Cbapter-II

Chapter-II

CRITIQlJE OF INDIAN CffiLIZA'l!ION :

(ITS COSMIC, ICONOGRAPHIC AND VAWATIONAL BASES )

Cosmos

In this chapter, I propose to show that some of the works of

Ghurye and Mukerjee reveal implicitly and explioi tly the inter­

relationships among the three components mentioned above, namel.y,

cosmos, iconography and values.

While cosmos refers to the meaning univ~rse of people who

inherit a particular religious doctrine, iconography is the approximation

of particular kinQ.s of art to this universe. The social values too are

derived from the universe of mea,njngs and reach into the spheres of

daily life. There is no doubt that there is some reciprocity between

the cosmography and aesthetic values. especially in the Indian context.

An outstanding feature of Indian religion is its a-historical

dimension. Robert Bellah 1 uses the term "archaic religions" to describe

the Hindu, Jaina, Buddhist and Taoist religions. By contrast .Bellah

uses the term "historical religionsn to describe Judaism, Christianity ... -

and Islam. While the archaic religions rest upon a cyclical notion of

1. Robert Bellaht "Religious Evolution" in D. Robinson (ed.) Sociolggr of Relis:i;on, Penguin, 1971. Bellah notes with referenoe to a.rcba.ic religionsa "fhe individual and society s.re seen as merged in e. natural divine cosmos. ~ditiona.l structures and social practices s.re considered to be grounded in the divinely ineti tuted cosmic order and there is 11 ttle tension between religious demand and social conformity." p. 275.

time, the historic religions rest upon a linear notion of time. ln

the farmer the Tlorld is conceived to be \rl.thout a definite beginning

and e.n end, in the latter the \10rld emerges at a particul.a.r date o:f

history and also is expected to end by a distinct date. ~is difference

in outlook has had a definite impact on the consciousness of people.

The Indian religions, .uninly Hinduism but also to some extent

Ja.iniem and Buddhism, believe in the Ka.rma...samsa:ra complex. ~he

individuals carry with them the merits and demerits of past lives and

attain salvation only after countless more births. The e.."ld of human

existence is reached Tlhen the cycle of births and deaths is finished.

On the collective level the passage of time is conceived in the measure

in the measure of aeons called kales, tr~ich are further sub-divided

into Yl!lf!O.. All these time-reckonings are cycli-cally po6tulated, so

that at the end of four yugas a new kal:Q! arises and so on. Ultimately,

in a grand St'Jeep of time, the individual lives and trorlds reach the end

of cosmic cycle. The three processes of Co$110a, creation, dissolution,

are emnations of the creator's sportiveness (lila} aocordi:ng to

Hinduism. The J.'lina and Buddhist cosmologies are a.gnoetica.lly silent

Qn this question.

The a:rohaic religions ma.y be said to have given rise to a

"revealed" tradition and the historical religions to a· ttreoeived" ,.,

tradition. The archaic religions support an immanentiet doctrine'

2. 'rhomas O'Dea.: Sociology of Rel.ie!on, Prentice-Hall Inc., NSTI Delhi,. 1966, P• 47.

\iherein the Divine and the human are in essence the same, although they

ma.y be separated by myriad forms and a.ppea.ra.nceo. Tbe Tlorld is therefore

an unreal ent.i ty to these religions at lea at on some levels. By contrast,

the Judeo..Christia.n. and I slamio religions ~ transcendental' in qua.li ty.

The relationship betrreen the divinity and the humanity rests on specific

oonvenants. God is gracious, omnipotent and epitome of 'ilirtues. But he

is far above the mundane coneoiouoness; he duells beyond the world of

sorrtm'e and sine. !be redemptive grace of God comes to a few elect

people t7bo are led :t'orca.rcl by a prophet.

The one exception to the transcendental tradition is Roman

Catholicism. 4 It has a cosmology in nhich a number of angels and saints

intercede on behalf' of the sinner through the mediation of its church.

The god is theref6re not so forbidding, a.ne-inspiring. A variant of

Roman Catholicism is the Eastern orthodox church t1hich mi tigatee the

transcendental aloofness of god by the institution of icon-worship.

!he erring mortals and the aor:rott-etricken people of the faith, pray

before the icons of a.tlc"'Elle and numerous monks. Thus the Eastern church

brings solace to the belie'ilere through its monastics. 5

3• Loc.oit.

4• See :Peter Berger: Tbe Social Reality of Religion, P~n Books, Harmondeworth, 1967, P• 127.

