Chapter 1
PREHISTORIC ROCK PAINTINGS

• Prehistory- No books or written documents
• The prehistoric period in the early development of human beings is commonly known as the Old Stone Age or the Palaeolithic Age

Lower Palaeolithic people-

No artistic activities

Upper Palaeolithic times-

Subjects of their drawings were human figures, human activities, geometric designs and symbols

• 1^st discovery of rock painting (1867–68)- By Archibold Carlleyle
• Remnants of rock paintings- Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Bihar, Kumaon hills in Uttarakhand
• Other location- rock shelters on banks of the River Suyal at Lakhudiyar
• The paintings here can be divided into three categories: man, animal and geometric patterns in white, black and red ochre
• Lakhudiyar literally means one lakh caves
• Dancing scene from the Lakhudiyar rock painting found in Uttarakhand.

• Uttar Pradesh.

About Bhimbetka paintings (Vindhya hills; Madhya Pradesh)-

• Palaeolithic and Mesolithic remains
• The caves of Bhimbetka were discovered in 1957–58 by eminent archaeologist V.S. Wakankar
• Theme of paintings- mundane events of daily life in those times to sacred and royal images.
• These include hunting, dancing, music, horse and elephant riders, animal fighting, honey collection, decoration of bodies, and other household scenes.

Upper Palaeolithic Period

• Paintings are linear representations, in green and dark red, of huge animal figures, such as bisons, elephants, tigers, rhinos and boars besides stick-like human figures
• Wash paintings but mostly they are filled with geometric patterns.
• The green paintings are of dancers and the red ones of hunters

Mesolithic Period

• Themes of paintings- Hunting scenes predominate (The hunting scenes depict people hunting in groups, armed with barbed spears, pointed sticks, arrows and bows)
• Elephant, bison, tiger, boar, deer, antelope, leopard, panther, rhinoceros, fish, frog, lizard, squirrel and at times birds are also depicted
• Women are painted both in the nude and clothed.
• The young and the old, Children, Community dances
• In many of the rock-shelters we find hand prints, fist prints, and dots made by the fingertips.

Chalcolithic Period

• The paintings of this period reveal the association, contact, and mutual exchange of requirements of the cave dwellers of this area with settled agricultural communities of the Malwa plains
• Cross-hatched squares, lattices
• Pottery and metal tools are also shown
• White and red colours mainly but other colours also used
• The paints were made by grinding various rocks and minerals.
• Red- from haematite (known as geru in India)
• Green- from a green variety of a stone called chalcedony.
• White- made out of limestone
• Brushes were made of plant fibre

Bronze Casting

• Bronze statues were made using the ‘lost wax’ technique
• Eg. Dancing Girl statute
• Amongst animal figures in bronze the buffalo with its uplifted head, back and sweeping horns and the goat are of artistic merit
• The copper dog and bird of Lothal and the bronze figure of a bull from Kalibangan are in no way inferior to the human figures of copper and bronze from Harappa and Mohenjodaro.

Terracotta

• They are more realistic in Gujarat sites and Kalibangan
• Most Important- Mother goddess
• In terracotta, a few figurines of bearded males with coiled hair, their posture rigidly upright, legs slightly apart, and the arms parallel to the sides of the body
• Terracotta mask of a horned deity found
• Toy carts with wheels, whistles, rattles, birds and animals, gamesmen and discs were also rendered in terracotta.

Seals

• Seals usually made 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 standard Harappan seal was a square plaque 2×2 square inches, usually made from the soft river stone, steatite.
• Every seal is engraved in a pictographic script
• Some gold and ivory seals
• They all bear a great variety of motifs, most often of animals including those of the bull, with or without the hump, the elephant, tiger, goat and also monsters.
• Sometimes trees or human figures were also depicted.
• Pashupati Seal - The most remarkable seal is the one depicted with a figure in the centre and animals around.
• This seal depicts a human figure seated cross-legged.

• An elephant and a tiger are depicted to the right side of the seated figure, while on the left a rhinoceros and a buffalo are seen.
• In addition to these animals two antelopes are shown below the seat.
• Seals also found in Mohenjodaro in the Indus Valley.
• Figures and animals are carved in intaglio on their surfaces.
• Square or rectangular copper tablets, with an animal or a human figure on one side and an inscription on the other, or an inscription on both sides have also been found.
• Unlike inscriptions on seals which vary in each case, inscription on the copper tablets seem to be associated with the animals portrayed on them.

Pottery

• Very fine wheel- made wares, very few being hand-made
• Plain pottery is generally of red clay, with or without a fine red or grey slip.  It includes knobbed ware, ornamented with rows of knobs.
• The black painted ware has a fine coating of red slip on which geometric and animal designs are executed in glossy black paint.
• Polychrome pottery is rare and mainly comprises small vases decorated with geometric patterns in red, black, and green, rarely white and yellow.
• Incised ware is also rare and the incised decoration was confined to the bases of the pans, always inside and to the dishes of offering stands.
• Perforated pottery includes a large hole at the bottom and small holes all over the wall, and was probably used for straining liquor.
• Miniature vessels, mostly less than half an inch in height are found

Beads and Ornaments

• The Harappan men and women decorated themselves with a large variety of ornaments precious metals and gemstones to bone and baked clay.
• While necklaces, fillets, armlets and finger-rings were commonly worn by both sexes, women wore girdles, earrings and anklets.
• Hoards of jewellery found at Mohenjodaro and Lothal include necklaces of gold and semi-precious stones, copper bracelets and beads, gold earrings and head ornaments, faience pendants and buttons, and beads of steatite and gemstones.
• Cemetery has been found at Farmana in Haryana where dead bodies were buried with ornaments
• Bead industry- Chanhudaro and Lothal
• Metals like copper, bronze and gold, and shell, faience and terracotta or burnt clay were also used for manufacturing beads.
• Shapes of beads— disc-shaped, cylindrical, spherical, barrel-shaped, and segmented.
• The discovery of a large number of spindles and spindle whorls in the houses of the Indus Valley that spinning of cotton and wool was very common.

