesmore than one event at one geographical place is clubbedin the picture space or only a single main event is depictedin the pictorial space.

Availability of the space is utilised to the maximum bythe sculptors. Folded hands in the narratives as well assingle figures of the Yakhshas and Yakshinis are shownflat clinging to the chest. But in some cases, especially inlater times, the hands are shown with the naturalprojection against the chest. Such examples show howartisans who were working at a collective level had to

POST-MAURYAN TRENDS ININDIAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE

Yakshini, Bharhut

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understand the method of carving. Initially, dressing thesurface of stone slabs appears as the main concern. Laterthe human body and other forms were sculpted. Due toshallow carving of the picture surface, projection of handsand feet was not possible, hence, the folded hands andawkward position of the feet. There is a general stiffnessin the body and arms. But gradually, such visualappearance was modified by making images with deepcarvings, pronounced volume and a very naturalisticrepresentation of human and animal bodies. Sculpturesat Bharhut, Bodhgaya, Sanchi Stupa-2, and Jagayyapettaare good examples.

Narrative reliefs at Bharhut show how artisans usedthe pictorial language very effectively to communicate stories.In one such narrative, showing Queen Mayadevi’s (motherof Siddhartha Gautam) dream, a descending elephant isshown. The queen is shown reclining on the bed whereasan elephant is shown on the top heading towards the wombof Queen Mayadevi. On the other hand, the depiction of aJataka story is very simple—narrated by clubbing the eventsaccording to the geographical location of the story like thedepiction of Ruru Jataka where the Boddhisattva deer isrescuing a man on his back. The other event in the samepicture frame depicts the King standing with his army andabout to shoot an arrow at the deer, and the man who was

Queen Maya’s dream, BharhutJataka panel , Bharhut

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POST-MAURYAN TRENDS IN INDIAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE 29

rescued by the deer is also shown along with the kingpointing a finger at the deer. According to the story, theman promised the deer after his rescue that he would notdisclose his identity to anybody. But when the king makesa proclamation of reward for disclosing the identity of thedeer, he turns hostile and takes the king to the same junglewhere he had seen the deer. Such Jataka stories becamepart of stupa decoration. Interestingly, with the rise in theconstruction of stupas in various parts of the country,regional stylistic variations also began to emerge. One maincharacteristic in all the male images of first–secondcenturies BCE is the knotted headgear. In many sculpturesit is very consistent. Some of the sculptures found atBharhut are displayed in Indian Museum, Kolkata.

Sanchi

The next phase of sculptural development at Sanchi Stupa-1,Mathura, and Vengi in Andhra Pradesh (Guntur District)is noteworthy in the stylistic progression. Stupa-1 at Sanchihas upper as well as lower pradakshinapatha orcircumambulatory path. It has four beautifully decoratedtoranas depicting various events from the life of the Buddhaand the Jatakas. Figure compositions are in high relief,filling up the entire space. Depiction of posture getsnaturalistic and there is no stiffness in the body. Headshave considerable projection in the picture space. Rigidity

Chhatri

Harmika

Anda

Medhi

Vedika

Pradakshinapatha

Torana Plan of Stupa-1, Sanchi

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in the contours gets reduced and images are givenmovement. Narration gets elaborated. Carving techniquesappear more advanced than Bharhut. Symbols continueto be used representing the Buddha and the ManushiBuddhas or the past Buddhas (according to the textualtradition, there are twenty-four Buddhas but only the firstone, Dipankar, and the last six are pictorially represented).At Sanchi Stupa-1, narratives get more elaborated;however, the depiction of the dream episode remains verysimple showing the reclining image of the queen and theelephant at the top. The historical narratives such as thesiege of Kushinara, Buddha’s visit to Kapilavastu, visit ofAshoka to the Ramgrama Stupa are carved withconsiderable details. In Mathura, images of this periodbear the same quality but are different in the depiction ofphysiognomic details.

Mathura, Sarnath and Gandhara Schools

The first century CE onwards, Gandhara (now in Pakistan),Mathura in northern India and Vengi in Andhra Pradeshemerged as important centres of art production. Buddhain the symbolic form got a human form in Mathura andGandhara. The sculptural tradition in Gandhara had theconfluence of Bactria, Parthia and the local Gandharatradition. The local sculptural tradition at Mathura becameso strong that the tradition spread to other parts of northernIndia. The best example in this regard is the stupa sculpturesfound at Sanghol in the Punjab. The Buddha image atMathura is modelled on the lines of earlier Yaksha imageswhereas in Gandhara it has Hellenistic features.

Images of Vaishnava (mainly Vishnu and his variousforms) and Shaiva (mainly the lingas and mukhalingas)faiths are also found at Mathura but Buddhist images arefound in large numbers. It may be noted that the imagesof Vishnu and Shiva are represented by their ayudhas(weapons). There is boldness in carving the large images,the volume of the images is projected out of the pictureplane, the faces are round and smiling, heaviness in thesculptural volume is reduced to relaxed flesh. The garmentsof the body are clearly visible and they cover the leftshoulder. Images of the Buddha, Yakshas, Yakshinis,Shaivite and Vaishnavite deities and portrait statues areprofusely sculpted. In the second century CE, images inMathura get sensual, rotundity increases, they becomefleshier. In the third century CE, treatment of sculpturalvolume changes by reducing the extreme fleshiness,movement in the posture is shown by increasing distance

Part of railing, Sangol

Stone carving, Stupa-1,Sanchi

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between the two legs as well as by using bents in the bodyposture. Softness in the surface continues to get refined.The trend continues in the fourth century CE but in thelate fourth century CE, the massiveness and fleshiness isreduced further and the flesh becomes more tightened,the volume of the drapery also gets reduced and in thefifth and sixth centuries CE, the drapery is integrated intothe sculptural mass. Transparent quality in the robes ofthe Buddha images is evident. In this period, two importantschools of sculptures in northern India are worth noting.The traditional centre, Mathura, remained the main artproduction site whereas Sarnath and Kosambi also emergedas important centres of art production. Many Buddhaimages in Sarnath have plain transparent drapery coveringboth shoulders, and the halo around the head has verylittle ornamentation whereas the Mathura Buddha imagescontinue to depict folds of the drapery in the Buddha imagesand the halo around the head is profusely decorated. Onecan visit museums at Mathura, Sarnath, Varanasi, NewDelhi, Chennai, Amaravati, etc. to study the features ofearly sculptures.

Bodhisattva, Gandhar, fifth–sixth century CEMeditating Buddha, Gandhar,third–fourth century CE

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Early Temples

While construction of stupas continued, Brahmanicaltemples and images of gods also started gettingconstructed. Often temples were decorated with the imagesof gods. Myths mentioned in the Puranas became part ofnarrative representation of the Brahmanical religion. Eachtemple had a principal image of a god. The shrines of thetemples were of three kinds—(i) sandhara type (withoutpradikshinapatha), (ii) nirandhara type (withpradakshinapatha), and (iii) sarvatobhadra (which can beaccessed from all sides). Some of the important templesites of this period are Deogarh in Uttar Pradesh, Eran,Nachna-Kuthara and Udaygiri near Vidisha in MadhyaPradesh. These temples are simple structures consistingof a veranda, a hall and a shrine at the rear. They will bediscussed in detail in the next chapter.

Among the important stupa sites outside the Gangeticvalley is Devnimori in Gujarat. In the subsequent centuriessculptures had little variations while slender images withtransparent drapery remained a dominant aestheticsensibility.

Shiva temple, Nachna-Kuthara, Madhya Pradesh, fifth century CE

Buddhist Monuments of South India

Vengi in Andhra Pradesh has many stupa sites likeJagayyapetta, Amaravati, Bhattiprolu, Nagarjunkonda,Goli, etc. Amaravati has a mahachaitya and had manysculptures which are now preserved in Chennai Museum,

Chatur Mukhlinga,Nachna- Kuthara (Inset)

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Amaravati Site Museum, National Museum, New Delhi andthe British Museum, London. Like the Sanchi Stupa, theAmaravati Stupa also has pradakshinapatha enclosedwithin a vedika on which many narrative sculptures aredepicted. The domical stupa structure is covered with reliefstupa sculptural slabs which is a unique feature. The toranaof the Amaravati Stupa has disappeared over a period oftime. Events from the life of the Buddha and the Jatakastories are depicted. Though in the Amaravati Stupa thereis evidence of construction activity in the third centuryBCE, it was best developed in the first and second centuriesCE. Like Sanchi, the early phase is devoid of Buddha imagesbut during the later phase, in the second and thirdcenturies CE, the Buddha images are carved on the drumslabs and at many other places. Interior space in thecomposition is created by different postures of the figuressuch as semi-back, back, profile, frontal, semi-frontal,side, etc.

Sculptural form in this area is characterised by intenseemotions. Figures are slender, have a lot of movement,bodies are shown with three bents (i.e. tribhanga), and thesculptural composition is more complex than at Sanchi.Linearity becomes flexible, dynamic movement breaks thestaticness of form. The idea of creating three-dimensionalspace in the relief sculpture is devised by using pronouncedvolume, angular bodies and complex overlapping. However,

Carving on outer wall of Stupa, Amaravati Stupa drum slab, Amravati, secondcentury CE

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absolute attention has been paid to the clarity of formdespite its size and role in the narrative. Narratives areprofusely depicted which include events from the life ofthe Buddha and the Jataka stories. There are a number ofJataka scenes that have not been completely identified. Inthe depiction of the birth event, the queen is shownreclining on a bed surrounded by female attendants and asmall-sized elephant is carved on the upper frame of thecomposition showing the dream of Queen Mayadevi. Inanother relief, four events related to the birth of the Buddhaare shown. These represent varied ways of depicting thenarratives.

The animated movement in the figures gets reduced inthe sculptures of Nagarjunkonda and Goli in the thirdcentury CE. Even within the relatively low relief volumethan in the Amaravati sculptures, artists atNagarjunkonda and Goli managed to create the effect ofprotruding surfaces of the body which is suggestive innature and look very integral. Independent Buddha imagesare also found at Amaravati, Nagarjunkonda andGuntapalle. Guntapalle is a rock-cut cave site near Eluru.Small apsidal and circular chaitya halls have beenexcavated belonging to the second century BCE. The otherimportant site where rock-cut stupas have been excavatedis Anakapalle near Vishakhapatanam. In Karnataka,Sannati is the largest stupa site excavated so far. It alsohas a stupa like the one in Amaravati decorated withsculptural relief.

Panel, Nagarjunkonda

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Construction of a large number of stupas does not meanthat there were no structured temples or viharas or chaityas.We do get evidences but no structured chaitya or viharasurvived. Among the important structured viharas, mentionmay be made of the Sanchi apsidal chaitya structure, i.e.,temple 18, which is a simple shrine temple having frontpillars and a hall at the back. Similar structured templesat Guntapalle are also worth mentioning. Along with theimages of the Buddha, other Buddhist images ofBoddhisattvas like Avalokiteshvara, Padmapani, Vajrapani,Amitabha, and Maitreya Buddha started getting sculpted.However, with the rise of Vajrayana Buddhism manyBoddhisattva images were added as a part of the personifiedrepresentations of certain virtues or qualities as propagatedby the Buddhist religious principles for the welfare ofthe masses.

Cave Tradition in Western India

In western India, many Buddhist caves dating back to thesecond century BCE onwards have been excavated. Mainlythree architectural types were executed—(i) apsidal vault-roof chaitya halls (found at Ajanta, Pitalkhora, Bhaja); (ii)apsidal vault-roof pillarless hall (found at Thana-Nadsur);and (iii) flat-roofed quadrangular hall with a circularchamber at the back (found at Kondivite). The front of thechaitya hall is dominated by the motif of a semi-circularchaitya arch with an open front which has a wooden facadeand, in some cases, there is no dominating chaitya archwindow such as found at Kondivite. In all the chaitya cavesa stupa at the back is common.

In the first century BCE some modifications were madeto the standard plan of the apsidal vault-roof variety wherethe hall becomes rectangular like at Ajanta Cave No. 9

Unfinished chaitya cave, Kanheri Chaitya hall, Karla

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with a stone-screen wall as a facade.It is also found at Bedsa, Nashik,Karla and Kanheri. Many cave siteshave the standard first type of chaityahalls in the subsequent period. InKarla, the biggest rock-cut chaityahall was excavated. The cave consistsof an open courtyard with two pillars,a stone screen wall to protect fromrain, a veranda, a stone-screen wallas facade, an apsidal vault-roofchaitya hall with pillars, and a stupaat the back. Karla chaitya hall isdecorated with human and animal

figures. They are heavy in theirexecution, and move in the picture space. Furtherelaboration over the Karla chaitya hall plan is observed atKanheri Cave No.3. Though the cave’s interior was notfully finished, it shows how the carving progressed fromtime to time. Subsequently, the quadrangular flat-roofedvariety became the most preferred design and is extensivelyfound at many places.

The viharas are excavated in all the cave sites. Theplan of the viharas consists of a veranda, a hall and cellsaround the walls of the hall. Some of the important viharacaves are Ajanta Cave No. 12, Bedsa Cave No. 11, NashikCave Nos. 3, 10 and 17. Many of the early vihara caves arecarved with interior decorative motifs like chaitya archesand the vedica designs over the cell doors of the cave.Facade design in Nashik Cave Nos. 3, 10, and 17 became adistinct achievement. The vihara caves at Nashik were

excavated with front pillars carvedwith ghata-base and ghata-capitalwith human figures. One such viharacave was also excavated at Junnarwhich is popularly known asGaneshleni because an image ofGanesha belonging to a later periodwas installed in it. Later, a stupa wasadded at the back of the hall of thevihara and it became a chaitya-vihara.The stupas in the fourth and fifthcenturies CE have Buddha imagesattached. Junnar has the largestcave excavations— more than twohundred caves around the hills of thetown—whereas Kanheri in Mumbai

Chaitya, Cave No. 12, Bhaja

Nashik Cave No. 3

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has a hundred and eight excavated caves. The mostimportant sites are Ajanta, Pitalkhora, Ellora, Nashik,Bhaja, Junnar, Karla, Kanheri. Ajanta, Ellora, and Kanhericontinue to flourish. Earlier it was presumed that becauseof the absence of the Buddha image, the caves wereconsidered belonging to the orthodox faith of Buddhism,i.e., the Thervadins, but with the discovery of the KonkanMaurya inscription mentioning the Saka era 322, i.e., 400CE, it is now satisfactorily proved that the cave activity inwestern Deccan was an ongoing process and many caveshad been carved with Buddha images where the imagedoes not exist any more. It may also be noted that manycaves are converted into modern Hindu shrines and havebecome popular worshipping sites.

Ajanta

The most famous cave site is Ajanta. It is located inAurangabad District of Maharashtra State. Ajanta hastwenty-nine caves. It has four chaitya caves datable to theearlier phase, i.e., the second and the first century BCE(Cave Nos. 10 and 9) and the later phase, i.e., the fifthcentury CE (Cave Nos. 19 and 26). It has large chaitya-viharas and is decorated with sculptures and paintings.Ajanta is the only surviving example of painting of thefirst century BCE and the fifth century CE. The caves atAjanta as well as in western Deccan in general have noprecise chronology because of the lack of known datedinscriptions.

Cave Nos. 10, 9, 12 and 13 belong to the early phase,Caves Nos. 11, 15 and 6 upper and lower, and Cave No. 7belong to the phase earlier than late fifth century CE. Therest of the caves belong to late fifth century CE to earlysixth century CE. The chaitya Cave Nos. 19 and 26 areelaborately carved. Theirfacade is decorated withBuddha and, Boddhisattvaimages. They are of theapsidal-vault-roof variety.Cave No. 26 is very big andthe entire interior hall iscarved with a variety ofBuddha images, the biggestone being the Mahaparinibbanaimage. The rest of the cavesare vihara-chaitya caves. Theyconsist of a pillared veranda,a pillared hall and cells along

View, Ajanta Caves

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the walls. The back wall has the main Buddha shrine.Shrine images at Ajanta are grand in size. Some of thevihara caves are unfinished such as Cave Nos. 5, 14, 2324, 28 and 29. Among the important patrons at Ajantawere Varahadeva (patron of Cave No. 16), the prime ministerof the Vakataka king, Harishena; Upendragupta (patron of

Cave Nos. 17–20) the local king of the region andfeudatory of the Vakataka king, Harishena;Buddhabhadra (patron of Cave No. 26); andMathuradasa (patron of Cave No. 4). Manypaintings have survived in Cave Nos. 1, 2, 16and 17.

Paintings have a lot of typological variations.Outward projections are used in the Ajantapaintings of the fifth century CE. Lines are clearlydefined and are very rhythmic. Body colour getsmerged with the outer line creating the effect ofvolume. The figures are heavy like the sculpturesof western India.

The caves of the early phase also have paintingsespecially Cave Nos. 9 and 10. Paintings in CaveNo. 10 are an afterthought as is evident from theplastering over the early inscriptions inside thecave. On the other hand the paintings in Cave No.9 are part of the preplanning. They belong to thefirst century BCE. The figures are broad with heavyproportion and arranged in the picture space in alinear way. Lines are sharp. Colours are limited.