5. See Adolf Harne.ckt "On Eastern and tlestern Christianity" in Talcott Parsons e1; al (ed ... ) Theories of Sooietz, fhe Free Press of Glencoe, Ne\'1 York, 1961, pp.1111-1120.

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Here I would refer in aome detail to Gh\lX'Ye's Reli&ious

Copeca,ousnesa6 in which he tries to compare and contrast the states of

religious consciousness among Sumeriane, Egyptians and Hindus. It is a

diffusionist study in the sense that Ghurye refers to some of the common

elements which might have diffused from one civilization to the other.

~hese elements included reUgi.ous notions, patterns of arabi tecture and

U turgical models. In rega;rd to Hindu religion, Ghu.rye speaks of three

major shift• which occurred in the development of Indian cosmography.

!be influx of ethnic groups into India, the interaction between

agrarian and primitive communities and the rise of heretical and Bhakti

sects were causes of the&$ shifts. ~be first shift occurred when the

speculative bent of post-Vedic people put forward "self-quest*' as the

only '1eaoritice" worth cultivating. Whe sacrificial cults and the

associated paraphernalia of ritual and cereinOllY made •Y for the

individualistic quest for self realization. ~e shift occurred well

within the Vedic cosmogony of the deities who personified the nature's

forces or symbolised cerla.in ideas of manldnd. The upaniehade were

declared to be p&l't of the Vedic complex, although the direction of

religious oonsoiousneee was not the same in this new epoch.

In the Vedic era, the king and the priest together performed

sacrifices for the bene£1 t of a pastoral peopl~. :l!bese sacrifices

6. See G. s. Ghuryea Rel'4eous Consciousness, .Popular _l?rakashan, Bombay, 1959.

... ,,_ appeased gods, protected the community and even conferred a kind of

godhood on the aacrificers. ~he king priest model was superseded by a

monastic model derived from J aina and Bauddha. heretical sects in the

6th century B.c. Besides the Upa.nisba.dic model de-emphasized the

ritualistic and sacrificial elements and projected an individualistic

quest for self-realization. fhis could be described aa the first shift ..

The agra.rie.n society grew out of its pastoral complex and allowed the

neoesea.ry surplus far: a monastic group to go in quest of selfhood.

The seeond shift occurred when the upa.nishad:lo speculation

gave way to theistic relationship of the gods and mortals. fhe

intellectual abstractions of Brahmins and mendicants were gradually

superseded by devotional effusions. Roughly the middle ages (7th to

15th century A.D. ) were the times when the Bhakti sects flourished. It

waa during their phase that .Radba..Krishna...Devi complex spread in the

north; in the south the Shaivism of the Kayana:r:s and Vishnuiem of Alwars

propagated devotional poetry, worship and a type of egalitarianism. fbe

Bhakti movements acted as a via-media between the elitism of the Vedic

and poet-Vedic phases on the one hand and the expressive urges of masses

on the other hand. Yet the links with the earUer phases rem,tij.ned intacts

Ghurye mtee,

"The postulate of God in Hindu cosmology movea from

impersonal Vedic deities to theistic god&J but the

circle is completed when the personal gods are believed be

toLtbe manifestation of the impersonal Brahman. ~he use

of "Om" as an adjunct to the worship of Shiva or Vishnu

suggests the links of the deity with the absolute (Bra.bma.n}". 1

7. Ibid., p. 256.

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According to GhU17e, the llualim hegemony in several parts of ' .

the country spurred on a Hindu reviva.lismt the ;rise of Vijayanagara.

Empire in the 14th century was the oulmine.tion. In ,cyclical evolution

there is always the possibility of reversal. ~e di£f'erent phases of

shifts do not have an abrupt break. with the ea.t"Uer pbases. Also, the

basic components af tl;le ~aning universe remain more or less the same,

although emphasis may be laid on one or the other component.

8 . MUkerjee 1 e work Flo~ of Indian Art refers to cosmic

links in the iconographic evolution. In this book be has traced the

developments in the various phases of art - sculpture, architecture,

etc. - in terms of underlying metaphysical, moral and social values.