• Men and women wore two separate pieces of attire similar to the dhoti and shawl.
• The shawl covered the left shoulder passing below the right shoulder
• Cinnabar was used as a cosmetic and facepaint, lipstick and collyrium (eyeliner) were also known to them.
• Many stone structural remains are also found at Dholavira which show how the Indus Valley people used stone in construction.

DANCING GIRL

• Four-inch-high copper figure
• Found in Mohenjodaro, this exquisite casting depicts a girl whose long hair is tied in a bun.
• Bangles cover her left arm, a bracelet and an amulet or bangle adorn her right arm, and a cowry shell necklace is seen around her neck.
• Her right hand is on her hip and her left hand is clasped in a traditional Indian dance gesture.
• She has large eyes and flat nose.
• This figure is full of expression and bodily vigour and conveys a lot of information.

Bull

• This bronze figure of a bull from Mohenjodaro deserves mention.
• The massiveness of the bull and the fury of the charge are eloquently expressed.
• The animal is shown standing with his head turned to the right and with a cord around the neck

MALE TORSO

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

PAINTED EARTHEN JAR

• Found in Mohenjodaro, this jar is made on a potter’s wheel with clay.
• The shape was manipulated by the pressure of the crafty fingers of the potter.
• After baking the clay model, it was painted with black colour.
• High polishing was done as a finishing touch.
• The motifs are of vegetals and geometric forms.
• Designs are simple but with a tendency towards abstraction

Mother goddess

• The mother goddess figures are usually crude standing female figures adorned with necklaces hanging over prominent breasts and wearing a loin cloth and a girdle.
• The fan-shaped head-dress with a cup-like projection on each side is a distinct decorative feature of the mother goddess figures of the Indus Valley.
• The pellet eyes and beaked nose of the figures are very crude, and the mouth is indicated by a slit.

Chapter 3
ARTS OF THE MAURYAN PERIOD

• 6^th century BC- Buddhism and Jainism (Gangetic valley)
• Both opposed the varna and jati systems of the Hindu religion.
• By 4^th century BCE the Mauryas established their power and by 3^rd century BCE, a large part of India was under Mauryan control.
• Ashoka emerged as the most powerful king of the Mauryan dynasty who patronised the shraman tradition in 3^rd century BCE.
• Worship of Yakshas and mother goddesses were prevalent
• Yaksha worship was very popular before and after the advent of Buddhism and it was assimilated in Buddhism and Jainism.

Pillars, Sculptures & Rock-cut Architecture

• Construction of stupas and viharas as part of monastic establishments became part of the Buddhist tradition.
• Apart from stupas and viharas, stone pillars, rock-cut caves and monumental figure sculptures were carved
• The tradition of constructing pillars is very old and it may be observed that erection of pillars was prevalent in the Achamenian empire as well.
• But the Mauryan pillars are different from the Achamenian pillars.
• The Mauryan pillars are rock-cut pillars thus displaying the carver’s skills, whereas the Achamenian pillars are constructed in pieces by a mason.
• Stone pillars were erected all over the Mauryan Empire with inscriptions engraved on them.

• The top portion of the pillar was carved with capital figures like the bull, the lion, the elephant, etc.
• All the capital figures are vigorous and carved standing on a square or circular abacus.
• Abacuses are decorated with stylised lotuses.
• Some of the existing pillars with capital figures were found at Basarah-Bakhira, Lauriya- Nandangarh, Rampurva, Sankisa and Sarnath.
• The Mauryan pillar capital found at Sarnath popularly known as the Lion Capital is the finest example of Mauryan sculptural tradition (national emblem)
• It is carved with considerable care—voluminous roaring lion figures firmly standing on a circular abacus which is carved with the figures of a horse, a bull, a lion and an elephant in vigorous movement, executed with precision, showing considerable mastery in the sculptural techniques.
• This pillar capital at Dhammachakrapravartana (the first sermon by the Buddha)
• Large statues of Yakshas and Yakhinis are found at many places like Patna, Vidisha and Mathura.
• Monumental images are mostly in the standing position; all these images is their polished surface.
• The depiction of faces is in full round with pronounced cheeks and physiognomic detail.
• Eg. Yakshi figure from Didarganj, Patna
• Terracotta figurines show a very different delineation of the body
• Depiction of a monumental rock-cut elephant at Dhauli in Orissa shows modelling in round with linear rhythm.
• It also has Ashokan rock-edict.
• The rock-cut cave carved at Barabar hills near Gaya in Bihar is known as the Lomus Rishi cave.
• The facade of the cave is decorated with the semicircular chaitya arch as the entrance.
• The elephant frieze carved in high relief on the chaitya arch shows considerable movement.
• The interior hall of this cave is rectangular with a circular chamber at the back.
• The cave was patronised by Ashoka for the Ajivika sect.
• Many Buddhist caves of the subsequent periods were excavated in eastern and western India.
• Stupas were constructed over the relics of the Buddha at Rajagraha, Vaishali, Kapilavastu, Allakappa, Ramagrama, Vethadipa, Pava, Kushinagar and Pippalvin

Stupa in the third century BCE is at Bairat in Rajasthan-

• It is a very grand stupa having a circular mound with a circumambulatory path.
• The great stupa at Sanchi (which will be discussed later) was built with bricks during the time of Ashoka and later it was covered with stone and many new additions were made
• From 2nd century BC inscriptions evidences found
• Patrons range from lay devotees to gahapatis and kings.
• Donations by the guilds are also mentioned at several sites.
• However, there are very few inscriptions mentioning the names of artisans such as Kanha at Pitalkhora and his disciple Balaka at Kondane caves.

LION CAPITAL, SARNATH

• The Lion Capital discovered more than a hundred years ago at Sarnath, near Varanasi, is generally referred to as Sarnath Lion Capital
• Built in commemoration of the historical event of the first sermon or the Dhammachakrapravartana by the Buddha at Sarnath, the capital was built by Ashoka.

The capital originally consisted of five component parts:

1. the shaft (which is broken in many parts now),
2. a lotus bell base,
3. a drum on the bell base with four animals proceeding clockwise,
4. the figures of four majestic addorsed lions, and
5. the crowning element, Dharamchakra, a large wheel, was also a part of this pillar

The capital without the crowning wheel and the lotus base has been adopted as the National Emblem of Independent India.