Sculptural panel in the veranda of Cave No. 2, Ajanta

Painting of the Buddha,Yashodhra and Rahul,Cave No. 17, Ajanta

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Figures in these caves are paintedwith considerable naturalism andthere is no over -stylisation.Events are grouped togetheraccording to geographicallocation. Tiered, horizontally-arranged figures appear as aconvenient choice of the artisans.Separation of geographic locationhas been indicated by usingoutward architectural bands.Figures appear like the Sanchisculptures which indicate howthe lithic and painting traditionswere progressing simultaneously.The frontal knot of the headgear of the figures follows thesame pattern as that of the sculptures. However, thereare a few different patterns of headgear.

The second phase of paintings can be studied from theimages of the Buddhas painted on the walls and pillars ofCave Nos. 10 and 9. These Buddha figures are differentfrom the figures painted in the fifth century CE. Suchdevelopments in paintings need to be understood in thecontext of the religious requirement. Cave excavation and

Apsara, Cave No. 17, Ajanta

Painted ceiling, Cave No. 10, Ajanta

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painting were simultaneous processes and dating of thepaintings follows the date of the cave excavations. Thenext stage of development is observed mainly in thepaintings of Cave Nos. 16, 17, 1, and 2. However, it doesnot mean that pictures had not been painted in other caves.Infact almost in all the finished excavations, pictures havebeen painted but very few have survived. Paintings havetypological variations in these caves. It may also beobserved that various skin colours are used in the paintingssuch as brown, yellowish brown, greenish, yellow ochre,etc. which represent a multicoloured population. Paintingsof Cave Nos. 16 and 17 have precise and elegant painterlyquality. They do not bear the ponderous volume of thesculptures in the caves. Movements in the figures are veryrhythmic. Brown thick dark lines are used as contours.Lines are forceful and full of energy. Attempts are alsomade to give highlights in the figural compositions.

The paintings of Cave Nos. 1 and 2 are very orderly andnaturalistic, well integrated with the sculptures in the caves.Architectural setting is simple and the arrangement offigures is delineated in the circular form to create three-dimensionality and the special effects. Half-closed, elongatedeyes are employed. Different guilds of artisans seem to haveworked on the paintings of these caves which can be inferredfrom their typological and stylistic variations. Naturalisticpostures and unexaggerated facial features are used asexceptional types.

The themes of the paintings are the events from thelife of the Buddha, the Jatakas and the Avadanas. Some

Paintings, Cave No. 9, Ajanta

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paintings such as Simhala Avadana, Mahajanaka Jatakaand Vidhurpundita Jataka cover the entire wall of the cave.It is worth noting that Chaddanta Jataka has been paintedin the early Cave No. 10 with many details and eventsgrouped according to their geographical locations. Eventsthat happened in the jungle and events that happened inthe palace are separated by their locations. In Cave No. 10Chaddanta faithfully follows the Pali text whereas the onepainted in Cave No. 17 is very different. In one of the events,the Boddhisattva, Chaddanta, is shown removing his owntusk and giving it to the hunter, Sonuttar. The otherimportant paintings are the famous Padmapani andVajrapani in Cave No. 1. However, it may be observed thatthe images of Padmapani and Vajrapani are very commonin Ajanta but the best preserved paintings are in Cave No.1. Some figures in Cave No. 2 have affiliation with theVengi sculptures and at the same time, the influence ofthe Vidarbha sculptural tradition is also observed in thedelineation of some sculptures. The subsequentdevelopment of the painting tradition has been discussedin the next chapter.

Ellora

Another important cave site located in Aurangabad Districtis Ellora. It is located a hundred kilometres from Ajantaand has thirty-two Buddhist, Brahmanical and Jain caves.It is a unique art-historical site in the country as it hasmonastries associated with the three religions dating fromthe fifth century CE onwards to the eleventh century CE.

Seated Buddha, chaitya hall,Cave No. 10, Ellora

Courtyard, Kailash Temple,Cave No.16, Ellora

Part of Mahajanaka Jatakapanel, Cave No. 1, Ajanta

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It is also unique in terms of stylistic eclecticism, i.e.,confluence of many styles at one place. The caves of Elloraand Aurangabad show the ongoing differences between thetwo religions—Buddhism and Brahmanical. There aretwelve Buddhist caves having many images belonging toVajrayana Buddhism like Tara, Mahamayuri, Akshobhya,Avalokiteshwara, Maitrya, Amitabha, etc. Buddhist cavesare big in size and are of single, double and triple storeys.Their pillars are massive. Ajanta also has excavateddouble-storeyed caves but at Ellora, the triple storey is aunique achievement. All the caves were plastered andpainted but nothing visible is left. The shrine Buddhaimages are big in size; they are generally guarded by theimages of Padmapani and Vajrapani. Cave No. 12, whichis a triple-storey excavation, has images of Tara,Avalokiteshwara, Manushi Buddhas and the images ofVairochana, Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha,Amoghsiddhi, Vajrasatva and Vajraraja. On the other hand,the only double-storey cave of the Brahmanical faith isCave No. 14. Pillar designs grow from the Buddhist cavesand when they reach the Jain caves belonging to the ninthcentury CE, they become very ornate and the decorativeforms gain heavy protrusion.

The Brahmanical cave Nos. 13–28 have manysculptures. Many caves are dedicated to Shaivism, butthe images of both Shiva and Vishnu and their various

Gajasur Shiva, Cave No.15, Ellora

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forms according to Puranic narrative are depicted. Amongthe Shaivite themes, Ravana shaking Mount Kailash,Andhakasurvadha, Kalyanasundara are profusely depictedwhereas among the Vaishnavite themes, the differentavatars of Vishnu are depicted. The sculptures at Elloraare monumental, and have protruding volume that createdeep recession in the picture space. The images are heavyand show considerable sophistication in the handling ofsculptural volume. Various guilds at Ellora came fromdifferent places like Vidarbha, Karnataka and Tamil Naduand carved the sculptures. Thereby it is the most diversesite in India in terms of the sculptural styles. Cave No. 16is known as Kailash leni. A rock-cut temple has been carvedout of a single rock, a unique achievement of the artisans,which will be discussed in the next chapter. Among theimportant Shaivite caves are Cave No. 29 and Cave No. 21.The plan of Cave No. 29 is almost like that of the main caveat Elephanta. The sculptural quality of Cave Nos. 29, 21,17, 14 and 16 is amazing for its monumentality and vigorousmovements in the picture space.

Elephanta Caves and Other Sites

The Elephanta Caves located near Mumbai, were originallya Buddhist site which was later dominated by the Shaivitefaith. It is contemporary with Ellora, and its sculpturesshow slenderness in the body, with stark light and darkeffects. The other noteworthy cave site is Bagh locatednear Indore in Madhya Pradesh.

Entrance to Elephanta Caves

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The tradition of rock-cut caves continued in the Deccanand they are found not only in Maharashtra but also inKarnataka, mainly at Badami and Aiholi, executed underthe patronage of the Chalukyas; in Andhra Pradesh in thearea of Vijayawada; and in Tamil Nadu, mainly atMahabalipuram, under the patronage of the Pallavas. Thepost-sixth-century development of art history in the countrydepended more on political patronage than the collectivepublic patronage of the early historic periods.

Mention may also be made of the terracotta figurinesthat are found at many places all over the country. Theyshow a parallel tradition with the religious lithic sculpturesas well as the independent local tradition. Many terracottafigures of various sizes are found which show theirpopularity. They are toys, religious figurines as well asfigurines made for healing purposes as part of the beliefsystems.

Cave Tradition in Eastern India

Like in western India, Buddhist caves have also beenexcavated in eastern India, mainly in the coastal region ofAndhra Pradesh, and in Odisha. One of the main sites inAndhra Pradesh is Guntapalle in Eluru district. The caveshave been excavated in the hills along with the structuredmonasteries. Perhaps it is among the very unique siteswhere the structured stupas, viharas and the caves areexcavated at one place. The Guntapalle chaitya cave iscircular with a stupa in the circular hall and a chaityaarch carved at the entrance. The cave is relatively smallwhen compared to the caves in western India. A numberof vihara caves have been excavated. The main vihara caves,despite the small dimensions, have been decorated with

Details of the veranda, Udaigiri-KhandagiriUdaigiri-Khandagiri caves near Bhubaneswar

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EXERCISE1. Describe the physical and aesthetic features of Sanchi

Stupa-I.

2. Analyse the stylistic trends of the sculptures in North Indiaduring the fifth and sixth centuries.

3. How did cave architecture develop in different parts ofIndia, from cave shelters to the monolitic temple at Ellora?

4. Why are the mural paintings of Ajanta renowned?

chaitya arches on the exterior. They are rectangular withvaulted roof and are carved single-storeyed or double-storeyed without a large central hall. These excavationsdate back to the second century BCE. There are someexcavations which were added in the subsequent centuriesbut all are of the vihara type. Apart from Guntapalle, theother important cave site is Rampaerrampallam which hasvery moderate small excavations but there are rock-cutstupas on the hillock. At Anakapalli near Vishakhapatnam,caves were excavated and a huge rock-cut stupa was carvedout of the hillock during the fourth–fifth centuries CE. Itis a unique site as it has the biggest rock-cut stupas inthe country. Many votive rock-cut stupas all around thehillock have also been excavated.

The rock-cut cave tradition also existed in Odisha. Theearliest examples are the Udaigiri-Khandagiri caves in thevicinity of Bhubaneswar. These caves are scattered andhave inscriptions of Kharavela kings. According to theinscriptions, the caves were meant for Jain monks. Thereare numerous single-cell excavations. Some have beencarved in huge independent boulders and given the shapeof animals. The big caves include a cave with a pillaredveranda with cells at the back. The upper part of the cellsis decorated with a series of chaitya arches and narrativesthat still continue in the folklores of the region. The figuresin this cave are voluminous, move freely in the picturespace, and are an excellent example of qualitative carving.Some caves in this complex were excavated later, sometime in the eighth–ninth centuries CE.© N

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STU

PA-1

, S

AN

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IAN INTRODUCTION TO INDIAN ART46

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San

chi, a

bou

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m B

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of im

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th

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dic

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are

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than

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onS

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por

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of

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narr

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ves

in s

tup

as.

Th

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at

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small in

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show

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of a t

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sh

alb

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njik

as.


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SEATED BUDDHA, KATRA MOUND, MATHURA


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Mathura was a great centre for making sculpturesduring the early historic period and many images havebeen found here. A large number of images datingback to the Kushana Period is from Mathura. Adistinct way of sculpting practised at Mathura makesthe images found here different from those at othercentres in the country. The image of the Buddha fromthe Katra mound belongs to the second century CE.It represents the Buddha with two Boddhisattvaattendants. The Buddha is seated in padmasana(cross-folded legs) and the right hand is in theabhayamudra, raised a little above the shoulder levelwhereas the left hand is placed on the left thigh. Theushanisha, i.e., hair knot, is shown with a verticallyraised projection. Mathura sculptures from this periodare made with light volume having fleshy body. Theshoulders are broad. The sanghati (garment) coversonly one shoulder and has been made prominentlyvisible covering the left hand whereas while coveringthe torso, the independent volume of the garment isreduced to the body torso. The Buddha is seated on alion throne. The attendant figures are identified asthe images of the Padmapani and VajrapaniBoddhisattvas as one holds a lotus and the other avajra (thunderbolt). They wear crowns and are oneither side of the Buddha. The halo around the head of the Buddhais very large and is decorated with simple geometric motifs. Thereare two flying figures placed diagonally above the halo. They bear alot of movement in the picture space. Flexibility replaces the earlierrigidity in the images giving them a more earthy look. Curves of thebody are as delicately carved. The upright posture of the Buddhaimage creates movement in space. The face is round with fleshycheeks. The bulge of the belly is sculpted with controlledmusculature. It may be noted that there are numerous examples ofsculptures from the Kushana Period at Mathura, but this image isrepresentative and is important for the understanding of thedevelopment of the Buddha image in the subsequent periods.


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BUDDHA HEAD, TAXILA


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The Buddha head from Taxila in the Gandhara region, now inPakistan, dates back to the second century CE and belongsto the Kushana Period. The image shows hybridised pictorialconventions that developed during the Gandhara period.It has Greco-Roman elements in the treatment ofsculpture. The Buddha head has typical Hellenisticelements that have grown over a period of time. Thecurly hair of the Buddha is thick having a coveredlayer of sharp and linear strokes over the head.The forehead plane is large having protrudingeyeballs, the eyes are half-closed and the faceand cheeks are not round like the images foundin other parts of India. There is a certain amountof heaviness in the figures of the Gandhararegion. The ears are elongated especially theearlobes. The treatment of the form bears linearityand the outlines are sharp. The surface issmooth. The image is very expressive. Theinterplay of light and dark is givenconsiderable attention by using the curvingand protruding planes of the eye-socket andthe planes of the nose. The expression ofcalmness is the centre point of attraction.Modelling of the face enhances the naturalismof three-dimensionality. Assimilating varioustraits of Acamenian, Parthian and Bactriantraditions into the local tradition is a hallmarkof the Gandhara style. The Gandhara imageshave physiognomic features of the Greco-Roman traditionbut they display a very distinct way of treating physiognomicdetails that are not completely Greco-Roman. The source ofdevelopment of Buddha images as well as others has itsgenesis in its peculiar geo-political conditions. It may alsobe observed that the north-western part of India, which isnow Pakistan, always had continuous habitation from proto-historic times. It continued in the historical period as well.A large number of images have been found in the Gandhararegion. They consist of narratives of the life of the Buddha,narrations from the Jataka stories, and Buddha andBoddhisattva images.


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SEATED BUDDHA, SARNATH


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This image of the Buddha from Sarnath belonging to the late fifthcentury CE is housed in the site museum at Sarnath. It has beenmade in Chunar sandstone. The Buddha is shown seated on athrone in the padmasana. It represents dhammachackrapravartanaas can be seen from the figures on the throne. The panel below thethrone depicts a chakra (wheel) in the centre and a deer on eitherside with his disciples. Thus, it is the representation of the historicalevent of dhammachakrapravartana or the preaching of the dhamma.

This Buddha image is a fine example of the Sarnath school ofsculpture. The body is slender and well-proportioned but slightlyelongated. The outlines are delicate, very rhythmic. Folded legs areexpanded in order to create a visual balance in the picture space.Drapery clings to the body and is transparent to create the effect ofintegrated volume. The face is round, the eyes are half-closed, thelower lip is protruding, and theroundness of the cheeks hasreduced as compared to the earlierimages from the Kushana Periodat Mathura. The hands are shownin dhammachakrapravartanamudra placed just below the chest.the neck is slightly elongated withtwo incised lines indicating folds.The ushanisha has circular curledhairs. The aim of the sculptors in ancient India had always been torepresent the Buddha as a great human being who achieved nibbana(i.e., cessation of anger and hate). The back of the throne is profuselydecorated with different motifs of flowers and creepers placed in aconcentric circle. The central part of the halo is plain without anydecoration. It makes the halo visually impressive. Decoration in haloand the back of the throne indicates the artisan’s sensitivity.Sarnath Buddha images of this period show considerable softnessin the treatment of the surface and volume. Transparent draperybecomes part of the physical body. Such refinement comes over aperiod of time and these features continued in subsequent periods.

There are many other Buddha images in the standing positionfrom Sarnath having features like transparent drapery, subtlemovement, carved separately andplaced about the memorial stupasaround the Dharmarajika Stupa. Theseimages are now preserved in theSarnath Museum. They are eithersingle or with the attendant figures ofBoddhisattvas, Padmapani andVajrapani.


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PADMAPANI BODDHISATTVAAJANTA CAVE NO. 1


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This painting on the back wall of the interiorhall before the shrine-antechamber in Cave No. 1at Ajanta dates back to the late fifth centuryCE. The Boddhisattva is holding a padma (lotus),has large shoulders, and has three bents in thebody creating a movement in the picture space.The modelling is soft. Outlines are merged withthe body volume creating the effect of three-dimensionality. The figure of the Boddhisattvais wearing a big crown in which detailedrendering is visible. The head is slightly bent tothe left. The eyes are half-closed and are slightlyelongated. The nose is sharp and straight. Lightcolour all over the projected planes of the faceis aimed at creating an effect of three-dimensionality. The beaded necklace too hassimilar features. Broad and expandedshoulders create heaviness in the body. Thetorso is relatively round. Lines are delicate,rhythmic, and define the contours of the body. The right hand isholding a lotus and the left hand is extended in the space. TheBoddhisattva is surrounded by small figures. The foreshortened righthand of the Boddhisattva makes the image more solid, and effectivelydense. The thread over the torso is shown with fine spiral linesindicating its dimensions. Each and every part of the body is givenequal attention. Light red, brown, green and blue colours are used.Nose projections, incised end of lips with lower lip projection andsmall chin contribute to the overall effect of solidity in the figurecomposition. The paintings in Cave No.1 are of good quality and arebetter preserved. One can observe certain typological and stylisticvariations in the paintings of Ajanta indicating different guilds ofartisans working on the cave paintings at Ajanta over the centuries.