Art becomes as it were a vehicle of some of these values. It does not

oxiet as an end in i taelf. fhe early a.:rt of Ma.thura and Sanchi, the

classical art of Gupta.s and the !ra.ntrika art of the later periods were

continuous affirmations of a vision. Far instance, the animistic belief

of the Ha.rappa...:Mobenjoda.ro civilizations was partly incorporated into tb(l

Vedic pantheon of personified gods and goddesses. ~he worship of lingam,

the buU and the devi became part of the later Vedic cult. ~he Vedic

altar later became the motif of the temple plinth and the daily rites

performed in a temple were symbolically an act of sacrifice to the aam.e

purusba. ~he mimetic rites and rituals have forever continued to be a

pari of the religious creed of the Hindus. !rhe modes of mimesis have

undergone changes J but its essence - the replication of ooemos - hat~

remained unaltered. Mukerjee writess

B. See Radbak:ama.l Kukerjeea The Floweripg of Indian Art t Asia Publishing Houeet Bombay, pp .. 1-77.

"The living and undyi.Dg contributions of Vedic culture

to Indian ideology and values aore i te metaphysics and

symbolism. !Che Brahman& literature cla.rii'ies the Vedic

rituals and ceremonies including those connected with

royalty for the instruction of tbe priestly clas.s. It

is also concerned with ll\Ytbs and legends. The hymns

came later than the rituals a.nd are found in the

Aram-a.kas and U Pf!ll!eha.ds.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Vedic hymns rich in imagery and metaphor give e.

metaphysical interpretation to life, worship and~.

The construction of the fire altar serves the ~tb of

,purusha or the Absolute and projeots its rythms. ~e

Vedic !22! (e.lte.r) round or eqWU'e, constructed with

mathematical precision according to the prescriptions

of the Sbulva Sba.atra., is the prototype in Indian art

of the Buddhist a.nd Jain Stupe.. u9

Thus according to Mukerjee the symbolism of Indian art derives

from Vedic formulations be.eed on cosmic process. He draws support for

these assumptions from the works of Cooma.rnantY and Ganguli. I will

again refer to this book in this chapter.

In another of his work Histou; of Indian Civilisati~ Vol.1,

No.1, Mukerjee dwells10 on the key concept of Dh8.l'ma. which has both

cosmic and social implications. It integrates cosmos and man, promotes

order and continuity and influences the plastic arts. In chapter 1 of

this book he wri tee that the two main sources of a.utbori ty are sbrutit

(Vedas and their e:zegeais) and smriti (canonical works). He eta tea that

the former are unchanging while the latter show modifications over the

centuries. The modifications came about as a result of the competing

ideological and ethnic pressures on Indian society. He dwells a.t length

on this process of social absorption which was possible only because of

the sway of Dharma..

According to him the numerous t'Ol"eign hordes and bribee were

absorbed into the Hindu fold wi tbout al\f serious disintegration. The

dharmaebastra.e which •ere often cited e.s conservative authorities, were

indeed rationalized interpretations of the changing social reality.

Several conquerors and their tl'ibee were accorded the rank of Kshatriya, (I

although of a lower level. The intriguing development was that these

a.lien invaders often emerged as cbampi.ons of Hindu or :Buddhiat Dharma. (~~[...)

Kanieka, Milind~" and Mihira.gula were among such defenders of Db~

These kings propagated Hindu or Buddhist ideology but promoted art,

11 terature and social conventions. "1

J

10. Mukerjeea Historz of Indian Civilization, Hind Kitabe, Bombay, 1958

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~he implications of the relationship between the Dharma

Sbaetra.e and the Hindu society are as follows. On tho one hand, new

ethnic elements were absorbed and given a certain status. On the other

hand, the ehastras decried the "misoengination" (Va.rnasam.c~a). This

paradox is explained by MukerJee as a. device employed by the sha.stras

to allow or encourage the adaptive process within the Hindu hiera.rolcy''

only to the extent that it did not destroy the Varna.shrama. The recent looked

commentators, Indian and foreign, according to him haveLa.t the rigidity

of the Shastraf:l and ignored the fleXibility. Thus there is little

substance in the view that the Shastras were a dead shell which stifled

the adaptive mechanisms of Hindu society. fhe flexibility of the Shastra.s

is indicated by the presence of numerous Shastraka.rae whose prescriptions

are moulded by the exigencies of desha (space) and kala (timeh -In the later epic li tera.ture, in the l:lhak:ti upsurge and tha

syncretic religious creede, the notion of Dharma remains unchanged.

fhe heretical Ja.ina and Buddhist creeds rejected Vedic ritualism but

retained complete faith in Dharma as a.n integrative force, ~be wheel in

:Buddhism stood for the .Moral order. It 118.$ the driving force behind the

transmission of Mahayana to many lands beyond India. It was the main

theme of the two great epics Ramayana and .Mahabha.rata. It was also the

main component of l:lhak:ti creeds which were liberal and anti-caste. Thus

Dharma provided an epistemology for even heretical groups in Indian society.