• The stupa consists of a cylindrical drum and a circular anda with a harmika and chhatra on the top which remain consistent throughout with minor variations and changes in shape and size.
• Apart from the circumambulatory path, gateways were added.
• Thus, with the elaborations in stupa architecture, there was ample space for the architects and sculptors to plan elaborations and to carve out images.
• During the early phase of Buddhism, Buddha is depicted symbolically through footprints, stupas, lotus throne, chakra, etc.
• This indicates either simple worship, or paying respect, or at times depicts historisisation of life events.
• Thus events from the life of the Buddha, the Jataka stories, were depicted on the railings and torans of the stupas.
• Mainly synoptic narrative, continuous narrative and episodic narrative are used in the pictorial tradition.
• Jataka stories- important for sculptural decorations.
• The main events associated with the Buddha’s life which were frequently depicted were events related to the birth, renunciation, enlightenment, dhammachakrapravartana, and Mahaparinibbana (death).
• Among the Jataka stories that are frequently depicted are Chhadanta Jataka, Vidurpundita Jataka, Ruru Jataka, Sibi Jataka, Vessantara Jataka and Shama Jataka.

DIDARGUNJ YAKSHINI

The life-size standing image of a Yakshini holding a chauri (flywhisk) from Didargunj near modern Patna is another good example of the sculptural tradition of the Mauryan Period.

Chapter 4
POST-MAURYAN TRENDS IN INDIAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE

1. North and Central India- Mauryan Empire: the Shungas, Kanvas, Kushanas and Guptas
2. South and West India- Satvahanas, Ikshavakus, Abhiras, Vakataks

Bharhut

• Bharhut sculptures are tall like the images of Yaksha and Yakhshini
• Images stick to the picture plane.
• Only a single main event is depicted in the pictorial space.
• Availability of the space is utilised to the maximum by the sculptors.
• Folded hands in the narratives as well as single figures of the Yakhshas and Yakshinis are shown flat clinging to the chest.
• But in some cases, especially in later times, the hands are shown with the natural projection against the chest.

Sanchi

Mathura, Sarnath and Gandhara Schools

• 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 local sculptural tradition at Mathura became so strong that the tradition spread to other parts of northern India.
• Eg. Sanghol in the Punjab.
• 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 (mainly the lingas and mukhalingas) faiths are found at Mathura
• Images of Vishnu and Shiva are represented by their ayudhas (weapons).
• There is boldness in carving the large images, the faces are round and smiling, heaviness in the sculptural volume is reduced to relaxed flesh.
• The garments of the body are clearly visible and they cover the left shoulder.
• Images of the Buddha, Yakshas, Yakshinis, Shaivite and Vaishnavite deities and portrait statues are profusely sculpted.
• 2^nd century CE- images in Mathura get sensual, rotundity increases, they become fleshier.
• 3^rd century CE- treatment of sculptural volume changes by reducing the extreme fleshiness, movement in the posture is shown by increasing distance between the two legs as well as by using bents in the body posture
• In the late 4^th century CE, the massiveness and fleshiness is reduced further and the flesh becomes more tightened, the volume of the drapery also gets reduced and in 5^th and 6^th centuries CE, the drapery is integrated into the sculptural mass.
• In this period, two important schools of sculptures in northern India
• Mathura, Sarnath and Kosambi- important centres of art production.
• Many Buddha images in Sarnath have plain transparent drapery covering both shoulders, and the halo around the head has very little ornamentation whereas the Mathura Buddha images continue to depict folds of the drapery in the Buddha images and the halo around the head is profusely decorated.

Buddhist Monuments of South India

• Vengi in Andhra Pradesh has many stupa sites like Jagayyapetta, Amaravati, Bhattiprolu, Nagarjunkonda, Goli, etc.
• Amaravati has a mahachaitya and had many sculptures
• Like the Sanchi Stupa, the Amaravati Stupa also has pradakshinapatha enclosed within a vedika on which many narrative sculptures are depicted.
• Unique feature- The domical stupa structure is covered with relief stupa sculptural slabs
• The torana of the Amaravati Stupa has disappeared over a period of time.
• Events from the life of the Buddha and the Jataka stories are depicted.
• Developed in the first and second centuries CE.
• 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.
• Interior space in the composition is created by different postures of the figures such as semi-back, back, profile, frontal, semi-frontal, side, etc.
• 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.
• Linearity becomes flexible, dynamic movement breaks the staticness of form.
• The idea of creating 3-D space in the relief sculpture is devised by using pronounced volume, angular bodies and complex overlapping.
• In the depiction of the birth event, the queen is shown reclining on a bed surrounded by female attendants and a small-sized elephant is carved on the upper frame of the composition showing the dream of Queen Mayadevi.
• In another relief, four events related to the birth of the Buddha are shown.

• Independent Buddha images are also found at Amaravati, Nagarjunkonda and Guntapalle.
• Guntapalle is a rock-cut cave site near Eluru.
• Other rock-cut stupas have been excavated is Anakapalle near Vishakhapatanam.
• In Karnataka, Sannati is the largest stupa
• It also has a stupa like the one in Amaravati decorated with sculptural relief
• Chaitya structure- simple shrine temple having front pillars and a hall at the back (found also in Guntapalle)

Cave Tradition in Western India

Mainly three architectural types were executed—

1. Apsidal vault roof chaitya halls (found at Ajanta, Pitalkhora, Bhaja);
2. Apsidal vault-roof pillar less hall (found at Thana-Nadsur); and
3. Flat-roofed quadrangular hall with a circular chamber at the back (found at Kondivite).

• The front of the chaitya hall is dominated by the motif of a semi-circular chaitya arch with an open front which has a wooden façade and, in some cases, there is no dominating chaitya arch window such as found at Kondivite.
• In all the chaitya caves a stupa at the back is common.
• Vault-roof variety where the hall becomes rectangular like at Ajanta Cave No. 9
• In Karla, the biggest rock-cut chaitya hall was excavated.
• The cave consists of an open courtyard with two pillars, a stone screen wall to protect from rain, a veranda, a stone-screen wall as facade, an apsidal vault-roof chaitya hall with pillars, and a stupa at the back.

Karla chaitya hall is decorated with human and animal figures.