On the other side of the image Vajrapani Bodhisattva has beenpainted. He holds a vajra in his right hand and wears a crown. Thisimage also bears the same pictorial qualities as the Padmapani.Cave No. 1 has many interesting paintingsof Buddhist themes such as MahajanakJataka, Umag Jataka, etc. The MahajanakJataka is painted on the entire wall side andis the biggest narrative painting. It may beobserved that the paintings of Padmapaniand Vajrapani and the Bodhisattvas arepainted as shrine guardians. Similar suchiconographic arrangement is also observedin other caves of Ajanta. HoweverPadmapani and Vajrapani in Cave No. 1 areamong the best survived paintings of Ajanta.


Ajanta Cave No. 2

Painting of Mahajanak Jataka,Ajanta Cave No. 1

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MARA VIJAYA, AJANTA CAVE NO. 26


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The theme of Mara Vijaya has been paintedin the caves of Ajanta. This is the onlysculptural representation sculpted on theright wall of Cave No. 26. It is sculpted nearthe colossal Buddha image ofMahaparinibbana. The panel shows theimage of the Buddha in the centresurrounded by Mara’s army along with hisdaughter. The event is part of theenlightenment. It is a personification of thecommotion of mind which the Buddhawent through at the time ofenlightenment. Mara represents desire.According to the narrative, there is adialogue between the Buddha and Mara,and the Buddha is shown with his right hand indicating towardsearth as a witness to his generosity. This relief sculptural panel ishighly animated and shows a very matured sculptural style atAjanta. The composition is very complex with highly voluminousimages. Their complex arrangement in the picture space is highlydynamic and generates considerable movement. The figure on theright shows Mara coming with his army consisting of various kindsof people including some with grotesque animal faces. The dancingfigures at the lower base with the musicians have forward bulgingwaist, and one of the dancing figures has expanded her hands inthe dancing posture with an angular frontal look. On the left lowerend, the image of Mara is shown contemplating how to disturbSiddhartha, the name of the Buddha before enlightenment. Thearmy of Mara is shown marching towards the Buddha in the firsthalf of the panel whereas the lower half of the panel shows thedeparting army of Mara giving him adorations. The centrally placedBuddha is in padmasana and a tree at the back is shown by denseleaves. Some of the facial features of the Mara army has tacitcharacters of the sculptures fromVidarbha. The artisans at Ajanta workedin guilds and their stylistic affiliations canbe traced by identifying such stylisticfeatures. This is the largest sculpturalpanel at Ajanta. Though there are severalbig images in the caves of Ajanta andespecially located in the shrine-antechamber as well as facade walls, sucha complex arrangement of figures isunique. On the other hand, painted panelsexhibit such complexities in theirarrangement. A similar kind ofarrangement of dancing figures in a panelis also observed at the Aurangabad caves.


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MURAL TRADITIONS OF INDIA

A. Anantha from AnanthapadmanabhTemple, Kasarghod

B. Shiva chasing the boar—a scene fromKiratarjuniya, Lepaksh temple

C. Chola king Rajaraja and court poetKaruvar Dever, Thanjavoor, eleventhcentury

D. Shiva killing Tripuraasura, Thanjavoor

E. Rama kills Ravana, a scene fromRamayana panel, Mattancheri Palace

F. Shasta, Padmanabhapuram Palace,Thakkala

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EVEN after Ajanta, very few sites with paintings have survived which provide valuable evidences to

reconstruct the tradition of paintings. It may also be noted that the sculptures too were plastered and painted. The tradition of cave excavations continued further at many places where sculpting and painting were done simultaneously.

Badami

One such site is Badami in the State of Karnataka. Badami was the capital of the western Chalukyan dynasty which ruled the region from 543 to 598 CE. With the decline of the Vakataka rule, the Chalukyas established their power in the Deccan. The Chalukya king, Mangalesha, patronised the excavation of the Badami caves. He was the younger son of the Chalukya king, Pulakesi I, and the brother of Kirtivarman I. The inscription in Cave No.4 mentions the date 578–579 CE, describes the beauty of the cave and includes the dedication of the image of Vishnu. Thus it may be presumed that the cave was excavated in the same era and the patron records his Vaishnava affiliation. Therefore, the cave is popularly known as the Vishnu Cave. Only a fragment of the painting has survived on the vaulted roof of the front mandapa.

Paintings in this cave depict palace scenes. One shows Kirtivarman, the son of Pulakesi I and the elder brother of Mangalesha, seated inside the palace with his wife and feudatories watching a dance scene. Towards the corner of the panel are figures of Indra and his retinue. Stylistically speaking, the painting represents an

LATER MURAL TRADITIONS

Queen and attendants, Badami

5

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AN INTRODUCTION TO INDIAN ART 62

extension of the tradition of mural painting from Ajanta to Badami in South India. The sinuously drawn lines, fluid forms and compact composition exemplify the proficiency and maturity the artists had achieved in the sixth century CE. The gracefully drawn faces of the king and the queen remind us of the style of modelling in Ajanta. Their eye- sockets are large, eyes are half-closed, and lips are protruding. It is noteworthy to observe that the contours of different parts of the face create protruding structures of the face itself. Thus, with simple line treatment artists could create volume.

Murals under the Pallava, Pandava and Chola Kings

The tradition of painting extended further down south in Tamil Nadu in the preceding centuries with regional variations during the regimes of Pallava, Pandya and Chola dynasties. The Pallava kings who succeeded the Chalukya kings in parts of South India, were also patrons of arts. Mahendravarma I who ruled in the seventh century was responsible for building temples at Panamalai, Mandagapattu and Kanchipuram. The inscription at Mandagapattu mentions Mahendravarman I with numerous titles such as Vichitrachitta (curious-minded),

Sittanvasal — early Pandya period, ninth century CE

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LATER MURAL TRADITIONS 63

Chitrakarapuli (tiger among artists), Chaityakari (temple builder), which show his interest in art activities. The paintings in these temples too were done at his initiative, though only fragments remain. The Panamalai figure of a female divinity is drawn gracefully. Paintings at the Kanchipuram temple were patronised by the Pallava king, Rajsimha. Only traces of paintings remain now which depict Somaskanda. Faces are round and large. Lines are rhythmic with increased ornamentation when compared with the paintings of an earlier periods. Depiction of torso still remains like the earlier sculptural tradition but is elongated.

When the Pandyas rose to power, they too patronised art. Tirumalaipuram caves and Jaina caves at Sittanvasal are some of the surviving examples. A few fragmented layers of paintings can be seen in Tirumalaipuram. In Sittanavasal, the paintings are visible on the ceilings of shrines, in verandas, and on the brackets.

On the pillars of the veranda are seen dancing figures of celestial nymphs. The contours of figures are firmly drawn and painted in vermilion red on a lighter background. The body is rendered in yellow with subtle modelling. Supple limbs, expression on the faces of dancers, rhythm in their swaying movement, all speak of the artists’ skill in creative imagination in visualising the forms in

Devi — seventh century CE, Panamalai

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the architectural context. Their eyes are slightly elongated and at times protrude off the face. This feature is observed in many subsequent paintings in the Deccan and South India.

The tradition of building temples and embellishing them with carvings and paintings continued during the reign of the Chola kings who ruled over the region from the ninth to the thirteenth century. But it was in the eleventh century, when the Cholas reached their zenith of power, that masterpieces of Chola art and architecture began to appear. The temples of Brihadeswara at Thanjavur, Gangaikonda Cholapuram and Darasuram were built during the reigns of Rajaraja Chola and his son, Rajendra Chola.

Though Chola paintings are seen in Nartamalai, the most important are those in Brihadeswara temple. The paintings were executed on the walls of the narrow passage surrounding the shrine. Two layers of paint were found when they were discovered. The upper layer was painted during the Nayak period, in the sixteenth century. Thanks to the cleaning of the surface painting, examples of the great tradition of painting during the Chola Period were unveiled. The paintings show narrations and aspects related to Lord Shiva, Shiva in Kailash, Shiva as Tripurantaka, Shiva as Nataraja, a portrait of the patron Rajaraja and his mentor Kuruvar, dancing figures, etc.

Vijayanagara Murals

The paintings of Brihadeswara temple exemplify the stylistic maturity the artists evolved over the years. Sinuous pre-determined flow of lines, supple modelling of figures,

Dakshinamurty, Vijayanagar, Lepakshi

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elongation of the physiognomic features of human figures— all these represent the perfection the Chola artist had achieved during the period on the one hand and the phase of transition on the other. With the decline of power of the Chola dynasty in the thirteenth century, the Vijayanagara Dynasty captured and brought under its control the region from Hampi to Trichy with Hampi serving as its capital. Many paintings survive in a number of temples. The paintings at Tiruparakunram, near Trichy, done in the fourteenth century represent the early phase of the Vijayanagara style. In Hampi, the Virupaksha temple has paintings on the ceiling of its mandapa narrating events from dynastic history and episodes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Among the important panels are the ones which show Vidyaranya, the spiritual teacher of Bukkaraya Harsha, being carried in a palanquin in a procession and the incarnations of Vishnu. The faces of the figures are shown in profile, with large frontal eyes. The figures have narrow waists.

In Lepakshi, near Hindupur, in present Andhra Pradesh, there are glorious examples of Vijayanagara paintings on the walls of the Shiva temple.

In keeping with the tradition, the Vijayanagara painters evolved a pictorial language wherein the faces are shown in profile and figures and objects two-dimensionally. Lines become still but fluid, compositions appear in rectilinear compartments. These stylistic conventions of the preceding centuries were adopted by artists in various centres in South India as can be seen in the paintings of the Nayaka Period.

Nayaka paintings of the seventeenth and eigtheenth centuries are seen in Thiruparakunram, Sreerangam and

Ladies attending Parvati, Virbhadra Temple, Lepakshi

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Tiruvarur. In Thiruparakunram, paintings are found of two different periods—of the fourteenth and the seventeenth century. Early paintings depict scenes from the life of Vardhaman Mahavira.

The Nayaka paintings depict episodes from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana and also scenes from Krishna-leela. In Tiruvarur, there is a panel narrating the story of Muchukunda. In Chidambaram there are panels of paintings narrating stories related to Shiva and Vishnu— Shiva as bhikshatana murti, Vishnu as Mohini, etc.

In the Sri Krishna temple at Chengam in Arcot District there are sixty panels narrating the story of the Ramayana which represent the late phase of Nayaka paintings.

The examples cited above suggest that Nayaka paintings were more or less an extension of the Vijayanagara style with minor regional modifications and incorporations. The figures, mostly in profile, are set against a flat background. Male figures are shown slim-waisted but with less heavy abdoman as compared to those in Vijayanagara. The artist, as in the previous centuries and following traditions, has tried to infuse movement and make the space dynamic. The painting of Nataraja at Tiruvalanjuli is a good example.

Kerala Murals

Kerala painters (during the period from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century) evolved a pictorial language and technique of their own while discriminately adopting certain stylistic elements from Nayaka and Vijayanagara schools. The painters evolved a language taking cues from contemporary traditions like Kathakali and kalam ezhuthu using vibrant and luminous colours, representing human

Venugopal, Shri Rama Temple, Triprayar

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EXERCISE 1. What are the main features of Badami cave paintings?

2. Write an essay on Vijayanagara paintings.

3. Describe the mural traditions of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Krishna playing flute, accompanied by Gopikas,

Krishna temple, Pundareekapuram

figures in three-dimensionality. Most of the paintings are seen on the walls of shrines and cloister walls of temples and some inside palaces. Thematically too, paintings from Kerala stand apart. Most of the narrations are based on those episodes from Hindu mythology which were popular in Kerala. The artist seems to have derived sources from oral traditions and local versions of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata for painted narration.

More than sixty sites have been found with mural paintings which include three palaces—Dutch palace in Kochi, Krishnapuram palace in Kayamkulam and Padmanabhapuram palace. Among the sites where one can see the mature phase of Kerala’s mural painting tradition are Pundareekapuram Krishna temple, Panayanarkavu, Thirukodithanam, Triprayar Sri Rama temple and Trissur Vadakkunathan temple.

Even today we observe that mural painting on interior and exterior walls of houses in villages or havelis is prevalent in different parts of the country. These paintings are usually made by women either at the time of ceremonies or festivals or as a routine to clean and decorate the walls. Some of the traditional forms of murals are pithoro in parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat, Mithila painting in northern Bihar’s Mithila region, warli paintings in Maharashtra, or simply paintings on the walls, be it in a village of Odisha or Bengal, Madhya Pradesh or Chhattisgarh.

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Temple architecture in India (Outline map not to scale)

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TEMPLE ARCHITECTUREAND SCULPTURE

6Today when we say 'temple'

in English we generallymean a devalaya, devkula

mandir, kovil, deol,devasthanam or prasada

depending on which part ofIndia we are in.

Kandariya Mahadeo temple,Khajuraho

MOST of the art and architectural remains that survivefrom Ancient and Medieval India are religious in

nature. That does not mean that people did not have art intheir homes at those times, but domestic dwellings andthe things in them were mostly made from materials likewood and clay which have perished, or were made of metal(like iron, bronze, silver and even gold) which was melteddown and reused from time to time. This chapter introducesus to many types of temples from India. Although we havefocussed mostly on Hindu temples, at the end of the chapteryou will find some information on major Buddhist and Jaintemples too. However, at all times, we must keep in mindthat religious shrines were also made for many local cultsin villages and forest areas, but again, not being of stonethe ancient or medieval shrines in those areas have alsovanished.

THE BASIC FORM OF THE HINDU TEMPLE

The basic form of the Hindu temple comprises the following:(i) a cave-like sanctum (garbhagriha literally ‘womb-house’),which, in the early temples, was a small cubicle with asingle entrance and grew into a larger chamber in time.The garbhagriha is made to house the main icon which isitself the focus of much ritual attention; (ii) the entranceto the temple which may be a portico or colonnaded hallthat incorporates space for a large number of worshippersand is known as a mandapa; (iii) from the fifth century CEonwards, freestanding temples tend to have a mountain-like spire, which can take the shape of a curving shikharin North India and a pyramidal tower, called a vimana, inSouth India; (iv) the vahan, i.e., the mount or vehicle ofthe temple’s main deity along with a standard pillar ordhvaj is placed axially before the sanctum. Two broad ordersof temples in the country are known— Nagara in the northand Dravida in the south. At times, the Vesar style oftemples as an independent style created through the selective

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Kalasha

Amalaka

Garbhagriha

Pitha

Shikhara

Nagara temple

mixing of the Nagara and Dravida orders is mentioned bysome scholars. Elaborate studies are available on thevarious sub-styles within these orders. We will look intothe differences in the forms further on in this chapter. Astemples grew more complex, more surfaces were createdfor sculpture through additive geometry, i.e., by addingmore and more rhythmically projecting, symmetrical wallsand niches, without breaking away from the fundamentalplan of the shrine.

SCULPTURE, ICONOGRAPHY AND ORNAMENTATION

The study of images of deities falls within a branch of arthistory called ‘iconography’, which consists of identificationof images based on certain symbols and mythologiesassociated with them. And very often, while thefundamental myth and meaning of the deity may remainthe same for centuries, its specific usage at a spot can bea response to its local or immediate social, political orgeographical context.

Every region and period produced its own distinct styleof images with its regional variations in iconography. Thetemple is covered with elaborate sculpture and ornamentthat form a fundamental part of its conception. Theplacement of an image in a temple is carefully planned:for instance, river goddesses (Ganga and Yamuna) areusually found at the entrance of a garbhagriha in a Nagaratemple, dvarapalas (doorkeepers) are usually found on thegateways or gopurams of Dravida temples, similarly,mithunas (erotic images), navagrahas (the nine auspiciousplanets) and yakshas are also placed at entrances to guardthem. Various forms or aspects of the main divinity are tobe found on the outer walls of the sanctum. The deities ofdirections, i.e., the ashtadikpalas face the eight keydirections on the outer walls of the sanctum and/or onthe outer walls of a temple. Subsidiary shrines around themain temple are dedicated to the family or incarnations ofthe main deity. Finally, various elements of ornamentationsuch as gavaksha, vyala/yali, kalpa-lata, amalaka, kalasha,etc. are used in distinct ways and places in a temple.

THE NAGARA OR NORTH INDIAN TEMPLE STYLE

The style of temple architecture that became popular innorthern India is known as nagara. In North India it iscommon for an entire temple to be built on a stone platformwith steps leading up to it. Further, unlike in South Indiait does not usually have elaborate boundary walls orgateways. While the earliest temples had just one tower, or

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TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE 71

shikhara, later temples had several. The garbhagriha isalways located directly under the tallest tower.

There are many subdivisions of nagara templesdepending on the shape of the shikhara. There are differentnames for the various parts of the temple in different partsof India; however, the most common name for the simpleshikhara which is square at the base and whose wallscurve or slope inward to a point on top is called the 'latina'or the rekha-prasada type of shikara.

The second major type of architectural form in the nagaraorder is the phamsana. Phamsana buildings tend to bebroader and shorter than latina ones. Their roofs arecomposed of several slabs that gently rise to a single pointover the centre of the building, unlike the latina ones whichlook like sharply rising tall towers. Phamsana roofs do notcurve inward, instead they slope upwards on a straightincline. In many North Indian temples you will notice thatthe phamsana design is used for the mandapas while themain garbhagriha is housed in a latina building. Later on,the latina buildings grew complex, and instead of appearinglike a single tall tower, the temple began to support manysmaller towers, which were clustered together like risingmountain-peaks with the tallest one being in the centre,and this was the one which was always above thegarbhagriha.