Of course, one can criticise Mukerjee• s emphasis on the concept without

a commensurate el11!lhasie on material and economic concepts• This vie•

coming from a.n erstwhile economist is also surprising. It "is that

Mukerjee made a volte face in his study of Indian society? Hotr fa:r

removed is be from his earlier concern mtb plant and animal ecology 1

tti.th institutional economics and ameliorative social workl We will have

occasion to look into these problems eleeubere in this dissertation.

Suffice is to say that both the m:itera stand in proximity to

each other in holding that a cosmic belief system baaed on cyclical

notion of progreseoodeca.y and regeneration and on a.-hietonci ty is the • sine que non of Indian civilization and culture. !fhey do not exercise

much ca.re in separating civilization from culture• but Ghurye is better

positioned in the light of Alfred Weber*e sociology of oulture.11 Weber

held that civilization ~ a universal phenomenon ~areas culture uaa a.

society-bound phenomenon. Toole and techniques may spread without

affectation but idea ... systems or beliefs systems do not spread easily.

!fhurye' a Religious Consciousness speaks more of the diffusion of

techniques than of cosmogenic belief's. Mukerjee• s view that Ua.baya.nism

became a Pan Indian integrative and aesthetic force is questionable" since

he is referring to a purely cultural category. I will refer to this

dilemma. again.

11, A. l'lebers "Fundamentals of Culture-Sociology" in Talcott Pa:rsons .!! al (ed:) Theories of Society, The Free .Preee of Glencoe, Inc. t Neu-york, 1961, PP• 1274-1286.

Ioono§Iaphy. Humayun Kabir12 in hie work ~e Indian HeriFtie bas noted

that in India the civilization and culture are nearly coe;tteneive. fhe

difference between classes and masses is one of emphasis • not one of

quality of life. Kabir further notes that· in India civilization

(compTising ma.teria.l and civil achievements) and culture (oomprieing

religion, arts and val,uee) have approximated to eaoh other, vithout

shomns the sharp discontinuity as in many European countries~

According to him it uas also remarkable that the conquering

hordes TJbo oame ~q ~a did not exterminate the natives, although some

of them - like the lluelim invaders - used farce to convert the native

people to their religion. In America. a.nd Aust:ra.lia the mite settlers

vanquished the native settlers. But by contrast the caste eystem

integrated diverse groups. It w.a not mere oa.sto but also the culture

t7hicb integrated diverse peoples through a common idiom of art ·and

archi teoturo. \'lhile music and painting in India were by and large

'individualistic a~hievements (~th the exception of choral music and

Ajanta. frescos) • &.'"Ol~itecttu.·e ~oo belonged to the collective realm.13

Sculpture and painting in India did not ca:rry the imprint of individual' s

"eignature.n !rhus although these arts were individually created, t:ne

spirit trds collective.

12. See Huma.yun Kabirs ~e Indian Heri t¥!, Asia, ~ombay, 1955, PP• 44·151. cf: Cooma.rasmmy's viet7 that in India classical and folk arts had a genetic continuity. See his Oriental and Christian .Philoso~ of Life, Uunabira.m Manoha:rla.l, Net7 Delhi• 1974, · pp.13<>-146•

1,. Kabir, J>P•Oit. P• 151; see also D • .P. 14lkberjeea -:rhe Sociolof: of Indian Culture , Ra\'mt publications, Jaipur, 1979, pp. 43-19 •

In the colonial period the study of Indian architecture

received special treatment in the varks of British orientaliste like

Peroy Bronn, Havel, Fergusson, Cunningham, Tod and many others. Jlore

recently the vorke of CoomaraewaJIIY also contain studies of Indian 14

architecture. Indian architecture, espeoially of the sacred variety,

is the main theme of many of these commentators' works, although to some

extent civil architecture ie also treat9d therein.