• Elaboration over the Karla chaitya hall plan is observed at Kanheri Cave No.3.
• The quadrangular flat-roofed variety became the most preferred design and is extensively found at many places.
• The plan of the viharas consists of a veranda, a hall and cells around the walls of the hall.
• Some of the important vihara caves are Ajanta Cave No. 12, Bedsa Cave No. 11, Nashik Cave Nos. 3, 10 and 17.
• Many of the early vihara caves are carved with interior decorative motifs like chaitya arches and the vedica designs over the cell doors of the cave.
• Facade design in Nashik Cave Nos. 3, 10, and 17 became a distinct achievement.
• The vihara caves at Nashik were excavated with front pillars carved with ghata-base and ghata-capital with human figures. 
• Eg. Cave at Junnar which is popularly known as Ganeshleni because an image of Ganesha belonging to a later period was installed in it.
• Later, a stupa was added at the back of the hall of the vihara and it became a chaitya-vihara.

Ajanta

• Aurangabad District of Maharashtra State; 26 caves
• It has four chaitya caves datable to the earlier phase, i.e., the second and the first century BCE (Cave Nos. 10 and 9) and the later phase, i.e., the fifth century 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 the first century BCE and the fifth century CE.
• The chaitya Cave Nos. 19 and 26 are decorated with Buddha and, Boddhisattva images.
• They are of the apsidal-vault-roof variety.
• 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.
• The rest of the caves are vihara-chaitya caves.
• They consist of a pillared veranda, a pillared hall and cells along

Among the important patrons at Ajanta were

• Varahadeva (patron of Cave No. 16), the prime minister of the Vakataka king, Harishena;
• Upendragupta (patron of Cave Nos. 17–20) the local king of the region and feudatory of the Vakataka king, Harishena;
• Buddhabhadra (patron of Cave No. 26); and
• Mathuradasa (patron of Cave No. 4).
• Outward projections are used in the Ajanta paintings of the fifth century CE.
• Figures in these caves are painted with considerable naturalism and there is no over-stylisation.
• The frontal knot of the headgear of the figures follows the same pattern as that of the sculptures
• Various skin colours are used in the paintings such as brown, yellowish brown, greenish, yellow ochre, etc. which represent a multicoloured population
• Brown thick dark lines are used as contours.
• The themes of the paintings are the events from the life of the Buddha, the Jatakas and the Avadanas.
• Chaddanta Jataka has been painted in the early Cave No. 10 (follows the Pali text)
• Images of Padmapani and Vajrapani are very common in Ajanta

Ellora

• Aurangabad District, Ellora
• 32 Buddhist, Brahmanical and Jain caves
• It is also unique in terms of stylistic eclecticism, i.e., confluence of many styles at one place.
• There are twelve Buddhist caves having many images belonging to Vajrayana Buddhism like Tara, Mahamayuri, Akshobhya, Avalokiteshwara, Maitrya, Amitabha, etc.
• Buddhist caves are big in size and are of single, double and triple storeys.
• The shrine Buddha images are big in size; they are generally guarded by the images of Padmapani and Vajrapani.
• Among the Shaivite themes, Ravana shaking Mount Kailash, Andhakasurvadha, Kalyanasundara are profusely depicted whereas among the Vaishnavite themes, the different avatars of Vishnu are depicted
• Cave No. 16 is known as Kailash leni.
• A rock-cut temple has been carved out of a single rock, a unique achievement
• Among the important Shaivite caves are Cave No. 29 and Cave No. 21.

Elephanta Caves and Other Sites

• Located near Mumbai
• Originally a Buddhist site which was later dominated by the Shaivite faith.
• It is contemporary with Ellora, and its sculptures show slenderness in the body, with stark light and dark effects.
• Cave site is Bagh located near Indore in Madhya Pradesh
• The tradition of rock-cut caves continued in the Deccan and they are found not only in Maharashtra but also in Karnataka, mainly at Badami and Aiholi, executed under the patronage of the Chalukyas; in Andhra Pradesh in the area of Vijayawada; and in Tamil Nadu, mainly at Mahabalipuram, under the patronage of the Pallavas.

Cave Tradition in Eastern India

• Like in western India, Buddhist caves have also been excavated in eastern India, mainly in the coastal region of Andhra Pradesh & Odisha.
• The caves have been excavated in the hills along with the structured monasteries.
• Perhaps it is among the very unique sites where the structured stupas, viharas and the caves are excavated at one place.
• The Guntapalle chaitya cave is circular with a stupa in the circular hall and a chaitya arch carved at the entrance.
• The main vihara caves, despite the small dimensions, have been decorated with chaitya arches on the exterior.
• They are rectangular with vaulted roof and are carved single-storeyed or double- storeyed without a large central hall.
• There are some excavations which were added in the subsequent centuries but all are of the vihara type.
• Apart from Guntapalle, the other important cave site is Rampaerrampallam which has very moderate small excavations but there are rock-cut stupas on the hillock.
• At Anakapalli near Vishakhapatnam, caves were excavated and a huge rock-cut stupa was carved out of the hillock during 4^th-5^th centuries CE.
• Many votive rock-cut stupas all around the hillock have also been excavated.
• The rock-cut cave tradition also existed in Odisha.
• The earliest examples are the Udaigiri- Khandagiri caves in the vicinity of Bhubaneswar.
• These caves are scattered and have inscriptions of Kharavela kings. (Jain Caves)
• The big caves include a cave with a pillared veranda with cells at the back.
• The upper part of the cells is decorated with a series of chaitya arches and narratives that still continue in the folklores of the region.
• The figures in this cave are voluminous, move freely in the picture space, and are an excellent example of qualitative carving.
• Some caves in this complex were excavated later, sometime in the eighth–ninth centuries CE.

SEATED BUDDHA, KATRA MOUND, MATHURA

• A large number of images dating back to the Kushana Period is from Mathura
• The image of the Buddha from the Katra mound belongs to the second century CE.
• 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.
• Curves of the body are as delicately carved.
• The upright posture of the Buddha image creates movement in space.
• The face is round with fleshy cheeks.
• The bulge of the belly is sculpted with controlled musculature.

