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POST-MAURYAN TRENDS IN INDIAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE

Bharhut

• Bharhut sculptures are tall like the images of Yaksha and Yakhshini in the Mauryan period. Images stick to the picture plane.
• Illusion of three-dimensionality is shown with tilted perspective.
• Clarity in the narrative is enhanced by selecting main events.
• At times more than one event at one geographical place is clubbed in the picture space or only a single main event is depicted in the pictorial space.
• Due to shallow carving of the picture surface, projection of hands and feet was not possible, hence, the folded hands and awkward position of the feet. There is a general stiffness in the body and arms.
• Narrative reliefs at Bharhut show how artisans used the pictorial language very effectively to communicate stories. In one such narrative, showing Queen Mayadevi’s (mother of Siddhartha Gautam) dream, a descending elephant isn shown. The queen is shown reclining on the bed whereas an elephant is shown on the top heading towards the womb of Queen Mayadevi.
• The depiction of a Jataka story is very simple—narrated by clubbing the events according to the geographical location of the story like the depiction of Ruru Jataka where the Boddhisattva deer is rescuing a man on his back.
• The other event in the same picture frame depicts the King standing with his army and about to shoot an arrow at the deer, and the man who was rescued by the deer is also shown along with the king pointing a finger at the deer.According to the story, the man promised the deer after his rescue that he would not disclose his identity to anybody. But when the king makes a proclamation of reward for disclosing the identity of the deer, he turns hostile and takes the king to the same jungle where he had seen the deer. Such Jataka stories became part of stupa decoration.
• Interestingly, with the rise in the construction of stupas in various parts of the country, regional stylistic variations also began to emerge. One main characteristic in all the male images of first–second centuries BCE is the knotted headgear.

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 Sanchi has upper as well as lower pradakshinapatha or circumambulatory path. It has four beautifully decorated toranas depicting various events from the life of the Buddha and the Jatakas.

Depiction of posture gets naturalistic and there is no stiffness in the body.

Rigidity in the contours gets reduced and images are given movement.

Narration gets elaborated. Carving techniques appear more advanced than Bharhut.

Symbols continue to be used representing the Buddha and the Manushi Buddhas or the past Buddhas ( according to the textual tradition, there are twenty-four Buddhas but only the first one, Dipankar, and the last six are pictorially represented).

There are three main stupas at Sanchi.

Stupa-1 is presumed to have the relics of the Buddha, Stupa-2, the relics of ten less famous arhats belonging to three different generations. Stupa-3 has the relics of Sariputta and Mahamougalayana.

Stupa-1 is one of the finest examples of stupa architecture. Originally the stupa was a small brick structure which expanded over a period and was covered with stone, vedika and the torana (gateways).

The Ashokan lion capital pillar with an inscription is found on the southern side of the stupa , indicating how Sanchi became a centre of monastic and artistic activities.

The south gateway was made first followed by the others.

The pradakshinapath around the stupa is covered with the vedika . There is also the upper pradakshinapath which is unique to this site.

Buddha is shown symbolically as an empty throne, feet, chhatra, stupas, etc.

Though Stupa-1 is the oldest stupa, the carving of images on the vedica of Stupa-2 are earlier than those on Stupa-1.

Jatakas also become an important part of the narratives in stupas .

The figures at Sanchi, despite being small in dimension, show considerable mastery of sculpting. Their physiognomic treatment of the body shows both depth and dimension which are very naturalistic. There are guardian images on pillars and the shalbhanjika (i.e., lady holding the branch of a tree) sculptures are remarkable.

The rigidity of the earlier sculptures of Stupa-2 is no more there.

Each torana consists of two vertical pillars and three horizontal bars on the top.

Each horizontal bar is decorated with different sculptural themes on the front as well as at the back.

Supporting the extensions of the lowermost horizontal bar from below are the images of shalbhanjikas.

 

Mathura and Gandhara

• The first century CE onwards, Gandhara (now in Pakistan), Mathura in northern India and Vengi in Andhra Pradesh emerged as important centres of art production.
• Buddha in the symbolic form got a human form in Mathura and Gandhara.
• The sculptural tradition in Gandhara had the confluence of Bactria, Parthia and the local Gandhara tradition.
• The Buddha image at Mathura is modelled on the lines of earlier Yaksha images whereas in Gandhara it has Hellenistic features.
• Images of Vaishnava (mainly Vishnu and his various forms) and Shaiva faiths are also found at Mathura but Buddhist images are found in large numbers.
• The images of Vishnu and Shiva are represented by their ayudhas (weapons).
• The garments of the body are clearly visible and they cover the left shoulder.
• Movement in the posture is shown by increasing distance between the two legs as well as by using bents in the body posture.
• Later, the drapery is integrated into the sculptural mass.
• The image of Meditating Buddha can be found at Gandhar.