An interesting common element of Indian architecture is the

absence of sectarianism. Notwithstanding some variations of detail,

Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina. styles of architecture do not essentially

differ from each other. Coomare.atmll\Y tJri tea,

"The Indian temple (Vimana) is one J but there are

provincial variations in its f orma.l developmant,

existing side by side vi th the secular varia:tions in

pure style. In respect of these, the only

adequate classification is geographical. The three

most clearly differentiated types are the Northern,

marked by the cu:rvilinear Sbika.ra, the Southern,. \11 tb

a terraced pyramidal tower, of which only the dome is

called Sbikharaa and the oentral. combining botn

types ~th peculiarities of its oun."15

14. See Coom&ra.fJt'J'B.teya Hieto~ of Indian and Indonesian Art, Munsbiram. Manoharla.l, Nw Deifii, 974• ·

In the Hindu religions the temples and the statuary uhicb

adorn them a.re regarded as having definite symbolic functions. Earlier

a. reference has been made to the plinth of the temple 'Obich stand$ for

a Vedic altar. !he twer of the temple is also a. symbol of cosmic

relationship. Further the plant, animals, huma.n species are profueely

illustrated in the te~le sculptures, irrespective of ~ecta.rian differences.

The Shaiva, Vaishna.va., Jaina and Buddhist temples .and sculpture share

IIBJ\Y common elements. ln the religion of fa.o, similar eymbolica.l

expressions ~ere used in painting the dragon or in building the curved

roofs of temples.

In contrast to this the churches or mosques of the Judaism,

Protestant Christianity and Islam expressly forbid.animal or human

imagery. Purely geometrical symbols are liberally used in mosques but

representation of animals and men is forbidden. !rhe fact is that in the

archaic religions, the animals or human beings represent the species

not in realistic but in symbolic terms. file face of a male or a female

dancer does not denote the visage of 8.DY particular human being. It

does not even represent a biological datum. It is a transformed image

in \7hich the animal or human beillg ie an integral p&l"t of a coemic order.

When the Muslims invaded India, many of them being of tribal

origin did not oompreh end the meaning of Indian arohi teoture a.nd

sculpture. ~ey razed many temples to the grour..d because of the belief

that they were plaoes of idolatry. Islam vas a thin veneer on their

tribal ferooi ty. Their vandalism made e. deep dent into the Hindu-.Mualim

relations. ~o this day, it has remained a sore point. :Briefly, one

theor, holds that the Indian temples and temple-towers were strongholds

of rebels and thus they were destra,yed because of political expedienQy.

The other iibeory holds that the temples• wealth was a great temptation

to invaders. ~here is some truth in both the theories but the eoneequence,

was the same, namely , the want em destruction of temple• by .Muslims on a

l.arge .. soe.le in North India and on a ema.U scale in South India.

The British who came after the Muslims simply kept their hands

oft the temples. The Muslims as well as the :Britieh did not interfere

with the social structure - the caste system. Although they encouraged

or brought about religious conversions, they did not make any attempt to

undermine the basis of caste. They administered, as far as possible,

the laws of tbe country on the basis of Indian conventions 6Zld customs.

But the Muslims' interference in the temple and art of Hindus and other

religious groups adversely affected the inter-oommuna.l relations in a

vital sphere. fhat is to say it out into the gestalt of Indian 'belief

systems and created e. profound internal imbalance. fhe subsequent

reaotiona of non~elims towards Muslims have always been coloured by

this awareness of the destruction of gestalt. This is more keenly felt

in the North, where the Muslim vandalism was more severely felt. By

contrast, in macy parts of the South the Muslims' presenoe is more

easily tolerated. Yet even in North great kings like Akb83!' tried to

avoid hurting the susoeptibilitiee of the non-Muslims.

. ~he topicality of the theme is evident in several of 'the

recent ideologies • !he Arya. Sama.j t the Hindu Ma.ha Sabba., the R. s. s.

have frequently harped upon the ancient wounds. They have created

another type of social imbalance bJ prompting revivalist feelings among

non...Muelims and creating ~soord among the people. ~his Hindu revivalism '

bas in the recent years been matched bJ Muslim fundamentalism which has

often roused people and led them to violence.

16 Ghuryet s Ra.jet Architecture and Social Tensions in India

(chapter 8) make detailed references to Indian< arohi teoture. In Rajput

architecture Ghur.Je adduces evidence to show that in spite of the

polltioa.l, military and social onalaugbt of Muslim conquest; the Ra.jput

architecture retained its values intact and flourished in the period

14th to 17th centuries A. D. fbe Ra.jput art and architecture were based

on the earlier foundations of classical a.rt of Guptas. !!he .Rajput

dynasties patronized both civil (forts, pala.cee) and sacred (temples,

funerary monuments) in numerous places of Rajasthan. Gh\D:Ye avers that

Raj put a:rchi tecture was the assertion of Hindu fa.i th in its own destiey.

Mukerjee17 looks at the same phenomenon of artistic endeavour in another

way. He holds that the Raj puts were feverishly engaged in buildit)g

16.