The third main sub-type of the nagara building is whatis generally called the valabhi type. These are rectangularbuildings with a roof that rises into a vaulted chamber.

Sun temple, Konark

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The edge of this vaulted chamber is rounded, like thebamboo or wooden wagons that would have been drawn bybullocks in ancient times. They are usually called ‘wagon-vaulted buildings’. As mentioned above, the form of thetemple is influenced by ancient building forms that werealready in existence before the fifth century CE. The valabhitype of building was one of them. For instance, if you studythe ground-plan of many of the Buddhist rock-cut chaityacaves, you will notice that they are shaped as long hallswhich end in a curved back. From the inside, the roof ofthis portion also looks like a wagon-vaulted roof.

Central India

Ancient temples of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh andRajasthan share many traits. The most visible is that theyare made of sandstone. Some of the oldest survivingstructural temples from the Gupta Period are in MadhyaPradesh. These are relatively modest-looking shrines eachhaving four pillars that support a small mandapa whichlooks like a simple square porch-like extension before anequally small room that served as the garbhagriha.Importantly, of the two such temples that survive, one isat Udaigiri, which is on the outskirts of Vidisha and ispart of a larger Hindu complex of cave shrines, while theother one is at Sanchi, which was a Buddhist site. Thismeans that similar developments were being incorporatedin the architecture of temples of both the religions.

The patrons and donors of the temple at Deogarh (inLalitpur District, Uttar Pradesh) are unknown; howeveron the basis of both architecture and imagery, it is

Sheshashayana Vishnu, Dashavatara temple, Deogarh

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established that this temple was built in the early sixthcentury CE. That is, about a hundred years or so after thesmall temples we just learnt about in Sanchi and Udaigiri.This makes it a classic example of a late Gupta Periodtype of temple. This temple is in the panchayatana style ofarchitecture where the main shrine is built on a rectangularplinth with four smaller subsidiary shrines at the fourcorners (making it a total number of five shrines, hencethe name, panchayatana). The tall and curvilinear shikharaalso corroborates this date. The presence of this curving latinaor rekha-prasada type of shikhara also makes it clear thatthis is an early example of a classic nagara style of temple.

Sheshashayana is the form of Vishnu where he isshown reclining on the sheshanaga called Ananta.Nara-Narayan shows the discussion between thehuman soul and the eternal divine. Gajendramokshais the story of achieving moksha, symbolicallycommunicated by Vishnu’s suppression of an asurawho had taken the form of an elephant.

This west-facing temple has a grand doorway withstanding sculptures of female figures representing theGanga on the left side and the Yamuna on the right side.The temple depicts Vishnu in various forms, due to whichit was assumed that the four subsidiary shrines must alsohave housed Vishnu’s avatars and the temple was mistakenfor a dasavatara temple. In fact, it isnot actually known to whom the foursubsidiary shrines were originallydedicated. There are three mainreliefs of Vishnu on the temple walls:Sheshashayana on the south, Nara-Narayan on the east andGajendramoksha on the west. Thetemple is west-facing, which is lesscommon, as most temples are east- ornorth-facing.

Numerous temples of smallerdimensions have been constructedover a period of time. By contrast, ifwe study the temples of Khajurahomade in the tenth century, i.e., aboutfour hundred years after the templeat Deogarh, we can see howdramatically the shape and style ofthe nagara temple architecture haddeveloped.

Vishwanatha temple,Khajuraho

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The Lakshmana temple dedicated to Vishnu is thegrandest temple of Khajuraho, built in 954 by the Chandelaking, Dhanga. A nagara temple, it is placed on a highplatform accessed by stairs. There are four smaller templesin the corners, and all the towers or shikharas rise high,upward in a curved pyramidal fashion, emphasising thetemple’s vertical thrust ending in a horizontal fluted disccalled an amalak topped with a kalash or vase. The crowningelements: amalak and kalash, are to be found on all nagaratemples of this period. The temple also has projectingbalconies and verandahs, thus very different fromDeogarh.

Khajuraho’s temples are also known for their extensiveerotic sculptures; the erotic expression is given equalimportance in human experience as spiritual pursuit, andit is seen as part of a larger cosmic whole. Many Hindutemples therefore feature mithun (embracing couple)sculptures, considered auspicious. Usually, they are placedat the entrance of the temple or on an exterior wall orthey may also be placed on the walls between the mandapaand the main shrine. Khajuraho’s sculptures are highlystylised with typical features: they are in almost full relief,cut away from the surrounding stone, with sharp noses,prominent chins, long slanting eyes and eyebrows. Theother notable example at Khajuraho is Kandariya Mahadeotemple dedicated to Lord Shiva.

There are many temples at Khajuraho, most of themdevoted to Hindu gods. There are some Jain temples aswell as a Chausanth Yogini temple, which is of interest.Predating the tenth century, this is a temple of small,square shrines of roughly-hewn granite blocks, eachdedicated to esoteric devis or goddesses associated withthe rise of Tantric worship after the seventh century. Severalsuch temples were dedicated to the cult of the yoginis acrossMadhya Pradesh, Odisha and even as far south as TamilNadu. They were built between the seventh and tenthcenturies, but few have survived.

Dance class, Laxman Temple,Khajuraho

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West India

The temples in the north-western parts of India includingGujarat and Rajasthan, and stylistically extendable, attimes, to western Madhya Pradesh are too numerous toinclude here in any comprehensive way. The stone used tobuild the temples ranges in colour and type. Whilesandstone is the commonest, a grey to black basalt can beseen in some of the tenth to twelveth century templesculptures. The most exuberant and famed is themanipulatable soft white marble which is also seen in someof the tenth to twelveth century Jain temples in MountAbu and the fifteenth century temple at Ranakpur.

Among the most important art-historical sitesin the region is Samlaji in Gujarat which showshow earlier artistic traditions of the region mixedwith a post-Gupta style and gave rise to a distinctstyle of sculpture. A large number of sculpturesmade of grey schist have been found in this regionwhich can be dated between the sixth and eighthcenturies CE. While the patronage of these isdebated, the date is established on the basis ofthe style.

The Sun temple at Modhera dates back to earlyeleventh century and was built by Raja Bhimdev Iof the Solanki Dynasty in 1026. The Solankis werea branch of the later Chalukyas. There is amassive rectangular stepped tank called the suryakund in front of it. Proximity of sacred architectureto a water body such as a tank, a river or a pondhas been noticed right from the earliest times.By the early eleventh century they had become a

Sun temple, Modhera, Gujarat

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part of many temples. This hundred-square-metrerectangular pond is perhaps the grandest temple tank inIndia. A hundred and eight miniature shrines are carvedin between the steps inside the tank. A huge ornamentalarch-torana leads one to the sabha mandapa (the assemblyhall) which is open on all sides, as was the fashion of thetimes in western and central Indian temples.

The influence of the woodcarving tradition of Gujarat isevident in the lavish carving and sculpture work. However,the walls of the central small shrine are devoid of carvingand are left plain as the temple faces the east and, everyyear, at the time of the equinoxes, the sun shines directlyinto this central shrine.

East India

Eastern Indian temples include those found in the North-East, Bengal and Odisha. Each of these three areasproduced distinct types of temples. The history ofarchitecture in the North-East and Bengal is hard to studybecause a number of ancient buildings in those regionswere renovated, and what survives now are later brick orconcrete temples at those sites. It appears that terracottawas the main medium of construction, and also formoulding plaques which depicted Buddhist and Hindudeities in Bengal until the seventh century. A large numberof sculptures have been found in Assam and Bengal whichshows the development of important regional schools inthose regions.

Assam: An old sixth-century sculpted door frame fromDaParvatia near Tezpur and another few stray sculptures

Temple, Sibsagar, Assam

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Terracotta temple, Vishnupur

from Rangagora Tea Estate near Tinsukia in Assam bearwitness to the import of the Gupta idiom in that region.This post-Gupta style continued in the region well intothe tenth century. However, by the twelfth to fourteenthcenturies, a distinct regional style developed in Assam.The style that came with the migration of the Tais fromUpper Burma mixed with the dominant Pala style of Bengaland led to the creation of what was later known as theAhom style in and around Guwahati. Kamakhya temple, aShakti Peeth, is dedicated to Goddess Kamakhya and wasbuilt in the seventeenth century.

Bengal: The style of the sculptures during the periodbetween the ninth and eleventh centuries in Bengal(including Bangladesh) and Bihar is known as the Palastyle, named after the ruling dynasty at the time, whilethe style of those of the mid-eleventh to mid-thirteenthcenturies is named after the Sena kings. While the Palasare celebrated as patrons of many Buddhist monastic sites,the temples from that region are known to express thelocal Vanga style. The ninth century SiddheshvaraMahadeva temple in Barakar in Burdwan District, forexample, shows a tall curving shikhara crowned by a largeamalaka and is an example of the early Pala style. It issimilar to contemporaneous temples of Odisha. This basicform grows loftier with the passing of centuries. Many ofthe temples from the ninth to the twelfth century werelocated at Telkupi in Purulia District. They were submergedwhen dams were built in the region. These were amongstthe important examples of architectural styles prevalentin the region which showed an awareness of all the known© N

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Sun temple, Konark

nagara sub-types that were prevalent in the rest of NorthIndia. However, several temples still survive in PuruliaDistrict which can be dated to this period. The black togrey basalt and chlorite stone pillars and arched nichesof these temples heavily influenced the earliest Bengalsultanate buildings at Gaur and Pandua. Many localvernacular building traditions of Bengal also influencedthe style of temples in that region. Most prominent of thesewas the shape of the curving or sloping side of the bambooroof of a Bengali hut. This feature was eventually evenadopted in Mughal buildings, and is known across NorthIndia as the Bangla roof. In the Mughal period and later,scores of terracotta brick temples were built across Bengaland Bangladesh in a unique style that had elements oflocal building techniques seen in bamboo huts which werecombined with older forms reminiscent of the Pala periodand with the forms of arches and domes that were takenfrom Islamic architecture. These can be widely found in andaround Vishnupur, Bankura, Burdwan and Birbhum andare dated mostly to the seventeenth century.

Odisha: The main architectural features of Odisha templesare classified in three orders, i.e., rekhapida, pidhadeuland khakra. Most of the main temple sites are located inancient Kalinga—modern Puri District, includingBhubaneswar or ancient Tribhuvanesvara, Puri andKonark. The temples of Odisha constitute a distinct sub-style within the nagara order. In general, here the shikhara,called deul in Odisha, is vertical almost until the top whenit suddenly curves sharply inwards. Deuls are preceded,as usual, by mandapas called jagamohana in Odisha. The© N

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ground plan of the main temple is almost always square,which, in the upper reaches of its superstructure becomescircular in the crowning mastaka. This makes the spirenearly cylindrical in appearance in its length.Compartments and niches are generally square, theexterior of the temples are lavishly carved, their interiorsgenerally quite bare. Odisha temples usually haveboundary walls.

At Konark, on the shores of the Bay of Bengal, lie themajestic ruins of the Surya or Sun temple built in stonearound 1240. Its shikhara was a colossal creation said tohave reached 70m, which, proving too heavy for its site,fell in the nineteenth century. The vast complex is withina quadrilateral precinct of which the jagamohana or thedance-pavillion (mandapa) has survived, which though nolonger accessible is said to be the largest enclosed spacein Hindu architecture.

The Sun temple is set on a high base, its walls coveredin extensive, detailed ornamental carving. These includetwelve pairs of enormous wheels sculpted with spokes andhubs, representing the chariot wheels of the Sun god who,in mythology, rides a chariot driven by eight horses,sculpted here at the entrance staircase. The whole templethus comes to resemble a colossal processional chariot.

Jagannath temple, Puri

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On the southern wall is a massive sculpture of surya carvedout of green stone. It is said that there were three suchimages, each carved out of a different stone placed on thethree temple walls, each facing different directions. Thefourth wall had the doorway into the temple from wherethe actual rays of the sun would enter the garbhagriha.

The Hills

A unique form of architecture developed in the hills ofKumaon, Garhwal, Himachal and Kashmir. Kashmir’sproximity to prominent Gandhara sites (such as Taxila,Peshawar and the northwest frontier) lent the region astrong Gandhara influence by the fifth century CE. Thisbegan to mix with the Gupta and post-Gupta traditionsthat were brought to it from Sarnath, Mathura and evencentres in Gujarat and Bengal. Brahmin pundits andBuddhist monks frequently travelled between Kashmir,Garhwal, Kumaon and religious centres in the plains likeBanaras, Nalanda and even as far south as Kanchipuram.As a result both Buddhist and Hindu traditions began tointermingle and spread in the hills. The hills also hadtheir own tradition of wooden buildings with pitched roofs.At several places in the hills, therefore, you will find thatwhile the main garbhagriha and shikhara are made in arekha-prasada or latina style, the mandapa is of an olderform of wooden architecture. Sometimes, the temple itselftakes on a pagoda shape.

The Karkota period of Kashmir is the most significantin terms of architecture. One of the most important templesis Pandrethan, built during the eighth and ninth centuries.In keeping with the tradition of a water tank attached tothe shrine, this temple is built on a plinth built in the

Temple, Himachal Pradesh

Temple complexes in Hills

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middle of a tank. Although there are evidences of bothHindu and Buddhist followings in Kashmir, this temple isa Hindu one, possibly dedicated to Shiva. The architectureof this temple is in keeping with the age-old Kashmiritradition of wooden buildings. Due to the snowy conditionsin Kashmir, the roof is peaked and slants slowly outward.The temple is moderately ornamented, moving away fromthe post-Gupta aesthetics of heavy carving. A row ofelephants at the base and a decorated doorway are theonly embellishments on the shrine.

Like the findings at Samlaji, the sculptures at Chambaalso show an amalgamation of local traditions with a post-Gupta style. The images of Mahishasuramardini andNarasimha at the Laksna-Devi Mandir are evidences of theinfluence of the post-Gupta tradition. Both the images showthe influence of the metal sculpture tradition of Kashmir.The yellow colour of the images is possibly due to an alloyof zinc and copper which were popularly used to makeimages in Kashmir. This temple bears an inscription thatstates that it was built during the reign of Meruvarmanwho lived in the seventh century.

Of the temples in Kumaon, the ones at Jageshwar nearAlmora, and Champavat near Pithoragarh, are classicexamples of nagara architecture in the region.

THE DRAVIDA OR SOUTH INDIAN TEMPLE STYLE

Unlike the nagara temple, the dravida temple is enclosedwithin a compound wall. The front wall has an entrancegateway in its centre, which is known as a gopuram. Theshape of the main temple tower known as vimana in TamilNadu is like a stepped pyramid that rises up geometricallyrather than the curving shikhara of North India. In theSouth Indian temple, the word ‘shikhara’ is used only forthe crowning element at the top of the temple which isusually shaped like a small stupika or an octagonal cupola—this is equivalent to the amlak and kalasha of North Indiantemples. Whereas at the entrance to the North Indiantemple’s garbhagriha, it would be usual to find images suchas mithunas and the river goddesses, Ganga and Yamuna,in the south you will generally find sculptures of fiercedvarapalas or the door-keepers guarding the temple. It iscommon to find a large water reservoir, or a temple tank,

Dravida temple

Shikhara

VimanaMandapaGopuram

Garbhagriha

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enclosed within the complex. Subsidiary shrines are eitherincorporated within the main temple tower, or located asdistinct, separate small shrines beside the main temple.The North Indian idea of multiple shikharas rising togetheras a cluster was not popular in South India. At some ofthe most sacred temples in South India, the main templein which the garbhagriha is situated has, in fact, one ofthe smallest towers. This is because it is usually the oldestpart of the temple. With the passage of time, the populationand size of the town associated with that temple wouldhave increased, and it would have become necessary tomake a new boundary wall around the temple. This wouldhave been taller that the last one, and its gopurams wouldhave been even loftier. So, for instance, the Srirangamtemple in Tiruchirapally has as many as seven ‘concentric’rectangular enclosure walls, each with gopurams. Theoutermost is the newest, while the tower right in the centrehousing the garbhagriha is the oldest.

Temples thus started becoming the focus of urbanarchitecture. Kanchipuram, Thanjavur or Tanjore, Maduraiand Kumbakonam are the most famous temple towns ofTamil Nadu, where, during the eighth to twelfth centuries,the role of the temple was not limited to religious mattersalone. Temples became rich administrative centres,controlling vast areas of land.

Just as there are many subdivisions of the main typesof nagara temples, there are subdivisions also of dravidatemples. These are basically of five different shapes: square,usually called kuta, and also caturasra; rectangular or shalaor ayatasra; elliptical, called gaja-prishta or elephant-backed, or also called vrittayata, deriving from wagon-

Gangaikondacholapuram temple

Meenakshi temple,Madurai

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vaulted shapes of apsidal chaityas with a horse-shoe shapedentrance facade usually called a nasi; circular or vritta;and octagonal or ashtasra. Generally speaking, the plan ofthe temple and the shape of the vimana were conditionedby the iconographic nature of the consecrated deity, so itwas appropriate to build specific types of temples for specifictypes of icons. It must, however, be remembered that thisis a simplistic differentiation of the subdivisions. Severaldifferent shapes may be combined in specific periods andplaces to create their own unique style.