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.
• The ears are elongated especially the earlobes.
• The treatment of the form bears linearity and the outlines are sharp.
• The interplay of light and dark is given considerable attention by using the curving and protruding planes of the eye-socket and the planes of the nose.
• The expression of calmness is the centre point of attraction.
• Modelling of the face enhances the naturalism of three-dimensionality.
• Assimilating various traits of Acamenian, Parthian and Bactrian traditions into the local tradition is a hallmark of the Gandhara style.
• The Gandhara images have physiognomic features of the Greco-Roman tradition but they display a very distinct way of treating physiognomic details that are not completely Greco-Roman.
• The source of development of Buddha images as well as others has its genesis in its peculiar geo-political conditions.
• Themes- Jataka stories, and Buddha and Boddhisattva images.

SEATED BUDDHA, SARNATH

• It has been made in Chunar sandstone.
• The Buddha is shown seated on a throne in the padmasana.
• It represents Dhammachakrapravartana as can be seen from the figures on the throne.
• 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.
• Eg. Sarnath school of sculpture.
• The body is slender and well-proportioned but slightly elongated.
• Folded legs are expanded in order to create a visual balance in the picture space.
• 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.
• The neck is slightly elongated with two incised lines indicating folds.
• The ushanisha has circular curled hairs.
• The aim of the sculptors in ancient India had always been to represent the Buddha as a great human being who achieved nibbana (i.e., cessation of anger and hate).
• The back of the throne is profusely decorated with different motifs of flowers and creepers placed in a concentric circle.
• The central part of the halo is plain without any decoration.
• Transparent drapery becomes part of the physical body.
• There are many other Buddha images in the standing position from Sarnath having features like transparent drapery, subtle movement, carved separately and placed about the memorial stupas around the Dharmarajika Stupa.
• They are either single or with the attendant figures of Boddhisattvas, Padmapani and Vajrapani.

PADMAPANI BODDHISATTVA;   AJANTA CAVE NO. 1

• The Boddhisattva is holding a padma (lotus), has large shoulders, and has three bents in the body creating a movement in the picture space.
• Outlines are merged with the body volume creating the effect of three- dimensionality.
• The figure of the Boddhisattva is wearing a big crown in which detailed rendering is visible.
• The head is slightly bent to the left.
• The eyes are half-closed and are slightly elongated.
• The nose is sharp and straight.
• Light colour all over the projected planes of the face is aimed at creating an effect of 3- D
• The beaded necklace too has similar features.
• The torso is relatively round.
• Lines are delicate, rhythmic, and define the contours of the body.
• The right hand is holding a lotus and the left hand is extended in the space.
• The Boddhisattva is surrounded by small figures.
• The thread over the torso is shown with fine spiral lines indicating its dimensions.
• Light red, brown, green and blue colours are used.
• Nose projections, incised end of lips with lower lip projection and small chin contribute to the overall effect of solidity in the figure composition.
• Vajrapani Bodhisattva- holds a vajra in his right hand and wears a crown.
• This image also bears the same pictorial qualities as the Padmapani.
• Themes- Mahajanak Jataka, Umag Jataka, etc.
• The Mahajanak Jataka is painted on the entire wall side
• It may be observed that the paintings of Padmapani and Vajrapani and the Bodhisattvas are painted as shrine guardians.

MARA VIJAYA, AJANTA CAVE NO. 26

• 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 event is part of the enlightenment
• Buddha is shown with his right hand indicating towards earth as a witness to his generosity

MAHESHMURTI, ELEPHANTA

• The image of Maheshmurti at Elephanta dates back to the early sixth century CE. It is located in the main cave shrine. 
• Eg. Rockcut caves. 
• The central head is the main Shiva figure whereas the other two visible heads are of Bhairava and Uma. 
• The central face is in high relief having a round face, thick lips and heavy eyelids. 
• 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. 
• One of the shilpa texts mentions five integrated faces of Shiva and this image, despite being shown with only three faces
• Elephanta sculptures are known for their remarkable qualities of surface smoothness, elongation and rhythmic movement. 
• Cave No. 29 at Ellora 

Chapter 5
LATER MURAL TRADITIONS

Badami-

• Karnataka
• Capital of the western Chalukyan dynasty which ruled the region from 543 to 598 CE
• The Chalukya king, Mangalesha, patronised the excavation of the Badami caves
• The inscription in Cave No.4 includes the dedication of the image of Vishnu (also known as Vishnu cave)
• Paintings in this cave depict palace scenes.
• The sinuously drawn lines, fluid forms and compact composition exemplify the proficiency and maturity the artists had achieved in the sixth century CE.
• The eye- sockets are large, eyes are half-closed, and lips are protruding. 

Murals under the Pallava, Pandava and Chola Kings

• 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), Chitrakarapuli (tiger among artists), Chaityakari (temple builder), which show his interest in art activities.
• Panamalai figure
• Depiction of torso 

• Tirumalaipuram caves and Jaina caves by Pandvas
• Sittanavasal paintings contours of figures are firmly drawn and painted in vermilion red on a lighter background.
• The body is rendered in yellow with subtle modelling
• The tradition of building temples and embellishing them with carvings and paintings continued during the reign of the Chola kings (9^th- 13^th century)
• Eg. temples of Brihadeshwara at Thanjavur, Gangaikonda Cholapuram and Darasuram
• 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 16^th century.
• 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

• Paintings of Brihadeswara temple
• Sinuou pre-determined flow of lines, supple modelling of figures, elongation of the physiognomic features of human figures (Chola period)
• Paintings at Tiruparakunram, near Trichy (14^th century, Vijayanagara Dynasty)
• 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.
• The faces of the figures are shown in profile, with large frontal eyes.
• The figures have narrow waists.

• In Lepakshi, near Hindupur (Andhra Pradesh, Vijayanagara paintings, Shiva temple)
• 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.
• Also seen in Nayaka period
• Nayaka paintings of 17^th & 18^th centuries are seen in Thiruparakunram, Sreerangam and Tiruvarur.
• The Nayaka paintings depict episodes from the Mahabharata and the Ramayana and also scenes from Krishna-leela.

Kerala Murals

• Kerala painters (16^th -18^th 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 figures in 3-D
• Oral traditions and local versions of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata for painted narration

• 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 are it in a village of Odisha or Bengal, Madhya Pradesh or Chhattisgarh.