 

• Early Temples
  • While construction of stupas continued, Brahmanical temples and images of gods also started getting constructed.
  • The shrines of the temples were of three kinds—(i) sandhara type (without pradikshinapatha), (ii) nirandhara type (with pradakshinapatha), and (iii) sarvatobhadra (which can be accessed from all sides).
  • These temples are simple structures consisting of a veranda, a hall and a shrine at the rear.
• Among the important stupa sites outside the Gangetic valley is Devnimori in Gujarat.
• In the subsequent centuries sculptures had little variations while slender images with transparent drapery remained a dominant aesthetic sensibility.
• Chatur Mukhlinga is a Shiva temple at Nachna- Kuthara, Madhya Pradesh.
• Buddhist Monuments of South India at Vengi in Andhra Pradesh has many stupa sites like Jagayyapetta, Amaravati, Bhattiprolu, Nagarjunkonda, Goli, etc.

Amravati

Amaravati has a mahachaitya.

Like the Sanchi Stupa, the Amaravati Stupa also has pradakshinapatha enclosed within a vedika on which many narrative sculptures are depicted.

The torana of the Amaravati Stupa has disappeared over a period of time.

Like Sanchi, the early phase is devoid of Buddha images but during the later phase, in the second and third centuries CE, the Buddha images are carved on the drum slabs and at many other places at Amravati.

Sculptural form in this area is characterised by intense emotions. Figures are slender, have a lot of movement, bodies are shown with three bents (i.e. tribhanga), and the sculptural composition is more complex than at Sanchi.

Independent Buddha images are also found at Amaravati, Nagarjunkonda and Guntapalle.

In Karnataka, Sannati is the largest stupa site excavated so far.

Along with the images of the Buddha, other Buddhist images of Boddhisattvas like Avalokiteshvara, Padmapani, Vajrapani, Amitabha, and Maitreya Buddha started getting sculpted.

However, with the rise of Vajrayana Buddhism many Boddhisattva images were added as a part of the personified representations of certain virtues or qualities as propagated by the Buddhist religious principles for the welfare of the masses.

Unfinished chaitya cave is found at Kanheri, Mumbai.

In Karla( Maharashtra), the biggest rock-cut chaitya hall was excavated.

The plan of the viharas consists of a veranda, a hall and cells around the walls of the hall.

One such vihara cave was excavated at Junnar, Maharashtra, which is popularly known as Ganeshleni because an image of Ganesha belonging to a later period was installed in it.

Junnar has the largest cave excavations— more than two hundred.

Ajanta

• The most famous cave site is Ajanta.
• It has twenty-nine caves.
• Ajanta is the only surviving example of painting of the first century BCE and the fifth century CE. Their facade is decorated with Buddha and, Boddhisattva images.
• Cave No. 26 is very big and the entire interior hall is carved with a variety of Buddha images, the biggest one being the Mahaparinibbana image.
• Events are grouped together according to geographical location.
• There is a painting of Apsara in Cave No. 17, Ajanta
• Various skin colours are used in the paintings such as brown, yellowish brown, greenish, yellow ochre, etc. which represent a multicoloured population.
• Avadāna is the name given to a type of Buddhist literature correlating past lives’ virtuous deeds to subsequent lives’ events.
• Chaddanta Jataka has been painted in the early Cave No. 10 with many details and events grouped according to their geographical location
• The other important paintings are the famous Padmapani and Vajrapani.

Ellora

Another important cave site located in Aurangabad is Ellora.

It is located a hundred kilometres from Ajanta and has thirty-two Buddhist, Brahmanical and Jain caves.

Buddhist caves are big in size and are of single, double and triple storeys. Their pillars are massive.

Ajanta also has excavated double-storeyed caves but at Ellora, the triple storey is a unique achievement.

All the caves were plastered and painted but nothing visible is left.

Buddha images are big in size; they are generally guarded by the images of Padmapani and Vajrapani.

Image of Gajasur Shiva can be found in Cave No.15, Ellora.

Various guilds at Ellora came from different places like Vidarbha, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and carved the sculptures. Thereby it is the most diverse site in India in terms of the sculptural styles.

 

 

Elephanta Caves and Other Sites

• The Elephanta Caves located near Mumbai, were originally a Buddhist site which was later dominated by the Shaivite faith.
• It is contemporary with Ellora.
• Like in western India, Buddhist caves have also been excavated in eastern India, mainly in the coastal region of Andhra Pradesh, and in Odisha.
• One of the main sites in Andhra Pradesh is Guntapalle in Eluru district.
• Perhaps it is among the very unique sites where the structured stupas, viharas and the caves are excavated at one place.
• The cave is relatively small when compared to the caves in western India.
• At Anakapalli near Vishakhapatnam, caves were excavated and a huge rock-cut stupa was carved out of the hillock during the fourth–fifth centuries CE. It is a unique site as it has the biggest rock-cut stupas in the country. Man
• The rock-cut cave tradition also existed in Odisha. The earliest examples are the Udaigiri-Khandagiri caves in the vicinity of Bhubaneswar. The caves were meant for Jain monks. There are numerous single-cell excavations. Some have been carved in huge independent boulders and given the shape of animals.