17. Mukerjees Flowering of Indian Art (op.cit), See PP• 217•227•

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beautiful monuments in Dilwara t Abu and many other places, to ensure

immorta.li ty tor themselves. 'lheir existence was fragile on account of

continuous battles with Muslim overlords. At the same time they

patronised the creation of numerous marble structures which they believed

would last be,yond themselves.

18 In his later work Social tJ!ensions in India, Gburye devotes

an entire chapter ( 8) for the statement of his views on the relationship

between Hindu..Jiuslim a:rcbi tecture. Here be is engaged in a polemic with

some of the writ~s such as Ta.ra.ohand, Kabir and Abid Hussain. !rbese

mters contend that the Islamic invasion might baiTe unsettled Hindu

sacred and civil architecture in the initial years of conquest, but this

was compensated for by the later MusUm kings' patronage- of Hindu..Muslim

architectural fusion. The depleted creativity of Hindus in Rajasthan,

Bengal and some parts of south was replenished by Islamic aesthetic

-values. In the North the attempt made by Akbar to build Fa.tehpur Sikri

and his deputy Man Singh's patronage of a Hindu -temple in Agra bear

eloquent testimony to the Hindu-Muslim artistic rapprochement. The

vaulted arches and domes were added to the Hindu floral columns in this

process of fusion. !bus the new architecture combined the grace of

arches and domes with the elegance of carved columns and quiet interior

spaces.

1'8. Gburyea Social '.rensions (op.cit.), pp. 222•258.

Gburye holds that nott'lithstanding the onslaught of Muslim

rule at the centre, in Ra.jastha.n, :Bengal and South there we a. fervent

temple building activity in the period from 12th to 15th centuries.

These temples oere built in accordance vith the pu.req Indian iconographic

principles.

\'lhenever a "fusion" took place, the too aspects, Muslim

a.nd Hindu remained sepa.rate. For instance, the monuments at Fateh-pur

Sikri did not represent any, blend ·of Hindu ..Muslim aesthetic values. In

other wrds, the Rindu influence remained epbep.eral to the distinctly

central Islamic values. Even ,mere it succeeded, as in the case of

Man Singh's Gobind temple at Agra, the human di.lnension tJ&& lacking. !he

lloghul kings after Akbar and the Bimma.ni kings of' the 14th to 17th

century South invited Persia.n artisans to raise monwnents. !i!aj Ma.ha.l

and Gol Gumba.z are examples of purely Persian a.rchi tecture t1i tb some

Hindu ornamental features. In eum GhU17e is committed to the viecr that

Hindu ..Muslim patterns remain separate.

If tre balance these tt10 streams of thought tre may arrive a.t

a via media. Perhaps it can be said that the Hindu-Muslim fusion Tta.S

more easily attained in the civil arohiteoture (forts, palaces) and some

tombs than in the sacred architecture (temples, monastic buildings,

funerary monuments of holymen, etc.). At the eam9 tiJ.Il& we cannot agree

with Gburye 1 s total rejection of such fusion. Firstly, his attribution

of homogeneity of Muslim arohi tecture is not correct. Secondly • be

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himself has stated that Jaina architecture partook ef some architectural

values and emerged none the worse. for it. As alrea.ey noted Jaina

architecture is not genetically different from Hinqu architecture.

~erefore, Ghurye has to concede some fusion even if it be a.n experimental

one1 He also adopts a specious argument regarding the multiplicity of

domes (ribbed or plan) in Hindu temples in Ma.hara.ehtra and Central. India.

He says that it m~.s the poverty of people l7hich prevented them from

choosing spires and toners&

Ghurye's methodology in comparing the t~ aesthetic streams

is biased and incorrect. The Hindu iconogre.phy hae had no homogeneous

style. Tbe Aryan, Dravidian and folk-tribal styles have mingled to

produce a composite architecture. Therefore, a variety of regional styles

have flourished although their core values may remain the aame. ~e

Ma.thura, Sa.nohi, Gupta, Chola, .Pallava, Boysala, Vijayanaga.r art idioms

are tmll recorded by art historians. Ghurye does not give ~ specific

argument as to ohy Indian iconography could not draw values from Muslim

or Christian values. In other t1ords, he bas not explored the

phenomenological basis of the difference between Hindu and Muslim

aesthetics. If he had done so, he vould have found that a1i least on the

level of secondary symbols and motifs. there is little difference between

Hindu and Muslim art. He attributes unnecessary rigidity to Indian art .•

He is biased t()tj'SJ:'de Islamic influence in architecture as in other spheres

of interaction. Ghurye seems to sh8.l"S lrl.th the average South-Central

Indians an unreasonable bias touards Muslim artistic values.