Chapter 6

TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE & SCULPTURE

THE BASIC FORM OF THE HINDU TEMPLE

The basic form of the Hindu temple comprises the following:

1. a cave-like sanctum (garbhagriha literally ‘womb-house’); The garbhagriha is made to house the main icon which is itself the focus of much ritual attention;
2. the entrance to the temple which may be a portico or colonnaded hall that incorporates space for a large number of worshippers and is known as a mandapa;
3. from the fifth century CE onwards, freestanding temples tend to have a mountain like spire, which can take the shape of a curving shikhar in North India and a pyramidal tower, called a vimana, in South India;

• The vahan, i.e., the mount or vehicle of the temple’s main deity along with a standard pillar or dhvaj is placed axially before the sanctum.
• Two broad orders of temples in the country are known— Nagara in the north and Dravida in the south.
• At times, the Vesar style of temples as an independent style created through the selective mixing of the Nagara and Dravida orders
• As temples grew more complex, more surfaces were created for sculpture through additive geometry, i.e., by adding more and more rhythmically projecting, symmetrical walls and niches, without breaking away from the fundamental plan of the shrine.

SCULPTURE, ICONOGRAPHY & ORNAMENTATION

• Study of images of deities- Iconography
• The placement of an image in a temple is carefully planned:
• river goddesses (Ganga and Yamuna) are usually found at the entrance of a garbhagriha in a Nagara temple,
• dvarapalas (doorkeepers) are usually found on the gateways or gopurams of Dravida temples, similarly,
• mithunas (erotic images), navagrahas (the nine auspicious planets) and yakshas are also placed at entrances to guard them
• The deities of directions, i.e., the ashtadikpalas face the eight key directions on the outer walls of the sanctum and/or on the outer walls of a temple.
• Subsidiary shrines around the main temple are dedicated to the family or incarnations of the main deity.

THE NAGARA OR NORTH INDIAN TEMPLE STYLE

• Unlike in South India it does not usually have elaborate boundary walls or gateways
• While the earliest temples had just one tower, or shikhara, later temples had several.
• The garbhagriha is always located directly under the tallest tower
• There are many subdivisions of nagara temples depending on the shape of the shikhara.
• Shikhara is square at the base and whose walls curve or slope inward to a point on top is called the 'latina” or the rekha-prasada type of shikara.
• 2^nd major type of architectural form- phamsana.
• Phamsana buildings tend to be broader and shorter than latina ones.
• Their roofs are composed of several slabs that gently rise to a single point over the centre of the building, unlike the latina ones which look like sharply rising tall towers.
• Phamsana roofs do not curve inward, instead they slope upwards on a straight incline.
• In many North Indian temples the phamsana design is used for the mandapas while the main garbhagriha is housed in a Latina building.
• Later on, the Latina buildings grew complex, and instead of appearing like a single tall tower, the temple began to support many smaller towers, which were clustered together like rising mountain-peaks with the tallest one being in the centre, and this was the one which was always above the garbhagriha.
• The third main sub-type of the nagara building- valabhi type
• These are rectangular buildings with a roof that rises into a vaulted chamber.

• The edge of this vaulted chamber is rounded, like the bamboo or wooden wagons that would have been drawn by bullocks in ancient times.
• They are usually called ‘wagon vaulted buildings’.
• Buddhist rock-cut chaitya caves are shaped as long halls which end in a curved back.
• From the inside, the roof of this portion also looks like a wagon-vaulted roof.

Central India

• Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan share many traits.
• Made of sandstone
• Oldest surviving structural temples from the Gupta Period are in Madhya Pradesh.
• These are relatively modest-looking shrines each having four pillars that support a small mandapa which looks like a simple square porch-like extension before an equally small room that served as the garbhagriha.
• Temple at Udaigiri on the outskirts of Vidisha is part of a larger Hindu complex of cave shrines
• Temple at Sanchi, which was a Buddhist site
• The patrons and donors of the temple at Deogarh (in Lalitpur District, Uttar Pradesh) are unknown; however on the basis of both architecture and imagery, it is  established that this temple was built in the early 6^th century CE.

The temple is in the panchayatana style of architecture where the main shrine is built on a rectangular plinth with four smaller subsidiary shrines at the four corners (making it a total number of five shrines, hence the name, panchayatana).

Classic nagara style of temple

• This west-facing temple has a grand doorway with standing sculptures of female figures representing the Ganga on the left side and the Yamuna on the right side.
• The temple depicts Vishnu in various forms, due to which it was assumed that the four subsidiary shrines must also have housed Vishnu’s avatars and the temple was mistaken for a dasavatara temple.
• There are three main reliefs of Vishnu on the temple walls: Sheshashayana on the south, Nara- Narayan on the east and Gajendramoksha on the west.
• The temple is west-facing, which is less common, as most temples are east- or north-facing
• Khajuraho made in the tenth century, i.e., about four hundred years after the temple at Deogarh
• The Lakshmana temple dedicated to Vishnu is the grandest temple of Khajuraho, built in 954 by the Chandela king, Dhanga.
• There are four smaller temples in the corners, and all the towers or shikharas rise high, upward in a curved pyramidal fashion, emphasising the temple’s vertical thrust ending in a horizontal fluted disc called an amalak topped with a kalash or vase.
• The crowning elements: amalak and kalash, are to be found on all nagara temples of this period.
• The temple also has projecting balconies and verandahs, thus very different from Deogarh
• Khajuraho’s temples are also known for their extensive erotic sculptures; the erotic expression is given equal importance in human experience as spiritual pursuit, and it is seen as part of a larger cosmic whole.
• Many Hindu temples feature mithun (embracing couple) sculptures, considered auspicious.

Khajuraho’s sculptures are highly stylised with typical features:

1. they are in almost full relief,
2. cut away from the surrounding stone,
3. with sharp noses, prominent chins,
4. Long slanting eyes and eyebrows.