The Pallavas were one of the ancient South Indiandynasties that were active in the Andhra region from thesecond century CE onwards and moved south to settle inTamil Nadu. Their history is better documented from thesixth to the eighth century, when they left manyinscriptions in stone and several monuments. Theirpowerful kings spread their empire to various parts of thesubcontinent, at times reaching the borders of Odisha,and their links with South–East Asia were also strong.Although they were mostly Shaivite, several Vaishnavashrines also survived from their reign, and there is nodoubt that they were influenced by the long Buddhisthistory of the Deccan.

Their early buildings, it is generally assumed, were rock-cut, while the later ones were structural. However, thereis reason to believe that structural buildings were wellknown even when rock-cut ones were being excavated. Theearly buildings are generally attributed to the reign ofMahendravarman I, a contemporary of the Chalukyan king,

Shore temple, Mahabalipuram

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Pulakesin II of Karnataka. Narasimhavarman I, also knownas Mamalla, who acceded the Pallava throne around 640CE, is celebrated for the expansion of the empire, avengingthe defeat his father had suffered at the hands of PulakesinII, and inaugurating most of the building works atMahabalipuram which is known after him asMamallapuram.

The shore temple at Mahabalipuram was built later,probably in the reign of Narasimhavarman II, also knownas Rajasimha who reigned from 700 to 728 CE. Now it isoriented to the east facing the ocean, but if you study itclosely, you will find that it actually houses three shrines,two to Shiva, one facing east and the other west, and amiddle one to Vishnu who is shown as Anantashayana.This is unusual, because temples generally have a singlemain shrine and not three areas of worship. This showsthat it was probably not originally conceived like this anddifferent shrines may have been added at different times,modified perhaps with the change of patrons. In thecompound there is evidence of a water tank, an earlyexample of a gopuram, and several other images.Sculptures of the bull, Nandi, Shiva’s mount, line thetemple walls, and these, along with the carvings on thetemple’s lower walls have suffered severe disfiguration dueto erosion by salt-water laden air over the centuries.

The magnificent Shiva temple of Thanjavur, called theRajarajeswara or Brihadiswara temple, was completedaround 1009 by Rajaraja Chola, and is the largest andtallest of all Indian temples. Temple building was prolificat this time, and over a hundred important temples of the

Brihadiswara temple, Thanjavur

Nandi, Brihadiswara

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Chola period are in a good state of preservation, and manymore are still active shrines. Bigger in scale than anythingbuilt by their predecessors, the Pallavas, Chalukyas orPandyas, this Chola temple’s pyramidal multi-storeyedvimana rises a massive seventy metres (approximately twohundred feet), topped by a monolithic shikhara which isan octagonal dome-shaped stupika. It is in this temple thatone notices for the first time two large gopuras (gatewaytowers) with an elaborate sculptural programme whichwas conceived along with the temple. Huge Nandi-figuresdot the corners of the shikhara, and the kalasha on top byitself is about three metres and eight centimetres in height.Hundreds of stucco figures decorate the vimana, althoughit is possible that some of these may have been added onduring the Maratha Period and did not always belong tothe Chola Period. The main deity of the temple is Shiva,who is shown as a huge lingam set in a two storeyedsanctum. The walls surrounding the sanctum have extendedmythological narratives which are depicted through paintedmurals and sculptures.

Architecture in the Deccan

Many different styles of temple architecture influenced byboth North and South Indian temples were used in regionslike Karnataka. While some scholars consider the buildingsin this region as being distinctly either nagara or dravida,a hybridised style that seems to have become popular afterthe mid-seventh century, is known in some ancient textsas vesara.

By the late seventh or the early eighth century, theambitious projects at Ellora became even grander. By about750 CE, the early western Chalukya control of the Deccanwas taken by the Rashtrakutas. Their greatest achievementin architecture is the Kailashnath temple at Ellora,

Five Rathas, Mahabalipuram

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a culmination of at least a millennium-long tradition inrock-cut architecture in India. It is a complete dravidabuilding with a Nandi shrine—since the temple is dedicatedto Shiva—a gopuram-like gateway, surrounding cloisters,subsidiary shrines, staircases and an imposing tower orvimana rising to thirty metres. Importantly, all of this iscarved out of living rock. One portion of the monolithichill was carved patiently to build the Kailashnath temple.The sculpture of the Rashtrakuta phase at Ellora isdynamic, the figures often larger than life-size, infusedwith unparalleled grandeur and the most overwhelming energy.

In the southern part of the Deccan, i.e., in the regionof Karnataka is where some of the most experimentalhybrid styles of vesara architecture are to be found.

Kailashnath temple, Ellora

Temple, Badami

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Pulakesin I established the early western Chalukyakingdom when he secured the land around Badami in 543.The early western Chalukyas ruled most of the Deccan tillthe mid-eighth century when they were superseded by theRashtrakutas. Early Chalukyan activity also takes theform of rock-cut caves while later activity is of structuraltemples. The earliest is probably the Ravana Phadi caveat Aihole which is known for its distinctive sculptural style.One of the most important sculptures at the site is ofNataraja, surrounded by larger-than-life-size depictionsof the saptamatrikas: three to Shiva’s left and four to hisright. The figures are characterised by graceful, slim bodies,long, oval faces topped with extremely tall cylindricalcrowns and shown to wear short dhotis marked by fineincised striations indicating pleating. They are distinctlydifferent from contemporary western Deccan or Vakatakastyles seen at places such as Paunar and Ramtek.

The hybridisation and incorporation of several styleswas the hallmark of Chalukyan buildings. The mostelaborate of all Chalukyan temples at Pattadakal made inthe reign of Vikramaditya II (733-44) by his chief queenLoka Mahadevi, for instance, shows complete knowledgeof Pallava buildings at Kanchipuram and as a corollary,Mahabalipuram. The temple is one of the best earlyexamples of the dravida tradition. By contrast other easternChalukyan temples, like the Mahakuta, five kilometresfrom Badami, and the Swarga Brahma temple at Alampurshow a greater assimilation of northern styles from Odishaand Rajasthan. At the same time the Durga temple atAihole is unique having an even earlier style of an apsidalshrine which is reminiscent of Buddhist chaitya halls and

Durga temple, Aihole

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is surrounded by a veranda of a later kind, with a shikharathat is stylistically like a nagara one. Finally, mentionmust be made of the Lad Khan temple at Aihole. This seemsto be inspired by the wooden-roofed temples of the hills,except that it is constructed out of stone.

How then shall we understand these different styles atone place? As curiosities or as innovations? Undoubtedly,they are dynamic expressions of a creative set of architectswho were competing with their peers in the rest of India.Whatever one’s explanation is, these buildings remain ofgreat art-historical interest.

With the waning of Chola and Pandya power, theHoysalas of Karnataka grew to prominence in South Indiaand became the most important patrons centred at Mysore.The remains of around hundred temples have been foundin southern Deccan, though it is only three of them thatare most frequently discussed: the temples at Belur,

Halebid and Somnathpuram. Perhaps themost characteristic feature of these templesis that they grow extremely complex with somany projecting angles emerging from thepreviously straightforward square temple,that the plan of these temples starts lookinglike a star, and is thus known as a stellate-plan. Since they are made out of soapstonewhich is a relatively soft stone, the artistswere able to carve their sculpturesintricately. This can be seen particularly inthe jewellery of the gods that adorn theirtemple walls.

Somnathpuram temple

Virupaksh temple,Pattadkal

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The Hoysaleshvara temple (Lord of the Hoysalas) atHalebid in Karnataka was built in dark schist stone bythe Hoysala king in 1150. Hoysala temples are sometimescalled hybrid or vesara as their unique style seems neithercompletely dravida nor nagara, but somewhere in between.They are easily distinguishable from other medieval templesby their highly original star-like ground-plans and aprofusion of decorative carvings.

Dedicated to Shiva as Nataraja, the Halebid temple isa double building with a large hall for the mandapa tofacilitate music and dance. A Nandi pavilion precedes eachbuilding. The tower of the temple here and at nearby Belurfell long ago, and an idea of the temples' appearance cannow only be gleaned from their detailed miniature versionsflanking the entrances. From the central square plan cut-out angular projections create the star effect decoratedwith the most profuse carvings of animals and deities. Sointricate is the carving that it is said, for instance, in thebottom-most frieze featuring a continuous procession ofhundreds of elephants with their mahouts, no twoelephants are in the same pose.

Nataraja, Halebid

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Nalanda University

Founded in 1336, Vijayanagara, literally ‘city of victory’,attracted a number of international travellers such as theItalian, Niccolo di Conti, the Portuguese Domingo Paes,Fernao Nuniz and Duarte Barbosa and the Afghan Abd, al-Razzaq, who have left vivid accounts of the city. In addition,various Sanskrit and Telugu works document the vibrantliterary tradition of this kingdom. Architecturally,Vijayanagara synthesises the centuries-old dravida templearchitecture with Islamic styles demonstrated by theneighbouring sultanates. Their sculpture too, althoughfundamentally derived from, and consciously seeking torecreate Chola ideals, occasionally shows the presence offoreigners. Their eclectic ruins from the late fifteenth andearly sixteenth centuries preserve a fascinating time inhistory, an age of wealth, exploration and cultural fusion.

BUDDHIST AND JAIN ARCHITECTURAL DEVELOPMENTS

So far, although we have focused on the nature ofdevelopments in Hindu architecture from the fifth tofourteenth centuries, it must constantly be kept in mindthat this was also the very period when Buddhist and Jaindevelopments were equally vibrant, and often went hand-in-glove with Hindu ones. Sites such as Ellora have

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Buddhist, Hindu and Jain monuments; however,Badami, Khajuraho and Kannauj have the remainsof any two of the religions right next to each other.

When the Gupta empire crumbled in the sixthcentury CE, this eastern region of Bihar andBengal, historically known as Magadha, appearsto have remained unified whilst numerous smallRajput principalities sprang up to the west. In theeighth century, the Palas came to power in theregion. The second Pala ruler, Dharmapala, becameimmensely powerful and established an empire bydefeating the powerful Rajput Pratiharas.Dharmapala consolidated an empire whose wealthlay in a combination of agriculture along the fertileGanges plain and international trade.

The pre-eminent Buddhist site is, of course,Bodhgaya. Bodhgaya is a pilgrimage site sinceSiddhartha achieved enlightenment here andbecame Gautama Buddha. While the bodhi tree isof immense importance, the Mahabodhi Temple atBodhgaya is an important reminder of the brickwork ofthat time. The first shrine here, located at the base of theBodhi tree, is said to have been constructed by KingAshoka; the vedika around it is said to be post-Mauryan,of about 100 BCE; many of the sculptures in the niches inthe temple are dated to the eighth century Pala Period,while the actual Mahabodhi temple itself as it stands nowis largely a Colonial Period reconstruction of the old seventhcentury design. The design of the temple is unusual. It is,strictly speaking, neither dravida or nagara. It is narrowlike a nagara temple, but it rises without curving, like adravida one.

The monastic university of Nalanda is a mahavihara asit is a complex of several monastries of various sizes. Tilldate, only a small portion of this ancient learning centrehas been excavated as most of it lies buried undercontemporary civilisation, making further excavationsalmost impossible.

Most of the information about Nalanda is based on therecords of Xuan Zang—previously spelt as ‘Hsuan-tsang’—which states that the foundation of a monastery was laidby Kumargupta I in the fifth century CE; and this wascarried forward by the later monarchs who built up afantastic university here. There is evidence that all threeBuddhist doctrines— Theravada, Mahayana andVajrayana—were taught here and monks made their wayto Nalanda and its neighbouring sites of Bodh Gaya andKurkihar from China, Tibet and Central Asia in the north,

Mahabodhi temple,Bodhgaya

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and Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma and various othercountries from the south-eastern parts of Asia. Monks andpilgrims would take back small sculptures and illustratedmanuscripts from here to their own countries. Buddhistmonasteries like Nalanda, thus, were prolific centres ofart production that had a decisive impact on the arts ofall Buddhist countries in Asia.

The sculptural art of Nalanda, in stucco, stone andbronze, developed out of a heavy dependence on theBuddhist Gupta art of Sarnath. By the ninth century asynthesis occurred between the Sarnath Gupta idiom, thelocal Bihar tradition, and that of central India, leading tothe formation of the Nalanda school of sculpturecharacterised by distinctive facial features, body forms andtreatment of clothing and jewellery. The characteristicfeatures of Nalanda art, distinguished by its consistentlyhigh quality of workmanship, are that the preciselyexecuted sculptures have an ordered appearance with littleeffect of crowding. Sculptures are also usually not flat inrelief but are depicted in three-dimensional forms. Theback slabs of the sculptures are detailed and theornamentations delicate. The Nalanda bronzes, datingbetween the seventh and eighth centuries to approximatelythe twelfth century outnumber the discovery of metalimages from all other sites of eastern India and constitutea large body of Pala Period metal sculptures. Like theirstone counterparts, the bronzes initially relied heavily onSarnath and Mathura Gupta traditions. The Nalandasculptures initially depict Buddhist deities of the Mahayana

Excavated site,Nalanda

Sculptural details,Nalanda

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pantheon such as standing Buddhas, bodhisattvas suchas Manjusri Kumara, Avalokiteshvara seated on a lotusand Naga-Nagarjuna. During the late eleventh and twelvethcenturies, when Nalanda emerged as an important tantriccentre, the repertoire came to be dominated by Vajrayanadeities such as Vajrasharada (a form of Saraswati)Khasarpana, Avalokiteshvara, etc. Depictions of crownedBuddhas occur commonly only after the tenth century.Interestingly, various brahmanical images not conformingto the Sarnath style have also been found at Nalanda,many of which are still worshipped in small temples invillages around the site.

Sirpur in Chhattisgarh is an early-Odisha-style sitebelonging to the period between of 550–800, with bothHindu and Buddhist shrines. In many ways theiconographic and stylistic elements of the Buddhistsculptures here are similar to that of Nalanda. Later othermajor Buddhist monasteries developed in Odisha.Lalitagiri, Vajragiri and Ratnagiri are the most famous ofthem.

The port-town of Nagapattinam was also a majorBuddhist centre right until the Chola Period. One of thereasons for this must have been its importance in tradewith Sri Lanka where large numbers of Buddhists stilllive. Bronze and stone sculptures in Chola style have cometo light at Nagapattinam and generally date back to thetenth century.

Jains were prolific temple builders like the Hindus,and their sacred shrines and pilgrimage spots are to befound across the length and breadth of India except in thehills. The oldest Jain pilgrimage sites are to be found in

Lakshman temple, Sirpur

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Bihar. Many of these sites are famous for early Buddhistshrines. In the Deccan, some of the most architecturallyimportant Jain sites can be found in Ellora and Aihole. Incentral India, Deogarh, Khajuraho, Chanderi and Gwaliorhave some excellent examples of Jain temples. Karnatakahas a rich heritage of Jain shrines and at Sravana Belagolathe famous statue of Gomateshwara, the granite statue ofLord Bahubali which stands eighteen metres or fifty-sevenfeet high, is the world’s tallest monolithic free-standingstructure. It was commissioned by Camundaraya, theGeneral-in-Chief and Prime Minister of the Ganga Kingsof Mysore.

Gujarat and Rajasthan have been strongholds ofJainism since early times. A famous hoard of Jain bronzeswas found at Akota, on the outskirts of Baroda, datedbetween the end of the fifth and the end of the seventhcentury CE. Finely cast through the lost-wax process, these

Lord Bahubali, Gomateshwara,Karnataka© N

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bronzes were often subsequently inlaid with silver andcopper to bring out the eyes, crowns and details of thetextiles on which the figures were seated. Many famousJain bronzes from Chausa in Bihar are now kept in thePatna Museum. Many Jain bronzes from Hansi in Haryanaand from various sites in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka arekept in various museums in India.

The Jain temples at Mount Abu were constructed byVimal Shah. Notable for a simplistic exterior in contrastwith the exuberant marble interiors, their rich sculpturaldecoration with deep undercutting creates a lace-likeappearance. The temple is famous for its unique patternson every ceiling, and the graceful bracket figures alongthe domed ceilings. The great Jain pilgrimage site in theShatrunjay hills near Palitana in Kathiawar, Gujarat, isimposing with scores of temples clustered together.