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Valuationsa In a global context the three main ioonographic styles

are prelitera.te (the pastoral Afro...Asiatio tribes), Asiatic (a.gra;rian

civillzations of Ob::i.na, India and Japan) and Euro-A.merioan (mainly

industrial oi vilizations of \'!estern Europe and North America) • !rbe

hieratic art of ancient Egypt, the classic arts of ancient Greece and

Bome, the Mayan art of Mexico, the Zen art of Japan, the oosmic art of

India, the naturalistic art of Ming and Sung periods in China. are some

of the styles which have come dotm to posterity. As is tTell knotT"-, :art

and architecture have been ueed by art-historians and archaeologists as

indices to measure the progress of civilization in society and culture.

The arts of a civilization a:re a means of communication employed by the

people of a society. Right from. ancient to the present times, their

role in communication is underscored by several archaeological researches~

~be most visible aspect of Indian art and architecture are

its numerous temples, belonging to llindu• Jaina and Buddhist cret)de.

!Che temple-complexea19 of Xa.nchi, .Ma.durai, Srirangam in the South, Pur.i

Jagannath in Orissa, Kasi-Vara.nasi in U.P., Pusbaka.:ran and NathdtJS.ra.

in Rajasthan, just to mention. a feD', not only served as sacred places

but also occasionally served secult~.r needs. It is interesting to note

19. See U.S.A. Baoa Urban Sociol9fgt Popular Pra.kaeban Bombay; 197 4• Rao notess "A temple tom as at Ma.dure.i, Srira.ngam, ~irupa.ti, Ka.shi or .Puri, uas the centre of· diverse cultural activities. fhe employees of the temple included priests, musicians, attendants, dancers, office staff, craftsmen and workers. Often the temple maintained schools and hospitals.· It ~ also a landowner contributing in its Otm way to the economic development of the region. Temples, in some parts of South India, uere corporate bodies exercising secular ~era." (p. 100)

that the Indian sacred arabi teoture has been more lasting than i te

civil architecture. The palaces and forte of kings have crumbled in

ma.n;y parte of the country mth the exception of those in Rajasthan. But

the temples built in stone or brick and mortar have survived; if they

TTere not subjected to vandalism.. !~!his is an index of tbe ·importance of

religiosity.

Temple building in India bas been closely related to certain

forms of social legitimation, Barring the lluelims and the British, all .

the previous conquerors who came to India from such diverse lands as

Greece; Asia Minor , Central Asia and :Persia • embarked on or patronised

religious architecture. Apart from these foreigners the indigenous

kings did the same J a reference to them has already been made. A king

legitimised his rule by hie religious endeavour and he also integrated

diverse ethnic groups. In India, the Divine Right theory of kings

never took root~ but a ld:ng1 s legi tima.oy via his religious duty \'18& an -accomplished fact. !ehe kiDB m:r.s regarded a.e the eurvitor of the temple

god. An intereetina instance of this gesture is noted in the installation

of statues of Krishna Deva. Rays. and hie tw consorts at the entra.ce of

the '.firupati temple, in a. manner TJhich suggests their servitude to God.

The manipulation of religious motif's and symbols for political

purposes is in fact a secondary manifestation of a more basic integrative

drive, Ghurye•s20 Gods end Uen and Mukerjee's History of Indian

20. See Gburyes Gods and Men, Popular Pra.ka.ehan, Bomb~, 1968; Uukerjee (op.cit.)

Civilization Vol.1 refer to the rise of composite deities. Ghur,ye traces

the rise of Shiva as a deity comprising the earlier vedic and folk

elements. Likenise Vishnu, Ganesha, Skanda and Devi a.re composites of

the heterogenous elements of the Indian belief systems. Mukerjee too

refers to the multiple roles played by ~ishna a.s friend of the farmer,

na.rrior and the diplomat, the integrative ~ch of Ram from North to

South and the reyriad faces of Devi { eha.kti) cult.

Analytically , the people ma.y be thought as engaged in a

project building gods. Sometimes b-u;lAw:-s are elites or \7hole

communities. There is clearly a ttro-fold process. Firat, a composite

god or goddess is evolved to reconcile the conflicting ethnic values;

second, the composite god takes on ntYriad net7 forms to cater to local,

regional and national needs. As such the application of dichoto~:

Great Tradi tion...Li. ttle Tra.di tion ie inapplicable to Indian iconography.

