CHAPTER 25THE LATER ART OF SOUTH

AND SOUTHEAST ASIA

minaretA distinctive feature of mosque architecture, a tower from which the faithful are called to worship.

vimanaA pyramidal tower over the garbha griha of a Hindu temple of the southern (Dravida) style.

GopuraThe massive, ornamented entrance gateway towers of South Indian temple compounds.

mandapaPillared hall of a Hindu temple.

mosqueThe Islamic building for collective worship. From the Arabic word “masjid,” “a place for bowing down.”

Mughals “Descended from the Mongols,” the dynasty started by Babur, a Muslim prince, r. 1526-1530.

Akbar Babur’s grandson, called the Great, ascended to the throne at age 14, r.1556-1605. Patron of narrative paintings. He commissioned a workshop of painters to illustrate the narratives of his and his uncle’s lives. He was fascinated with European art.

Jahangir Akbar’s son and successor, r. 1605-1627.

Qutb Minar that was erected in Delhi in the 15th century is a towering monument to the victory of Islam, engraved with inscriptions in Arabic and Persian proclaiming that the minaret casts the shadow of Allah over the conquered Hindu city.

Jahangir (d.1627) preferring Sufi shaikhs over King James I of England; by Bichitr, earlier 1620's

Islam was the religion that gained adherents in India from the thirteenth through the fifteenth century.

Bichitr symbolized the power of Janhangir;The cupids inscribe the throne with the wish that the emperor would live a thousand years.The emperor is portrayed as above time, with a radiant halo combining a golden sun and a white crescent moon.The emperor is given costly gifts of horses, an elephant, and a book.

Taj Mahal

Agra, India1632-1647

The purpose of the Taj Mahal A mausoleum to Shah Jahan’s favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Shah Jahan was eventually buried there as well.

Symbolic meaning The minarets are symbols of ladders reaching toward Heaven and the surrounding gardens are symbols of Paradise. Together the Taj Mahal symbolizes the Throne of God perched above the gardens of Paradise on Judgment Day. The minarets hold up the canopy of that throne. In Islam, the most revered place of burial is beneath the Throne of God.

Aesthetic effect it creates The tomb seems to float above the pools that punctuate the garden leading to it. The interplay of shadowy voids with light-reflecting marble walls that seem paper-thin creates an impression of translucency. The climatic dome is crown-shaped and the eye sweeps up to it along the pointed arches. There is a delicate balance between verticality and horizontality: it is exactly as wide as it is tall.

Bhadrakali within the Rising Sun. Folio 10 from the Tantric Devi series. India, Punjab Hills, Basohli, ca. 1660-70. Opaque watercolor, gold, silver, and beetle-wing cases on paper. Lent by Dr. Alvin O. Bellak, Philadelphia.

Maharaja Jaswant Singh of Marwar

ca. 1880opaque watercolor on paper1 ft. 3 1/2 in. x 11 5/8 in.

An 1876 engraving of Rajputs of Rajasthan, from the Illustrated London News

Rajputs were "Sons of kings,” small Hindu dynasties that ruled northwestern India. They eventually fell to the Mughals, but some of them maintained a degree of independence although they paid a tribute to the Mughal treasury.

Krishna and Radha in a Pavilion

ca. 1760 opaque watercolor on paper11 1/8 in. x 7 3/4 in.

Krishna “The Blue God”, the

most popular Vishnu avatar. He descends to earth to aid mortals. Krishna was a herdsman who spent an idyllic existence tending his cows, fluting, and sporting with beautiful herdswomen.

The love between Krishna and Radha symbolized a model of the devotion, or bhakti, paid to Vishnu.

Four stylistic elements of the miniature of Krishna and Radhna :The drawing style is lyrical and sensual.The decoration is rich with jewels, mangos, flowering shrubs, and the dark monsoon sky.The composition is simple and symmetrical, with a central focus on the pavilion and lovers.Lightning is one of the standard symbols for sexual excitement.

Frederick W. Stevens

Victoria Terminus

Mumbai (Bombay), India

1878-1887

Gopura, Great temple

Madurai, India

17th century

Two features that characterize south Indian temple complexes like the one at Mandurai.Positioned like boxes within boxes, each set of walls had taller gopuras than those of the previous circuit, the towers reaching colossal size and dwarfing the actual central temples.The ornamentation is extremely rich, consisting of row after row of brightly painted stucco sculptures representing the vast pantheon of Hindu deities and attendant figures.

Main temple group at Wat Mahathat, Sukhothai ancient city.

Walking Buddha

Sukhothai, Thailand

14th centurybronze 7 ft. 2 1/2 in. high

Dish with Two Mynah birds on flowering branch

Vietnam

16th centurystoneware painted with underglaze-cobalt1 ft. 2 1/2 in. diameter

Using the internet an/or available resources, compare the Buddhist structures at the following sites: Sanchi (FIGS. 6-5 & 6-6), Karli (FIG. 6-8), Borobudur (FIG.6-26), Byodoin, Uji (FIG. 8-12 ), the Bayon at Ankor Thom (FIG. 6-31), and Yingxian (FIG. 7-21). What was the purpose of each, and how is that purpose reflected in the forms?

Great StupaSanchi, Indiathird century B.C.E. to first century C.E.

Chaitya HallKarle, Indiaca. 100 C.E.

Cosmic MountainBorobudur, Java, Indonesiaca. 800 C.E.400 ft. wide

Towers of the BayonAngkor Thom, Cambodia12th to 13th centuries C.E.

Phoenix HallByodoin, Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, JapanHeian period1053

Foguang Si PagodaYingxian, ChinaLiao Dynasty1056 C.E.

Jahangir (d.1627) preferring Sufi shaikhs over King James I of England; by Bichitr, earlier 1620's

Write at least two pages analyzing Bichitr’s picture of Jahinger Preferring a Sufi Shaykh to Kings (FIG. 25-4 and p. 748). Look carefully at each element of the painting and describe everything that you see. After describing the objects, analyze their style. Use the following terms in your analysis: foreshortening, picture plane, hue, line, pattern, shape and mass. What elements come from the Islamic tradition and which show influences from Western art. Then look thorough the text and see if you can find objects or images that relate to what you have written.