In this chapter we have read about the prolific sculpturaland architectural remains in different types of stone,terracotta and bronze from the fifth to the fourteenthcenturies. Undoubtedly there would have been sculpturesmade of other media like silver and gold, but these wouldhave been melted down and reused. Many sculptures wouldalso have been made of wood and ivory, but these haveperished because of their fragility. Often sculptures wouldhave been painted, but again, pigments cannot alwayssurvive hundreds of years, especially if the sculptures wereexposed to the elements. There was also a rich tradition ofpainting at this time, but the only examples that survivefrom this period are murals in a few religious buildings. A

Jain sculpture, Mount Abu

Dilwara temple, Mount Abu

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Mah

abalipu

ram

is

an

im

por

tan

t co

ast

al

tow

n f

rom

th

e per

iod o

f th

ePallava

s. I

t is

dot

ted w

ith

sev

eral im

por

tan

t ro

ck-c

ut

an

d f

ree-

stan

din

gst

ruct

ura

l te

mple

s m

ostl

y m

ade

in t

he

seve

nth

an

d e

igh

th c

entu

ries

.Th

is l

arg

e sc

ulp

tura

l pan

el,

one

of t

he

larg

est

an

d o

ldes

t kn

own

in

th

ew

orld

, is

nea

rly

thir

ty m

etre

s lo

ng

an

d f

ifte

en m

etre

s h

igh

. Th

ere

is a

natu

ral c

left

in t

he

rock

wh

ich

has

bee

n c

leve

rly

use

d b

y it

s sc

ulp

tors

as

a c

han

nel

for

wate

r to

flow

dow

n. T

his

wate

r co

llec

ts in

a m

ass

ive

tan

k in

fron

t of

th

e sc

ulp

ted w

all.

Sch

olars

have

inte

rpre

ted th

e st

ory

dep

icte

d o

n th

e pan

el d

iffe

ren

tly.

Wh

ile

som

e bel

ieve

th

at

it is

the

stor

y of

th

e des

cen

t of

th

e G

an

ga f

rom

hea

ven

to

eart

h, ot

her

s bel

ieve

th

at

the

main

sto

ry is

of K

ira

tarj

un

iya o

rA

rju

na’s

pen

an

ce, a p

oeti

c w

ork b

y B

harv

i w

hic

h is

kn

own

to

have

bee

np

op

ula

r in

th

e P

all

ava

cou

rt.

Oth

er s

chola

rs h

ave

in

terp

rete

d t

he

sym

bol

ism

beh

ind t

he

scu

lptu

res

to s

how

th

at

the

wh

ole

table

au

was

crea

ted t

o be

a p

rash

ast

i, o

r so

met

hin

g to

pra

ise

the

Pallava

kin

g, w

ho,

they

say,

wou

ld h

ave

sat

enth

ron

ed i

n t

he

tan

k i

n f

ron

t of

this

extr

aor

din

ary

back

dro

p.

A t

emple

has

bee

n g

iven

pro

min

ence

in

th

e re

lief

. A

scet

ics

an

dw

orsh

ipper

s si

t bef

ore

it. A

bov

e it

is a

n e

mac

iate

d b

eard

ed fi

gure

sta

ndin

gin

pen

an

ce o

n o

ne

leg,

his

arm

s ra

ised

abov

e h

is h

ead.

He

has

bee

nid

enti

fied

by

som

e as

Bh

agir

ath

an

d b

y ot

her

s as

Arj

un

a. A

rju

na’

s pen

ance

was

to o

bta

in t

he

pa

shu

pa

ta w

eapon

fro

m S

hiv

a,

wh

erea

s B

hagi

rath

pra

yed t

o h

ave

Gan

ga b

rou

ght

to e

art

h. N

ext

to t

his

fig

ure

sta

nds

Sh

iva

wh

o h

as

one

han

d in

th

e boo

n b

esto

win

g ge

stu

re o

r va

rad

a m

ud

ra. Th

esm

all g

an

a o

r dw

arf w

ho

stan

ds

bel

ow th

is h

and m

ay b

e a

per

son

ific

atio

nof

th

e pow

erfu

l pa

shu

pa

ta w

eapon

.A

ll t

he

figu

res

are

sh

own

wit

h a

sle

nder

an

d l

inea

r qu

ality

in

an

an

imate

d s

tate

of

mov

emen

t. A

part

fro

m h

um

an

s an

d f

lyin

g ce

lest

ials

ther

e are

sev

eral

natu

ralist

ically

carv

ed b

irds

an

d a

nim

als

as

wel

l.Part

icu

larl

y n

otew

orth

y are

th

e ex

traor

din

ari

ly w

ell-

mod

elle

d,

an

d l

ife-

like

elep

han

ts, an

d t

he

pair

of dee

r w

ho

are

un

der

th

e sh

rin

e. T

he

mos

th

um

orou

s, h

owev

er, is

a c

at

wh

o h

as

bee

n s

how

n s

tan

din

g on

his

hin

dle

gs,

wit

h h

is h

an

ds

rais

ed,

imit

ati

ng

Bh

agi

rath

or

Arj

un

a.

Clo

seex

am

inati

on, h

owev

er, re

veals

th

at

this

cat

is, in

fact

, a s

ymbol

ic d

evic

e.H

e is

su

rrou

nded

by

rats

, w

hic

h a

re u

nable

to

dis

turb

him

fro

m h

ispen

an

ce.

Per

haps

this

is

a m

etaph

or u

sed b

y th

e art

ist

to s

how

how

stro

ng

Arj

un

a's

or

Bh

agi

rath

’s p

enan

ce w

as,

wh

o is

als

o st

an

din

g st

ill,

un

dis

turb

ed b

y h

is s

urr

oun

din

gs.


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The theme of Ravana shaking Mount Kailashahas been depicted several times in the caves ofEllora. But the most noteworthy of all is the onedepicted on the left wall of Kailashnath temple(Cave No.16) at Ellora. The image is dated to theeighth century CE. It is a colossal sculpture andis considered as one of the masterpieces of Indiansculpture. It depicts the episode of Ravanashaking Mount Kailasha when Lord Shiva alongwith Parvati and others were on the mountain.The composition is divided into several tiers. Thelower tier depicts Ravana, multi-faced and multi-armed shaking the mount with ease. The depthof carvings of the multiple hands brings out theeffect of three-dimensional space. Ravana’s bodyis angular pushing one leg inside. The hands areexpanded on the sides of the inside chambercreated by the image of Ravana. The upper halfis divided into three frames. The centre occupiedby the image of Shiva and Parvati. Parvati isshown moving close to Shiva scared by thecommotion on the hill. Her stretched legs andslightly twisted body in the recessed space createa very dramatic effect of light and shade. Thevolume of sculpture is very pronounced; theattendant fiures are equally voluminous. Thegana (dwarf) figures are shown in action, involvedin their activities. The celestial beings aboveShiva and Parvati witnessing the event areshown in frozen movement. Protrusion of volumeand recession in the space are importantlandmarks in the images of the Ellora caves.Light and darkness has been exploited bycreating the images in full round. Their torsosare slender with heaviness in its surfacetreatment, arms are slim in full round. Attendantfigures on the two sides have angular frontality.Every image in the composition is beautifullyinterwoven structurally with each other.


Carvings on outer wall,Kailashnath temple, Ellora© N

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Th

e te

mple

s at

Kh

aju

rah

o ar

e al

l mad

e of

san

dst

one.

Th

ey w

ere

pat

ron

ised

by

the

Ch

an

del

la dyn

ast

y. T

he

Laksh

am

an

a t

emple

rep

rese

nts

th

e fu

ll-

fled

ged,

dev

elop

ed s

tyle

of

tem

ple

arc

hit

ectu

re d

uri

ng

the

tim

e of

th

eC

han

del

las.

Its

con

stru

ctio

n w

as

com

ple

ted b

y 954,

the

year

as

per

th

ein

scri

pti

on fo

un

d a

t th

e base

of t

he

tem

ple

, by

Yash

ovarm

an

, th

e se

ven

thru

ler

of t

he

Ch

an

del

la d

ynast

y. T

he

tem

ple

pla

n is

of a p

an

chaya

na t

ype.

Th

e te

mp

le i

s co

nst

ruct

ed o

n a

hea

vy p

lin

th.

It c

on

sist

s of

an

ard

ha

ma

nd

apa (p

orch

), m

an

da

pa

(por

ch), th

e m

ah

a m

an

da

pa (g

reat

er h

all)

an

d t

he

garb

ha

grih

a w

ith

vim

an

a.

Each

part

has

a s

epara

te r

oof

risi

ng

back

ward

. A

ll t

he

halls

have

pro

ject

ed p

orch

es o

n t

hei

r w

alls

bu

t are

not

acc

essi

ble

to v

isit

ors

. T

hei

r u

se i

s fu

nct

ion

al,

main

ly f

or

ligh

t an

dve

nti

lati

on.

Th

e ou

ter

walls

of t

he

garb

ha

grih

a a

nd t

he

oute

r an

d i

nn

erw

alls

aro

un

d t

he

circ

um

am

bu

lato

ry p

ath

are

dec

orate

d w

ith

scu

lptu

res.

Th

e sh

ikh

ara

on

th

e ga

rbh

agr

iha is

tall. Th

e K

haju

rah

o te

mple

s are

als

okn

own

for

th

eir

erot

ic s

culp

ture

s. M

an

y er

otic

scu

lptu

res

are

carv

ed o

nth

e plin

th w

all.

Som

e er

otic

scu

lptu

res

are

carv

ed o

n t

he

act

ual

wall o

fth

e te

mple

. T

ier

arr

an

gem

ents

on

th

e w

alls

pro

vide

a v

ery

spec

ific

space

for

the

pla

cem

ent

of t

he

image

s. T

he

inte

rior

halls

are

als

o dec

orate

dp

rofu

sely

. T

he

entr

an

ce t

o t

he

ga

rbh

agri

ha

is

scu

lpte

d w

ith

hea

vyvo

lum

inou

s pilla

rs a

nd l

inte

ls c

arv

ed w

ith

sm

all i

mage

s as

part

of

the

doo

r dec

orati

on. A

n im

age

of C

hatu

rmu

kh

a V

ish

nu

is in

th

e ga

rbh

agr

iha.

Th

ere

are

fou

r sh

rin

es in

each

cor

ner

of

the

tem

ple

. Th

ere

are

im

age

s of

Vis

hn

u in

th

ree

shri

nes

an

d S

ury

a in

on

e, w

hic

h c

an

be

iden

tified

by

the

cen

tral

image

on

th

e lin

tel

of t

he

shri

ne-

doo

rs.

Dra

per

y an

d o

rnam

ents

are

giv

en a

lot

of att

enti

on.


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EXERCISE1. Mark out all the places discussed in this chapter on a map

of India.2. What are the commonalities and differences between North

Indian and South Indian temples? Make a diagram tosupplement your answer.

3. Bring out the stylistic differences of any two sculpturaltraditions (such as Pala, Chola, Pallava, Chandella, etc.)using either drawing, painting or clay-modelling.Supplement your project with a written assignment thatexplains the salient features of the two styles you havechosen.

4. Compare any two temple styles in India; supplement witha line drawing.

5. Trace the development in Buddhist art.

Project Work

Find any temple or monastery in or around your town andnote down its important features such as differentartchitectural features, sculptural style, identification ofimages, dynastic affiliation and patronage.

large number of bronze scupltures have been found in thecountry which shall be discussed in the next chapter.

We have focussed on the dominant art styles and someof the most famous monuments from different parts of Indiain the medieval period. It is important to realise that theenormous artistic achievements that we have studied herewould never have been possible if artists worked alone.These large projects would have brought architects,builders, sculptors and painters together.

Above all, by studying these artworks, we are able tolearn much about the kind of society that made theseobjects. Through them we can surmise what their buildingswere like, what types of clothes they wore and above allwe can use the art material to reconstruct the history oftheir religions. These religions, as we have seen were manyand diverse and constantly changing. Hinduism, Buddhismand Jainism each have a plethora of gods and goddesses,and this was the period when bhakti and tantra — twomajor developments, affected them. Temples also becamea space for many other art forms: such as music and danceand, from the tenth century onward, temples became largelandowners and performed an administrative role as well.

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INDIAN sculptors had mastered the bronze medium andthe casting process as much as they had mastered

terracotta sculpture and carving in stone. The cire-perduor ‘lost-wax’ process for casting was learnt as long ago asthe Indus Valley Culture. Along with it was discovered theprocess of making alloy of metals by mixing copper, zincand tin which is called bronze.

Bronze sculptures and statuettes of Buddhist, Hinduand Jain icons have been discovered from many regions ofIndia dating from the second century until the sixteenthcentury. Most of these were required for ritual worshipand are characterised by exquisite beauty and aestheticappeal. At the same time the metal-casting processcontinued to be utilised for making articles for variouspurposes of daily use, such as utensils for cooking, eating,drinking, etc. Present-day tribal communities also utilisethe ‘lost-wax’ process for their art expressions.

Perhaps the ‘Dancing Girl’ in tribhanga posture fromMohenjodaro is the earliest bronze sculpture datable to2500 BCE. The limbs and torso of this female figurine aresimplified in tubular form. A similar group of bronzestatuettes have been discovered on archaeologicalexcavation at Daimabad (Maharashtra) datable to 1500BCE. Significant is the ‘Chariot’, the wheels of which arerepresented in simple circular shapes while the driver orhuman rider has been elongated, and the bulls in theforefront are modelled in sturdy forms.

Interesting images of Jain Tirthankaras have beendiscovered from Chausa, Bihar, belonging to the KushanaPeriod during second century CE. These bronzes show howthe Indian sculptors had mastered the modelling ofmasculine human physique and simplified muscles.Remarkable is the depiction of Adinath or Vrishabhnath,who is identified with long hairlocks dropping to hisshoulders. Otherwise the tirthankaras are noted by theirshort curly hair.

Many standing Buddha images with right hand inabhaya mudra were cast in North India, particularly Uttar

INDIAN BRONZESCULPTURE

7

Kaliyadaman, Chola bronze,Tamil Nadu

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Pradesh and Bihar, during the Gupta and Post-Guptaperiods, i.e., between the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries.The sanghati or the monk’s robe is wrapped to cover theshoulders which turns over the right arm, while the otherend of the drapery is wrapped over the left arm. Eventuallythe pleats are held by the extended hand of the same arm.The drapery falls and spreads into a wide curve at thelevel of the ankles. The Buddha’s figure is modelled in asubtle manner suggesting, at the same time, the thinquality of the cloth. The whole figure is treated withrefinement; there is a certain delicacy in the treatment ofthe torso. The figure appears youthful and proportionatein comparison with the Kushana style. In the typical bronzefrom Dhanesar Khera, Uttar Pradesh, the folds of thedrapery are treated as in the Mathura style, i.e., in a seriesof drooping down curves. Sarnath-style bronzes havefoldless drapery. The outstanding example is that of theBuddha image at Sultanganj, Bihar, which is quite amonumental bronze figure. The typical refined style ofthese bronzes is the hallmark of the classical quality.

Vakataka bronze images of the Buddha from Phophnar,Maharashtra, are contemporary with the Gupta periodbronzes. They show the influence of the Amaravati style ofAndhra Pradesh in the third century CE and at the sametime there is a significant change in the draping style ofthe monk’s robe. Buddha’s right hand in abhaya mudra isfree so that the drapery clings to the right side of the body

Ganesh, seventh century CE,Kashmir

Shiva Family, tenth century CE,Bihar

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INDIAN BRONZE SCULPTURE 105

contour. The result is a continuous flowing line on thisside of the figure. At the level of the ankles of the Buddhafigure the drapery makes a conspicuous curvilinear turn,as it is held by the left hand.

The additional importance of the Gupta and Vakatakabronzes is that they were portable and monks carried themfrom place to place for the purpose of individual worshipor to be installed in Buddhist viharas. In this manner therefined classical style spread to different parts of Indiaand to Asian countries overseas. The hoard of bronzesdiscovered in Akota near Vadodara established that bronzecasting was practised in Gujarat or western India betweenthe sixth and ninth centuries. Most of the images representthe Jaina tirthankaras like Mahavira, Parshvanath orAdinath. A new format was invented in which tirthankarasare seated on a throne; they can be single or combined ina group of three or in a group of twenty-four tirthankaras.Female images were also cast representing yakshinis or

The Lost-wax ProcessThe lost-wax process is a technique used for making objects ofmetal, especially in Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, MadhyaPradesh and West Bengal. In each region, a slightly differenttechnique is used.

The lost-wax process involves several different steps. First awax model of the image is made by hand of pure beeswax thathas first been melted over an open fire, and then strained througha fine cloth into a basin of cold water. Here it resolidifiesimmediately. It is then pressed through a pichki or pharni —which squeezes the wax into noodle-like shape. These wax wiresare then wound around to the shape of the entire image.

The image is now covered with a thick coating of paste, madeof equal parts of clay, sand and cow-dung. Into an opening onone side, a clay pot is fixed. In this molten metal is poured. Theweight of the metal to be used is ten times that of wax. (The waxis weighed before starting the entire process.) This metal islargely scrap metal from broken pots and pans. While themolten metal is poured in the clay pot, the clay-plasteredmodel is exposed to firing. As the wax inside melts, the metalflows down the channel and takes on the shape of the waximage. The firing process is carried out almost like a religiousritual and all the steps take place in dead silence. The imageis later chiselled with files to smoothen it and give it a finish.Casting a bronze image is a painstaking task and demandsa high degree of skill. Sometimes an alloy of five metals —gold, silver, copper, brass and lead — is used to cast bronzeimages.

Devi, Chola bronze,Tamil Nadu

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Shasanadevis of some prominent tirthankaras.Stylistically they were influenced by the featuresof both the Gupta and the Vakataka periodbronzes. Chakreshvari is the Shasanadevi ofAdinath and Ambika is of Neminath.

Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir regions alsoproduced bronze images of Buddhist deities as wellas Hindu gods and goddesses. Most of these werecreated during the eighth, ninth and tenthcenturies and have a very distinct style incomparison with bronzes from other parts of India.A noteworthy development is the growth of differenttypes of iconography of Vishnu images. Four-headedVishnu, also known as Chaturanana or VaikunthaVishnu, was worshipped in these regions. Whilethe central face represents Vasudeva, the other twofaces are that of Narasimha and Varaha. TheNarasimha avatar and Mahishasuramardini Durgaimages of Himachal Pradesh are among the verydynamic bronzes from that region.

In Buddhist centres like Nalanda, a school ofbronze-casting emerged around the ninth centuryduring the rule of the Pala Dynasty in Bihar and

Bengal regions. In the gap of a few centuries the sculptorsat Kurkihar near Nalanda were able to revive the classicalstyle of the Gupta period. A remarkable bronze is of a four-

Ganesh, Kashmir,seventh century CE

Bronze sculpture,Himachal Pradesh

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INDIAN BRONZE SCULPTURE 107

armed Avalokitesvara, which is a good example of a malefigure in graceful tribhanga posture. Worship of femalegoddesses was adopted which is part of the growth of theVajrayana phase in Buddhism. Images of Tara became verypopular. Seated on a throne, she is accompanied by a growingcurvilinear lotus stalk and her right hand is in the abhayamudra.

The bronze casting technique and making of bronzeimages of traditional icons reached a high stage ofdevelopment in South India during the medieval period.Although bronze images were modelled and cast duringthe Pallava Period in the eighth and ninth centuries, someof the most beautiful and exquisite statues were producedduring the Chola Period in Tamil Nadu from the tenth tothe twelfth century. The technique and art of fashioningbronze images is still skillfully practised in South India,particularly in Kumbakonam. The distinguished patronduring the tenth century was the widowed Chola queen,Sembiyan Maha Devi. Chola bronzes are the most sought-after collectors’ items by art lovers all over the world.

Among the Pallava Period bronzes of the eighth centuryis the icon of Shiva seated in ardhaparyanka asana (oneleg kept dangling). The right hand is in the achamanamudra gesture, suggesting that he is about to drink poison.

Shiva is associated with the end of the cosmicworld with which this dancing position isassociated.

In this Chola period bronze sculpture hehas been shown balancing himself on his rightleg and suppressing the apasmara, the demonof ignorance or forgetfulness, with the foot ofthe same leg. At the same time he raises hisleft leg in bhujangatrasita stance, whichrepresents tirobhava, that is kicking away theveil of maya or illusion from the devotee’s mind.His four arms are outstretched and the mainright hand is posed in abhaya hasta or thegesture suggesting. The upper right holds thedamaru his favourite musical instrument tokeep on the beat tala. The upper left handcarries a flame while the main left hand is heldin dola hasta and connects with the abhayahasta of the right hand. His hair locks fly onboth the sides touching the circular jvala malaor the garland of flames which surrounds theentire dancing figuration.

Nataraja

Nataraja, Chola period, twelfthcentury CE

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EXERCISE1. Do you think that the technique of bronze casting has

been a continuous process? How did it evolve over a periodof time?

2. In India sculpturing in stone and metal happenedsimultaneously. In your opinion what were the similaritiesand differences between both technically, stylistically andfunctionally?

3. Why are Chola bronze sculptures considered as the mostrefined?

4. Search for visuals of bronze sculptures of the Buddhabelonging to periods other than the Chola Period fromHimachal Pradesh, Kashmir, etc.

The well-known dancing figure of Shiva as Natarajawas evolved and fully developed during the Chola Periodand since then many variations of this complex bronzeimage have been modelled.

A wide range of Shiva iconography was evolved in theThanjavur (Tanjore) region of Tamil Nadu. The ninth centurykalyanasundara murti is highly remarkable for the mannerin which Panigrahana (ceremony of marriage) is representedby two separate statuettes. Shiva with his extended righthand accepts Parvati’s (the bride’s) right hand, who isdepicted with a bashful expression and taking a stepforward. The union of Shiva and Parvati is very ingeniouslyrepresented in the ardhanarisvara murti in a single image.Beautiful independent figurines of Parvati have also beenmodelled, standing in graceful tribhanga posture.

During the sixteenth century, known as the VijayanagarPeriod in Andhra Pradesh, the sculptors experimented withportrait sculpture in order to preserve knowledge of theroyal patron for posterity. At Tirupati, life-size standingportrait statues were cast in bronze, depictingKrishnadevaraya with his two queens, Tirumalamba andChinnadevi. The sculptor has combined the likeness ofthe facial features with certain elements of idealisation.The idealisation is further observed in the manner thephysical body is modelled to appear imposing as well asgraceful. The standing king and queens are depicted inpraying posture, that is, both hands held in the namaskaramudra.© N

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IN the seventh and eighth centuries CE, Islam spread towardsSpain and India. Islam came to India, particularly, with Muslim

merchants, traders, holy men and conquerors over a passage ofsix hundred years. Although by the eighth century CE, Muslimshad begun to construct in Sind, Gujarat, etc., it was only in theearly thirteenth century that large-scale building activity wasbegun by the Turkish State, established after the Turkishconquest of northern India.

By the twelfth century India was already familiar withmonumental constructions in grandiose settings. Certaintechniques and embellishments were prevalent and popular, suchas trabeation, brackets, and multiple pillars to support a flatroof or a small shallow dome. While arches were shaped in woodand stone, these were unable to bear the weight of the topstructure. Now, however, the archuate form of construction wasintroduced gradually in which arches could support the weightof the domes. Such arches needed to be constructed with voussoirs(series of interlocking blocks) and fitted with keystones. The domes,resting on pendentives and squinches enabled spanning of largespaces leaving the interiors free of pillars.

A noteworthy aspect of these migrations and conquests wasthat Muslims absorbed many features of local cultures andtraditions and combined them with their own architecturalpractices. Thus, in the field of architecture, a mix of manystructural techniques, stylised shapes, and surface decorationscame about through constant interventions of acceptance,rejection or modification of architectural elements. Thesearchitectural entities or categories showcasing multiple stylesare known as Indo-Saracenic or Indo-Islamic architecture.

According to E. B. Havell, Hindus conceived manifestations ofgod everywhere in multiple forms as part of their religious faithwhereas a Muslim thought of only one with Muhammad as HisProphet. Hence, Hindus adorned all surfaces with sculptures andpaintings. Muslims forbidden to replicate living forms on anysurface, developed their religious art and architecture consistingof the arts of arabesque, geometrical patterns and calligraphy onplaster and stone.

SOME ASPECTS OFINDO-ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE

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Qutub Minar, Delhi© NCERT

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TYPOLOGIES OF STRUCTURES

Keeping in mind religious and secular necessities, architecturalbuilding like mosques for daily prayers, the Jama Masjids, tombs,dargahs, minars, hammams, formally laid out gardens, madrasas,sarais or caravansarais, Kos minars, etc., were constructed overa period of time. These were thus additions in the existing typesof buildings in the sub-continent.

Architectural edifices in the Indian sub-continent, as elsewherein the world, were constructed by wealthy people. They were, indescending order, rulers and nobles and their families, merchants,merchant guilds, rural elite and devotees of a cult. In spite of theobvious Saracenic, Persian and Turkish influences, Indo-Islamicstructures were heavily influenced by prevailing sensibilities ofIndian architectural and decorative forms. A lot depended on theavailability of materials, limitations of resources and skills andthe sense of aesthetics of the patrons. Although religion andreligiosity were very important to people of medieval India, aselsewhere, they borrowed architectural elements liberally.

CATEGORIES OF STYLES

The study of Indo-Islamic architecture is conventionallycategorised into the Imperial Style (Delhi Sultanate), the ProvincialStyle (Mandu, Gujarat, Bengal, and Jaunpur), the Mughal Style(Delhi, Agra, and Lahore) and the Deccani Style (Bijapur,Golconda). These categories help in understanding better thespecificities of architectural styles rather than putting them inimmutable slots.

Intricate jali work,Amer Fort, Jaipur

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SOME ASPECTS OF INDO-ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE 111

ARCHITECTURAL INFLUENCES

Amongst provincial styles, the architecture of Bengal and Jaunpuris regarded as distinct. Gujarat was said to have a markedlyregional character for patrons borrowed elements from regionaltemple traditions such as toranas, lintels in mihrabs, carvings ofbell and chain motifs, and carved panels depicting trees, for tombs,mosques and dargahs. The fifteenth century white marble dargahof Shaikh Ahmad Khattu of Sarkhej is a good example of provincialstyle and it heavily influenced the form and decoration of Mughaltombs.

DECORATIVE FORMS

These forms included designing on plaster through incision orstucco. The designs were either left plain or covered with colours.Motifs were also painted on or carved in stone. These motifsincluded varieties of flowers, both from the sub-continent andplaces outside, particularly Iran. The lotus bud fringe was usedto great advantage in the inner curves of the arches. Walls werealso decorated with cypress, chinar and other trees as also withflower vases. Many complex designs of flower motifs decoratingthe ceilings were also to be found on textiles and carpets. In thefourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries tiles were also usedto surface the walls and the domes. Popular colours were blue,turquoise, green and yellow. Subsequently the techniques oftessellation (mosaic designs) and pietra dura were made use offor surface decoration particularly in the dado panels of the walls.At times lapis lazuli was used in the interior walls or on canopies.Other decorations included arabesque, calligraphy and high andlow relief carving and a profuse use of jalis. The high relief carvinghas a three- dimensional look. The arches were plain and squatand sometimes high and pointed. From the sixteenth centuryonwards arches were designed with trefoil or multiple foliations.Spandrels of the arches were decorated with medallions or bosses.The roof was a mix of the central dome and other smaller domes,chatris and tiny minarets. The central dome was topped with aninverted lotus flower motif and a metal or stone pinnacle.

Pietra dura work, Agra

Dodo panel on the wall,Agra

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MATERIALS FOR CONSTRUCTION

The walls in all buildings were extremely thick and were largelyconstructed of rubble masonary, which was easily available. Thesewalls were then cased over with chunam or limestone plaster ordressed stone. An amazing range of stones were utilised forconstruction such as quartzite, sandstone, buff, marble, etc.Polychrome tiles were used to great advantage to finish the walls.From the beginning of the seventeenth century, bricks were alsoused for construction and these imparted greater flexibility tothe structures. In this phase there was more reliance on localmaterials.

FORTS

Building monumental forts with embattlements was a regularfeature in medieval times, often symbolising the seat of power ofa king. When such a fort was captured by an attacking army thevanquished ruler either lost his complete power or his sovereignty.This was because he had to accept the suzerainty of the victoriousking. Some examples of strong, complex edifices which stillexercise the imagination of the visitor are the forts of Chittor,Gwalior, Daulatabad, earlier known as Devgiri and Golconda.

Commanding heights were utilised to great advantage toconstruct forts. These heights gave a good perspective of theregion, strategic advantage for security, unfettered andunhindered space to make residential and official complexes whilesimultaneously creating a sense of awe in the people. Othercomplexities woven into such topography were concentric circlesAerial view,

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of outer walls as in Golconda, so that the enemy had to breachthese at all stages before getting in.

Daulatabad had several strategic devices to confound theenemy, such as staggered entrances so that gates could not beopened even with the help of elephants. It also had twin forts,one within the other but at a higher elevation and accessed by acomplex defence design arrangement. One wrong turn in thelabyrinth or complex pathway could lead to the enemy soldiergoing in circles or falling to his death several hundred feet below.

The Gwalior Fort was invincible because its steep height madeit impossible to scale. It had had many habitations and usages.Babur, who did not find much merit in many things he saw inHindustan, was said to have been overawed at the sight of theGwalior Fort. Chittorgarh bears the distinction of being the largestfort in Asia and was occupied for the longest length of time asthe seat of power. It has many types of buildings includingstambhas or towers to signify victory and bravery. It was repletewith numerous water bodies. Innumerable acts of heroism havebeen associated with the principal people in the fort, forming thesubstance of many a legend. An interesting aspect associatedwith forts is that within the palace complexes stylistic anddecorative influences were absorbed most liberally.

MINARS

Another form of stambha or tower was the minar, a common featurein the sub-continent. Two most striking minars of medieval timesare the Qutub Minar in Delhi and the Chand Minar at Daulatabad

Gwalior Fort

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Fort. The everyday use of the minar was for theazaan or call to prayer. Its phenomenal height,however, symbolised the might and power of theruler. The Qutub Minar also came to be associatedwith the much revered saint of Delhi, KhwajaQutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki.

The Qutub Minar, built in the thirteenthcentury, is a 234-feet-high tapering tower dividedinto five storeys. The minar is a mix of polygonaland circular shapes. It is largely built of red andbuff sandstone with some use of marble in theupper storeys. It is characterised by highlydecorated balconies and bands of inscriptionsintertwined with foliated designs.

Chand Minar, built in the fifteenth century,is a 210- feet-high tapering tower divided intofour storeys. Painted peach now, its façade onceboasted of chevron patterning on the encaustictile work and bold bands of Quranic verses.Although it looked like an Iranian monument, it

was the combined handiwork of local architects with those fromDelhi and Iran.

TOMBS

Monumental structures over graves of rulers and royalty was apopular feature of medieval India. Some well known examples ofsuch tombs are those of Ghyasuddin Tughlaq, Humayun, AbdurRahim Khan-i-Khanan, Akbar and Itmaduddaula. According toAnthony Welch, the idea behind the tomb was eternal paradiseas a reward for the true believer on the Day of Judgement. Thisled to the paradisiacal imagery for tomb construction. Beginning

Tomb of Itmaduddaula,Agra

Chand Minar,Daulatabad

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with the introduction of Quranic verses on the walls, the tombwas subsequently placed within paradisiacal elements such as agarden or near a body of water or both, as is in the case of the TajMahal. Surely though, such vast expanses of structured andstylised spaces could not have been intended only to signify peaceand happiness in the next world but to also showcase the majesty,grandeur and might of the person buried there.

SARAIS

A hugely interesting feature of medieval India was the sarais whichringed cities and dotted the vast space of the Indian sub-continent. Sarais were largely built on a simple square orrectangular plan and were meant to provide temporaryaccommodation to Indian and foreign travellers, pilgrims,merchants, traders, etc. In effect, sarais were public domainswhich thronged with people of varied cultural backgrounds. Thisled to cross-cultural interaction, influences and syncretictendencies in the cultural mores of the times and at the level ofthe people.

STRUCTURES FOR COMMON PEOPLE

One of the architectural features of medieval India was also acoming together of styles, techniques and decorations in publicand private spaces of non-royal sections of the society. Theseincluded buildings for domestic usage, temples, mosques,khanqahs and dargahs, commemorative gateways, pavilions inbuildings and gardens, bazaars, etc.© N

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117SOME ASPECTS OF INDO-ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE

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Jama Masjid, Mandu

arrangement of watercourses and a terraceswimming pool.

Rani Rupmati’s double pavilionperched on the southern embattlementsafforded a beautiful view of the Narmadavalley. Baz Bahadur’s palace had a widecourtyard ringed with halls and terraces.

A madrasa called Asharfi Mahal nowlies in ruins. Hoshang Shah’s tomb is amajestic structure with a beautiful dome,marble jali work, porticos, courts andtowers. It is regarded as an example ofthe robustness of Afghan structures, butits lattice work, carved brackets andtoranas lend it a softer hue.

The Jama Masjid of Mandu was built on a large scale to accommodatemany worshippers for Friday prayers. It is entered through a monumentalgateway, topped with a squat dome, beyond which lies an open courtyardflanked with columned cloisters on three sides, also topped with smallerdomes. The building is faced with red sandstone. The mimbar in the QiblaLiwan is supported on carved brackets and the mihrab has a lotus budfringe.

Pathan architecture of Mandu is regarded as too close to the structuresof Imperial Delhi to make a bold statement of local traditions. Nevertheless,the so-called robust, austere Pathan architecture of Mandu with its surfaceembellishments of jalis, carved brackets, etc., and the lightness of thestructures was an important intervention in the narrative of the Indo-Islamicarchitectural experience.

Jahaaz Mahal , Mandu

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From 1632 onwards it took nearly twenty yearsand 20,000 specialised workers to complete this monument.

TAJ MAHAL

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Taj Mahal was built in Agra by Shah Jahan asa mausoleum for his deceased wife MumtazMahal. Taj Mahal was the apogee of theevolutionary architectural process in medievalIndia.

The sublimity of the building comes fromits orderly, simple plan and elevation,amazingly perfect proportions or symmetry, theethereal quality marble has lent to it, theperfect setting of bagh and river and the pureoutline of the tomb silhouetted against the sky.The patina the Taj has lends it a different hueat various times of day and night.

The Taj complex is entered through amonumental red sandstone gateway theopening arch of which beautifully frames themausoleum. The tomb is laid out in a ChaharBagh, criss-crossed with paths and watercourses, interspersed with pools and fountains.The structure is placed on the northernextremity of the bagh instead of the middle totake advantage of the river bank.