The dynamic element here bas been constant urge to evolve new forms out

of the existing ones and mee.:t the changing religious needs.

There is striking isomorphism betooen Indian Il\Ythology and

iconography. ~e one feeds the other; each undergoes change,

reinterpretation and reintegration. In either sphere a statioi ty is

absent. let there is no set purpose in Indian nvthology or iconography.

This is in accord td. th the cosmogenic impulse that creation leads to

dissolution and back to recreation.

-50-

An important outooms of cyclical notion of time .in Indian

cosmology and JlliYthology is that all historic movement is laden \"lith

anti-historic meanings. T}\e past, present and future are only

indistinctly separated ip the meaning universe.

In fact, II\Yth, art and a.rohi tecture together contribute to

a series of social functions, A retereme has alreaey been made to the

integrativCJ and legitimi.sing functions; the oommunioa.tive :t'Wtotion may

also be noted here. The absence o:t' a rigid elite-mass dichotomy in

India is due to the fact that a aingle ~stal t operates in Indian society,

in so far as religious t aesthetic and 11 terary dimensions are concerned.

I have already referred to Kabir' s vietT on the absence of distinction

between elites a.nd masses in cultural outlook. !rhe knol7ledge of Indian

leyths, legends, h:i.erarchy of gods and goddesses is universally shared

among all sections of people. Even ordinary, secular conversation tends

to drav upon the original nzy-ths and legends. The icons e.nd temples by

visually reiterating the Jeythe have supplemented the oral tradition.

A common element in both Gburye and !.fukerjee is that their

indifference to the material a.nd substantive relationships underlying the

ooemio, iconographic and valuational bases of Indian civilization. ~e

idealistic thiuking is commonly shared by them. So some of the relevant

questions are not ra.i sed bY them but omitted from their purview.

Economic a.nthropology21 sheds some light on the substantive

aspect. The term "redistributed econonw•• is used to deeig:nate agrarian

21 • See Raymond Firth ( ed.) a Themes in Economic AntbropolOQ 1

Te.vistoek, London, 1970, pp. 1-20.

societies of pre-colonial era.. Indian society attained a considerable

agrarian. surplus 'Q'hich vas first stored in 1 ts temple-fomplex and then

redistributed to the people in time of need. To a. more or less degree

the temple towns and forte vherein the king or chi~tain resided served

as the granary of people. It can be even said that the king or chieftain

in association ~th priests controlled people by virtue of his command

over agrarian surplus.

Tbe material aspect of a temple complex is described by

Romila fhapar.

"~he income of the templ:e was sometimes so huge that it

TJS.s profitably invested in trading guilds, or else money

tms loaned "cith interest to village bodies. In the

Chola period• the temple not only supplied a substantial

part of rural credit but also financed merchant guil~.

~he management oommi ttees of these temple.s consisted of

temple priests, the local mercantile guild and ·the local

village assembly. fbus the economic interests of both

the temple and the rural and urban professions were 22

interlocked. n

If the attempts made by Gburye and Muke;z.-jee to stucy art and

architecture are vieved in terms of methology~ the following ccncluai-on.s

22. Romila 'l!hapa.ra The Past and .Prejudice, '!he National :Book !frust of India., Netr Delhi, P• 4:5. .

are reached. It is that they have looked upon art and a.l"chitecture as

a key to the understanding of Indian society. By and la;rge the

sociologists stu~ing Indian society have almost entirely omitted or

bypassed these fields. Even a wll-knotm theorist of Hindu socioty,

Dumont,23 has not given much attention in this regard. In hie Homo -Hierarchicus he has discussed the principles of Hindu caste organization

rather than caste in relation to aesthetic tradition. In his Politics,

Religion and Societz he makes a brief reference to the distinction

between Aryan and Dra.vidi£m gods via the temples- But as rell!B1'ked -earlier, religious art and a.rchi tecture are enduring components of

people • s configuration and reflect concretely the active links between

man, social organisation and meaning universe. To that extent Gburye

and llukerjee have done ooll by inquirlng into these phenomena. At the

same time a valid criticism against the tw authors is that they are

attempting to revive the past glory. This urge might have arisen due to

their social conservation or religious impulse.

2,. Louis Dumont, Homo Hierarohious, Vikas, Delhi, 1970; Religion, politics and Histoxz in India, Mouton Publishers, Paris, 1970.