• The other notable example at Khajuraho is Kandariya Mahadeo temple dedicated to Lord Shiva.
• There are some Jain temples as well as a Chausanth Yogini temple, which is of interest.
• Predating 10^th century, this is a temple of small, square shrines of roughly-hewn granite blocks, each dedicated to esoteric devis or goddesses associated with the rise of Tantric worship after the seventh century.
• Several such temples were dedicated to the cult of the yoginis across Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and even as far south as Tamil Nadu.
• They were built between 7^th and 10^th centuries, but few have survived.

• The figures are characterised by graceful, slim bodies, long, oval faces topped with extremely tall cylindrical crowns and shown to wear short dhotis marked by fine incised striations indicating pleating.
• They are distinctly different from contemporary western Deccan or Vakataka styles seen at places such as Paunar and Ramtek
• Chalukyan temples at Pattadakal made in the reign of Vikramaditya II (733-44) by his chief queen Loka Mahadevi, for instance, shows complete knowledge of Pallava buildings at Kanchipuram and as a corollary, Mahabalipuram.
• Eastern Chalukyan temples, like the Mahakuta and the Swarga Brahma temple at Alampur show a greater assimilation of northern styles from Odisha and Rajasthan.
• Durga temple at Aihole is unique having an even earlier style of an apsidal shrine which is reminiscent of Buddhist chaitya halls and is surrounded by a veranda of a later kind, with a shikhara that is stylistically like a nagara one.
• Lad Khan temple at Aihole- inspired by the wooden-roofed temples of the hills, except that it is constructed out of stone.
• With the waning of Chola and Pandya power, the Hoysalas of Karnataka grew to prominence in South India (Mysore)

Temples at Belur, Halebid and Somnathpuram-

• Grow extremely complex with so many projecting angles emerging from the previously straightforward square temple, that the plan of these temples starts looking like a star, and is thus known as a stellateplan.
• made out of soapstone which is a relatively soft stone
• The Hoysaleshvara temple (Lord of the Hoysalas) at Halebid in Karnataka was built in dark schist stone by the Hoysala king in 1150.
• Hoysala temples are sometimes called hybrid or vesara as their unique style seems neither completely dravida nor nagara, but somewhere in between.
• They are easily distinguishable from other medieval temples by their highly original star-like ground-plans and a profusion of decorative carvings.
• Dedicated to Shiva as Nataraja, the Halebid temple is a double building with a large hall for the mandapa to facilitate music and dance.
• A Nandi pavilion precedes each building.
• The tower of the temple here and at nearby Belur fell long ago, and an idea of the temples' appearance can now only be gleaned from their detailed miniature versions flanking the entrances.
• From the central square plan cut- out angular projections create the star effect decorated with the most profuse carvings of animals and deities.

• Founded in 1336, Vijayanagara, literally ‘city of victory’, attracted a number of international travellers such as the Italian, 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.
• Vijayanagara synthesises the centuries-old dravida temple architecture with Islamic styles
• Their sculpture too, although fundamentally derived from, and consciously seeking to recreate Chola ideals, occasionally shows the presence of foreigners.

BUDDHIST & JAIN ARCHITECTURAL DEVELOPMENTS

• Nature of developments in Hindu architecture from 5^th-14^th centuries
• Buddhist and Jain developments were equally vibrant, and often went hand in- glove with Hindu ones.
• Ellora have Buddhist, Hindu and Jain monuments;
• However, Badami, Khajuraho and Kannauj have the remains of any two of the religious right next to each other.
• When the Gupta empire crumbled in the sixth century CE, this eastern region of Bihar and Bengal, historically known as Magadha, appears to have remained unified whilst numerous small Rajput principalities sprang up to the west.
• In 8^th century, the Palas came to power in the region.
• The second Pala ruler, Dharmapala, became immensely powerful and established an empire by defeating the powerful Rajput Pratiharas.
• Dharmapala consolidated an empire whose wealth lay in a combination of agriculture along the fertile Ganges plain and international trade.
• The pre-eminent Buddhist site is, of course, Bodhgaya.
• Bodhgaya is a pilgrimage site since Siddhartha achieved enlightenment here and became Gautama Buddha.
• While the bodhi tree is of immense importance, the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodhgaya is an important reminder of the brickwork of that time.
• The first shrine here, located at the base of the Bodhi tree, is said to have been constructed by King Ashoka; the vedika around it is said to be post-Mauryan, of about 100 BCE; many of the sculptures in the niches in the temple are dated to 8^th century Pala Period, while the actual Mahabodhi temple itself as it stands now is largely a Colonial Period reconstruction of the old seventh century design.
• The design of the temple is unusual. It is, strictly speaking, neither dravida or nagara.
• It is narrow like a nagara temple, but it rises without curving, like a dravida one.
• Nalanda is based on the records of Xuan Zang- states that the foundation of a monastery was laid by Kumargupta I in the fifth century CE
• There is evidence that all three Buddhist doctrines— Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana— were taught here and monks made their way to Nalanda and its neighbouring sites of Bodh Gaya and Kurkihar from China, Tibet and Central Asia in the north, and Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma and various other countries from the south-eastern parts of Asia.
• Monks and pilgrims would take back small sculptures and illustrated manuscripts from here to their own countries.
• The sculptural art of Nalanda, in stucco, stone and bronze, developed out of a heavy dependence on the Buddhist Gupta art of Sarnath.
• By the ninth century a synthesis occurred between the Sarnath Gupta idiom, the local Bihar tradition- The characteristic features of Nalanda art, distinguished by its consistently high quality of workmanship, are that the precisely executed sculptures have an ordered appearance with little effect of crowding.
• Sculptures are depicted in 3-D forms
• The back slabs of the sculptures are detailed and the ornamentations delicate.
• The Nalanda bronzes, dating between 7^th & 8^th centuries to approximately the twelfth century outnumber the discovery of metal images from all other sites of eastern India and constitute a large body of Pala Period metal sculptures.
• Like their stone counterparts, the bronzes initially relied heavily on Sarnath and Mathura Gupta traditions.
• The Nalanda sculptures initially depict Buddhist deities of the Mahayana pantheon such as standing Buddhas, bodhisattvas such as Manjusri Kumara, Avalokiteshvara seated on a lotus and Naga-Nagarjuna.
• During the late 11^th & 12^th centuries- Vajrayana deities such as Vajrasharada (a form of Saraswati) Khasarpana, Avalokiteshvara, etc. Depictions of crowned Buddhas occur commonly only after 10^th century
• Sirpur in Chhattisgarh is an early-Odisha-style site belonging to the period between of 550–800, with both Hindu and Buddhist shrines.
• In many ways the iconographic and stylistic elements of the Buddhist sculptures here are similar to that of Nalanda.
• Lalitagiri, Vajragiri and Ratnagiri are the most famous that developed in Odisha
• Port-town of Nagapattinam - Buddhist centre right until the Chola Period.
• One of the reasons for this must have been its importance in trade with Sri Lanka where large numbers of Buddhists still live.
• Jains were prolific temple builders like the Hindus, and their sacred shrines and pilgrimage spots are to be found across the length and breadth of India except in the hills.
• Oldest Jain pilgrimage sites- Bihar
• In the Deccan- Jain sites- Ellora and Aihole
• Central India, Deogarh, Khajuraho, Chanderi and Gwalior- Jain temples
• Karnataka- Jain shrines- Sravana Belagola the famous statue of Gomateshwara, the granite statue of Lord Bahubali which stands 18 metres or 57 feet high, is the world’s tallest monolithic free-standing structure.
• It was commissioned by Camundaraya, the General-in-Chief and Prime Minister of the Ganga Kings of Mysore
• Gujarat and Rajasthan- Jain bronzes was found at Akota, on the outskirts of Baroda, dated between the end of the fifth and the end of the seventh century CE.
• Finely cast through the lost-wax process, these bronzes were often subsequently inlaid with silver and copper to bring out the eyes, crowns and details of the textiles on which the figures were seated.
• The Jain temples at Mount Abu were constructed by Vimal Shah.
• The temple is famous for its unique patterns on every ceiling, and the graceful bracket figures along the domed ceilings.
• The great Jain pilgrimage site in the Shatrunjay hills near Palitana in Kathiawar, Gujarat, is imposing with scores of temples clustered together.