 

Seated Buddha, Katra Mound, Mathura

It represents the Buddha with two Boddhisattva attendants.

The Buddha is seated in padmasana (cross-folded legs) and the right hand is in the abhayamudra, raised a little above the shoulder level whereas the left hand is placed on the left thigh.

The ushanisha, i.e., hair knot, is shown with a vertically raised projection.

Mathura sculptures from this period are made with light volume having fleshy body. The shoulders are broad.

The sanghati (garment) covers only one shoulder and has been made prominently visible covering the left hand whereas while covering the torso, the independent volume of the garment is reduced to the body torso. The Buddha is seated on a lion throne.

The attendant figures are identified as the images of the Padmapani and Vajrapani Boddhisattvas as one holds a lotus and the other a vajra (thunderbolt). They wear crowns and are on either side of the Buddha.

The halo around the head of the Buddha is very large and is decorated with simple geometric motifs. There are two flying figures placed diagonally above the halo. They bear a lot of movement in the picture space. Flexibility replaces the earlier rigidity in the images giving them a more earthy look.

 

Buddha Head, Taxila

• The Buddha head from Taxila in the Gandhara region, now in Pakistan, dates back to the second century CE and belongs to the Kushana Period.
• The image shows hybridised pictorial conventions that developed during the Gandhara period. It has Greco-Roman elements in the treatment of sculpture.
• The Buddha head has typical Hellenistic elements that have grown over a period of time.
• The curly hair of the Buddha is thick having a covered layer of sharp and linear strokes over the head.
• The forehead plane is large having protruding eyeballs, the eyes are half-closed and the face and cheeks are not round like the images found in other parts of India.
• There is a certain amount of heaviness in the figures of the Gandhara region. The ears are elongated especially the earlobes.
• The surface is smooth. The image is very expressive.
• The expression of calmness is the centre point of attraction.
• Assimilating various traits of Acamenian, Parthian and Bactrian traditions into the local tradition is a hallmark of the Gandhara style.

 

Seated Buddha, Sarnath

It has been made in Chunar sandstone. The Buddha is shown seated on a throne in the padmasana. It represents dhammachackrapravartana.

The panel below the throne depicts a chakra (wheel) in the centre and a deer on either side with his disciples. Thus, it is the representation of the historical event of dhammachakrapravartana or the preaching of the dhamma.

Drapery clings to the body and is transparent to create the effect of integrated volume. The face is round, the eyes are half-closed, the lower lip is protruding, and the roundness of the cheeks has reduced as compared to the earlier images from the Kushana Period at Mathura.

The hands are shown in dhammachakrapravartana mudra placed just below the chest

Transparent drapery becomes part of the physical body.

 

Padmapani and Vajrapani Boddhisattva

• The Boddhisattva is holding a padma (lotus), has large shoulders, and has three bents in the body creating a movement in the picture space.
• The right hand is holding a lotus and the left hand is extended in the space
• On the other side of the image Vajrapani Bodhisattva has been painted. He holds a vajra in his right hand and wears a crown. This image also bears the same pictorial qualities as the Padmapani.
• The Mahajanak Jataka is painted on the entire wall side and is the biggest narrative painting. It may be observed that the paintings of Padmapani and Vajrapani and the Bodhisattvas are painted as shrine guardians. Similar such iconographic arrangement is also observed in other caves of Ajanta. However Padmapani and Vajrapani in Cave No. 1 are among the best survived paintings of Ajanta

 

Mara Vijaya

The theme of Mara Vijaya has been painted in the caves of Ajanta. This is the only sculptural representation sculpted on the right wall of Cave No. 26. It is sculpted near the colossal Buddha image of Mahaparinibbana.

The panel shows the image of the Buddha in the centre surrounded by Mara’s army along with his daughter.

The event is part of the enlightenment. It is a personification of the commotion of mind which the Buddha went through at the time of enlightenment.

Mara represents desire. According to the narrative, there is a dialogue between the Buddha and Mara, and the Buddha is shown with his right hand indicating towards earth as a witness to his generosity.

This relief sculptural panel is highly animated and shows a very matured sculptural style at Ajanta.

The image of Mara is shown contemplating how to disturb Siddhartha, the name of the Buddha before enlightenment.

The artisans at Ajanta worked in guilds and their stylistic affiliations can be traced by identifying such stylistic features.

This is the largest sculptural panel at Ajanta

 

Maheshmurti

• The image of Maheshmurti at Elephanta dates back to the early sixth century CE.
• It is one of the best examples of qualitative achievement in sculpting images in rock-cut caves.
• The central head is the main Shiva figure whereas the other two visible heads are of Bhairava and Uma.
• The all-inclusive aspect of Shiva is exhibited in this sculpture.
• The face of Shiva-Bhairava is clearly shown in profile in anger with bulging eye and mustache. The other face showing feminine characters is of Uma who is the consort of Shiva.

 

• Shiva chasing the boar—a scene from Kiratarjuniya, Lepaksh temple, Andhra Pradesh.
• Shiva killing Tripuraasura – Thanjavur