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A straight path through the baghreaches the plinth of the tomb from whereis accessed the floor terrace of the edifice.At the corners of the terrace stand four tall,tapering minarets, one hundred and thirty-two feet high. The main body of the buildingis topped with a drum and dome and fourcupolas forming a beautiful skyline. Theplinth, the walls of the structure and thedrum-dome are in perfect proportion to oneanother. Towards the west of the whitemarble-faced tomb lies a red sandstonemosque and a similar construction in theeast to maintain balance. Marble for thebuilding was quarried from the Makranamines in Rajasthan and this white edificeis contrasted with the red sandstone of thesurrounding structures.

The tomb structure is a square withchamfers forming eight sides, recessed withdeep arches. This structural stylisationproduces in the elevation of the building avariety of contrasting planes and shade andsolids and voids effects. All sides of thebuilding, the twin elevations of floor to roofand roof to pinnacle, atop the foliated crestof the dome, measure 186 feet each.

The interior arrangements of themausoleum consist of a crypt below and avaulted, octagonal tomb chamber above, witha room at each angle, all connected withcorridors. Light to every part of the buildingis obtained by means of carved andperforated jalis, set in the arched recessesof the interior. The ceiling is as high as thefaçade creating a void with the help of adouble dome.

Four types of embellishments have beenused with great effect for the interior andexterior surfaces of the Taj Mahal. Theseare stone carvings in high and low reliefon the walls, the delicate carving of marbleinto jalis and graceful volutes (spiralornament on the pillar), and the creationof arabesques with pietra dura (yellowmarble, jade and jasper) on walls andtombstones and geometric designs withtessellation. Lastly, the art of calligraphyis used with the inlay of jasper in whitemarble to write Quranic verses. Calligraphyprovided a decorative element on the wallsand a continuous connection withthe Almighty.

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Gu

mbad i

s si

tuate

d i

n B

ijapu

r in

th

e B

ijapu

r D

istr

ict

of K

arn

ata

ka.

It

is

the

mau

sole

um

of M

uh

am

mad A

dil S

hah

(1626–1

656) t

he

seve

nth

Su

ltan

of th

e A

dil

Sh

ah

i D

ynast

y of

Bijapu

r (1

489–1

686). B

uilt

by

the

rule

r h

imse

lf it

is a

str

ikin

ged

ific

e in

spit

e of

bei

ng

un

fin

ish

ed. Th

e to

mb is

a c

omple

x of

bu

ildin

gs s

uch

as

aga

tew

ay,

a N

aqq

ar

Kh

an

a,

a m

osqu

e an

d a

sa

rai

loca

ted w

ith

in a

larg

e-w

alled

gard

en.

Th

e G

um

bad is

a m

onu

men

tal sq

uare

bu

ildin

g to

pped

wit

h a

cir

cula

r dru

mov

er w

hic

h r

ests

a m

aje

stic

dom

e, g

ivin

g th

e bu

ildin

g it

s n

omen

clatu

re. It

is b

uilt

of d

ark g

ray

bas

alt an

d d

ecor

ated

pla

ster

wor

k. E

ach

wal

l of t

he

tom

b is

on

e h

un

dre

dan

d t

hir

ty-f

ive

feet

lon

g an

d o

ne

hu

ndre

d a

nd t

en

feet

hig

h a

nd t

en f

eet

thic

k.

Wit

h t

he

dru

m a

nd t

he

dom

e th

e bu

ildin

g ri

ses

to a

hei

ght

of o

ver

two

hu

ndre

dfe

et.

Th

e to

mb h

as

onl,y

one

squ

are

ch

am

ber

an

d t

he

dom

e, w

ith

a d

iam

eter

of

one

hu

ndre

d a

nd t

wen

ty-f

ive

feet

, co

vers

an

un

inte

rru

pte

d flo

or s

pace

of 18,3

37

squ

are

fee

t, t

he

larg

est

in t

he

wor

ld.

Th

e to

mb c

ham

ber

con

tain

s th

e bu

rial

pla

ce o

f th

e S

ult

an

, h

is w

ives

an

dot

her

rel

ativ

es, w

hile

thei

r re

al g

rave

s lie

per

pen

dic

ula

rly

bel

ow in

a v

ault

, acc

esse

dby

stair

s. T

he

hem

isph

eric

al m

aso

nry

dom

e ov

er a

squ

are

base

was

con

stru

cted

wit

h t

he

hel

p o

f pen

den

tive

s. T

hes

e pen

den

tive

sn

ot o

nly

len

t sh

ape

to th

e dom

e bu

t als

o tr

an

sfer

red it

s w

eigh

t to

th

e w

alls

bel

ow. N

ew v

au

ltin

g sy

stem

s co

nsi

stin

g of

arc

h-n

ets

orst

ella

te f

orm

s in

squ

inch

es w

ere

crea

ted t

o co

ver

an

gles

for

med

by

inte

rsec

tin

g arc

hes

.Th

e bu

ildin

g h

as

an

am

azi

ng

aco

ust

ical s

yste

m. A

lon

g th

e dru

m o

f th

edom

e th

ere

is a

wh

isper

ing

galler

y w

her

e so

un

ds

get m

agn

ifie

d a

nd e

choe

dm

an

y ti

mes

ove

r.A

t th

e fo

ur

corn

ers

of t

he

bu

ildin

g are

sev

en-s

tore

yed o

ctago

nal sp

ires

or m

inare

t-like

tow

ers.

Th

ese

tow

ers

hou

se s

tair

case

s le

adin

g to

th

e to

pdom

e. T

he

dru

m o

f th

e dom

e is

dec

orat

ed w

ith

foliat

ion

. A h

eavi

ly b

rack

eted

corn

ice

rest

ing

on c

orbel

s is

a d

isti

nct

ive

featu

re o

f th

e fa

cade.

Gol

Gu

mbad i

s a f

ine

con

verg

ence

of

man

y st

yles

loc

ate

d i

n m

edie

val

Ind

ia.

Mon

um

enta

lity

, m

aje

sty

an

d g

ran

deu

r, i

nte

gral

asp

ects

of

the

arc

hit

ectu

ral e

xper

ien

ce in

In

dia

, are

ass

ocia

ted w

ith

bu

ildin

gs o

f B

ijapu

r.W

hile

its

stru

ctu

ral part

icu

lari

ties

of dom

e, a

rch

es, ge

omet

ric

pro

por

tion

san

d lo

ad b

eari

ng

tech

niq

ues

su

gges

t T

imu

rid a

nd P

ersi

an

sty

les,

it is

made

of loc

al m

ate

rial an

d is

dec

orate

d w

ith

su

rface

em

bel

lish

men

ts p

opu

lar

inth

e D

ecca

n. F

our

tow

ers

at

the

corn

ers

are

rem

inis

cen

t of

tu

rret

s att

ach

edto

mos

qu

es s

uch

as

Qila-i

Ku

hn

a M

asj

id a

nd t

he

Pu

ran

a Q

ila in

Del

hi.

Dru

m o

f th

e D

ome

Wh

isper

Ga

llery

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JAMA MASJID

Large mosques spanning hugespaces also dotted the landscape ofthe Indian sub-continent in medievaltimes. Congregational prayers wereheld here every Friday afternoonwhich required the presence of aminimum of forty Muslim maleadults. At the time of prayers aKhutba was read out in the name ofthe ruler and his laws for the realmwere also read out. In medieval timesa city had one Jama Masjid which,along with its immediatesurroundings became the focus of

the lives of the people, both Muslim and non-Muslim. Thishappened because a lot of commercial and cultural exchangeswere concentrated here besides religious and indirect politicalactivity. Generally such a mosque was large with an opencourtyard, surrounded on three sides by cloisters and the QiblaLiwan in the west. It was here that the mihrab and the mimbar forthe Imam were located. People faced the mihrab while offeringprayers as it indicated the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca.

Jama Masjid, Delhi

Minaret

Mihrab

Qibla

Aisles Tank

MaqsurScreen

Courtyard(Sahn)

Colisters(Liwan)

MainEntrance

Plan of Jama Masjid

N

S

EW

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ART OF THE INDUS VALLEY 125

EXERCISE

1. What do you understand by the term ‘Indo-Islamic’ or ‘Indo-Saracenic’ architecture? Can you think of another nomenclature?How did this architecture evolve in India?

2. What types of buildings were added in India in the thirteenthcentury?

3. Name four styles of Indo-Islamic architecture.4. What was the significance of a fort in medieval India? What were

the strategic devices adopted in the construction of forts to confuseor defeat the enemy?

5. Which forms of secular architecture evolved during medievaltimes? What significance did these buildings have in the socio-cultural lives of contemporary people?

6. How does Mandu showcase the fact that humans adapt to theirenvironment?

7. In spite of being unfinished how does Gol Gumbad symbolise thegrandeur and majesty of Indo-Islamic architecture?

8. Which are the places where the dead are buried? How do thesediffer from each other?

9. What according to Havell are the fundamental concepts of faith ofa Hindu and a Muslim?

10. Why is the word ‘perfection’ associated with the Taj Mahal?

PROJECT

A. Period-Region-Political Association

E. Decorative formson the structure

Have youvisited any

medieval structurein your locality/region/country?Document the

following aspectsof the structure:

F. Materials usedfor constructionof the structure

D. Architecturalforms locatedin the structure

C. Purpose ofthe structure

B. Typology of thestructure–Secular/Religious

H. The presentlocation andstatus of thestructure.

G. Is it conserved?Should it beconserved?

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GLOSSARY

Agate A fine-grained variegated chalcedony, itscolours arranged in stripes, blended in clouds,or showing moss like forms

Amalaka Ribbed, lenticular or globoid part resembling theamalaka (Indian gooseberry fruit) crowning thetop of the North Indian style shikhara

Anda Semi-circular dome

Arabesque An ornamental design consisting of intertwinedflowing lines, leaves and flowers

Ardhmandap Semi-hall in front of the temple

Ashtadikpalas Guardians of the eight directions

Ayudhas Weapons

Batter Slope in the wall

Bosses Circular embossed decorations, usually in stoneof contrasting colours located on either side ofan arch and within the spandrels

Burin A pointed tool of flint or stone with a transverseedge made by the removal of one or more flakes.Used for working bone, antler, and ivory, and,perhaps, for engraving

CE Common Era, replacing AD or Anno Domini(after the birth of Christ)

Calligraphy The art of producing decorative handwriting

Caturasra Square

Chhatra Umbrella like structure on top of the stupa

Chhatri Cupola resting on four pillars with a dome orpyramid-shaped roof

Chahar Bagh A square, walled garden divided into four byintersecting water channels

Chaitya Arch Semi-circular arch with pointed tip in the centretowards the top

Chaitya Place of congregation and worship

Chakra Wheel

Chamfer To cut off the edge or corner, thereby increasingthe number of sides

Chert A flint like material, usually black or darkbrown in colour. Although it has a conchoidalfracture like flint it is not so fine-textured

Chevron Patterning V- shaped patterns

Corbel The stone or wooden bracket laid horizontallyto support a cornice or an arch

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GLOSSARY 127

Cornice A moulded roof-line

Crystal A high quality, clear, colourless glass or anobject, especially a vessel or ornament, madeof such glass

Dado panel Lower part of the interior wall when it is finisheddifferently from the rest of the wall. Someexcellent examples are Jamali Kamali tomb inMehrauli and Turkish Sultan’s palace inFatehpur Sikri, Agra

Dargah Shrine of a Sufi saint, where the saint’s gravecalled mazar is located

Dhammachakrapravartan First sermon by Buddha at Sarnath nearVaranasi

Dravid People, culture, language and architecturalstyle of South India

Dressed stone Stone which is cut to size and polished

Encaustic tile work Inlay in ceramics

Faience Blue-coloured artificial glass-like material.Faience was used in a variety of ornaments andpieces of jewellery

Gahapati Big land-owner or big farmer involved in farmingand trade

Garbhgriha Sanctum sanctorum

Gopuram Main gateway; the storeyed structure over theentrance or entrances through the enclosingwalls to the premises of a temple, palace, or city

Hamam Turkish public bath for massage and sauna

Harmika Small square fencing about the anda or semi-circular dome of stupa

Imam The person who leads a Muslim congregationin prayers. Over a passage of time this positionbecame hereditary

Intaglio The process of cutting a design into the surfaceof a small hard stone or gem

Jagmohan Rectangular or square hall in front of sanctuaryor main temple

Jali Ornamental, perforated lattice screens witharabesques, star motifs and other geometricdesigns such as pentagons, hexagons, octagonsand circles

Jasper A variety of quartz that may be red, yellow orbrown; long used for jewellery andornamentation

Jataka Stories of the previous births of Buddha

Jati Caste

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Kalash Wide-mouthed pot; ornamental pot-designdecorating the shikhara

Keystone A central stone at the summit of an arch

Kos minar Distance marker or milestone in the shape andsize of a tower

Kuta A shrine of square plan

Lapis lazuli A rich blue semi-precious stone sometimesflecked with gold. The main source in theancient world was the mountains ofBadakshan, northern Afghanistan, from whereit was traded widely. Lapis lazuli was used asinlay in ornaments, jewellery, seals, etc.

Linga Phallus, the form in which Lord Shiva is beingworshipped

Mahamandapa Big hall in front of the temple

Mahaparinibban Death of Lord Buddha

Mandap Hall

Maqbara Mausoleum or tomb

Mastak Head

Medallion Circular discs in the spandrels of archesdecorated with motifs or calligraphy

Medhi Cylindrical drum

Mihrab Prayer niche indicating the direction of Mecca

Mimbar Stepped pulpit in the Jama Masjid or Fridaymosque from where the Khutba was read

Mukhlinga Phallus with face

Multiple foliations Many curves in an arch

Nagara North Indian style temple architecture

Naqqar khana Drum house from where ceremonial music wasplayed which was usually situated over the gate.It was a popular feature in Mughal palace-complexes

Natyamandapa Dancing hall in front part of the temple

or Rangmandapa

Panchayatana Main temple surrounded by four sub-shrinesin each corner

Pathan architecture Austere style of architecture favoured by theKhalji rulers in Delhi who were consideredAfghans

Pendentive A triangular bracket in the angle of two walls,connecting the base of the dome to itssupporting arches

Pietra-dura Pictorial mosaic work using semi-preciousstones. Found on walls, cenotaphs and marblejalis in the Taj Mahal

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GLOSSARY 129

Polychrome An object or a work composed of or decorated inmany colours

Pradakshina Circumambulation

Qibla Liwan The wall of the mosque in the direction of Mecca

Qila-i Kuhna Masjid Built by Humayun or Sher Shah between 1530and 1545, it is located inside Purana Qila inDelhi

Quartz A variety of stone found in many parts of theworld and variously used for toolmaking and inceremonial contexts. Varieties of quartz includeagate, chalcedony, chert, flint, opal and rockcrystal

Rekhaprasad or This type of temple has square shikhar at theLatina base and its walls curve slowly inward towards

the top

Rupkar Artisan

Sabha Mandapa Assembly hall

Saracenic A style of architecture popular with Muslims inWest Asia particularly from the eleventh to thefourteenth century

Sarai Dharamshala or a traveller’s lodge

Shala ayatasara Elliptical

Shikhar Superstructure above the garbhagriha in thenorth Indian style of temple

Shilpa texts Ancient Indian texts/manuals describing theelements and principles of art and architectureto be practised by artists

Shilpi Artisan

Shraman A Buddhist sect, followers of which use towander from place to place

Sovereignty The authority of a ruler/state to govern himself/itself absolutely independently

Spandrels The almost triangular space between two sidesof the outer curves of an arch and a rectangularenclosure

Squinch An arch spanning the corners of a squarechamber and acting as support for a dome

Steatite A greyish or greenish stone which is generallysoft and can easily be worked to make figurines,vessels, seals and other objects

Stellate Arch nets arranged in a radiating pattern likethat of a star

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Sthapati Architect

Stupa A mound like structure containing relics of amonk worshipped by the Buddhists

Sutradhara Chief artisan

Suzerainty A sovereign/state having some control overanother ruler/state who/that is internallyautonomous

Tablet A regularly shaped, separate panel, or arepresentation thereof, often bearing aninscription or image

Terracotta Literally, ‘baked earth’ mainly used to refer tofairly coarse, porous clay that, when fired,assumes a colour ranging from dull ochre tored

Tessellation Decoration on walls and floors with mosaic

Torans Carved, serpentine-shaped ceremonialgateways

Trefoil Three curves in an arch

Turquoise A semi-precious stone, sky blue to pale greenin colour, highly prized for its use in jewelleryby many ancient cultures

Valabhi Sub-type of nagara temple

Vang Ancient name of the Bengal region

Varna Four-fold division of the society based onprofession i.e. Brahmana, Kshatriya, Vaishya,Shudra during ancient India

Vesara Term used for the independent style of thetemple during the time of the Chalukyas ofKarnataka. It consists of a combination of thenorthern and southern styles

Vihara Place of residence of Buddhist monk

Vijanain Temples having a rectangular building with aroof that rises into a vaulted chamber

Viman Superstructure over the shrine in the southIndian temples

Volute A scroll or spiral ornament on a pillar

Voussoir A wedge-shaped or tapered stone used toconstruct an arch

Vritta Circular

Yakshas/Yakshanis Demi-gods and demi-goddesses

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An Introduction to Indian Art Part I

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Transcript of An Introduction to Indian Art Part I