The Lost-wax Process

• The lost-wax process is a technique used for making objects of metal, especially in Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.
• In each region, a slightly different technique is used.
• The lost-wax process involves several different steps. First a wax model of the image is made by hand of pure beeswax that has first been melted over an open fire, and then strained through a fine cloth into a basin of cold water.
• Here it resolidifies immediately.
• It is then pressed through a pichki or pharni — which squeezes the wax into noodle-like shape.
• These wax wires are then wound around to the shape of the entire image.
• The image is now covered with a thick coating of paste, made of equal parts of clay, sand and cow-dung.
• Into an opening on one side, a clay pot is fixed.
• In this molten metal is poured.
• The weight of the metal to be used is ten times that of wax. (The wax is weighed before starting the entire process.)
• This metal is largely scrapping metal from broken pots and pans.
• While the molten metal is poured in the clay pot, the clay-plastered model is exposed to firing.
• As the wax inside melts, the metal flows down the channel and takes on the shape of the wax image.
• The firing process is carried out almost like a religious ritual and all the steps take place in dead silence.
• The image is later chiselled with files to smoothen it and give it a finish.
• Casting a bronze image is a painstaking task and demands a high degree of skill. Sometimes an alloy of five metals — gold, silver, copper, brass and lead — is used to cast bronze images.

Chapter 7
INDIAN BRONZE SCULPTURE

• ‘Dancing Girl’ in tribhanga posture from Mohenjodaro is the earliest bronze sculpture datable to 2500 BCE.
• The limbs and torso of this female figurine are simplified in tubular form.
• A similar group of bronze statuettes have been discovered on archaeological excavation at Daimabad (Maharashtra) datable to 1500 BCE.
• Significant is the ‘Chariot’, the wheels of which are represented in simple circular shapes while the driver or human rider has been elongated, and the bulls in the forefront are modelled in sturdy forms.
• Adinath or Vrishabhnath, who is identified with long hairlocks dropping to his shoulders.
• Otherwise the tirthankaras are noted by their short curly hair.
• Many standing Buddha images with right hand in abhaya mudra were cast in North India, particularly Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, during the Gupta and Post-Gupta periods, i.e., between the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries.
• The sanghati or the monk’s robe is wrapped to cover the shoulders which turns over the right arm, while the other end of the drapery is wrapped over the left arm.
• The drapery falls and spreads into a wide curve at the level of the ankles.
• The Buddha’s figure is modelled in a subtle manner suggesting, at the same time, the thin quality of the cloth.
• The whole figure is treated with refinement; there is a certain delicacy in the treatment of the torso.
• The figure appears youthful and proportionate in comparison with the Kushana style.
• In the typical bronze from Dhanesar Khera, Uttar Pradesh, the folds of the drapery are treated as in the Mathura style, i.e., in a series of drooping down curves.

Sarnath-style bronzes have fold less drapery.

• The outstanding example is that of the Buddha image at Sultanganj, Bihar, which is quite a monumental bronze figure.
• Vakataka bronze images of the Buddha from Phophnar, Maharashtra, are contemporary with the Gupta period bronzes.
• They show the influence of the Amaravati style of Andhra Pradesh in the third century CE
• Buddha’s right hand in abhaya mudra is free so that the drapery clings to the right side of the body contour.
• At the level of the ankles of the Buddha figure the drapery makes a conspicuous curvilinear turn, as it is held by the left hand.

• Gupta and Vakataka bronzes were portable and monks carried them from place to place for the purpose of individual worship or to be installed in Buddhist viharas.
• In this manner the refined classical style spread to different parts of India and to Asian countries overseas.
• Jaina tirthankaras like Mahavira, Parshvanath or Adinath.
• A new format was invented in which tirthankaras are seated on a throne; they can be single or combined in a group of three or in a group of twenty-four tirthankaras.
• Female images were also cast representing yakshinis or Shasanadevis of some prominent tirthankaras.
• Stylistically they were influenced by the features of both the Gupta and the Vakataka period bronzes.
• Chakreshvari is the Shasanadevi of Adinath and Ambika is of Neminath.

Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir

• Bronze images of Buddhist deities as well as Hindu gods and goddesses.
• 8^th-9^th-10^th centuries
• Vishnu images.
• Four-headed Vishnu, also known as Chaturanana or Vaikuntha Vishnu, was worshipped in these regions.
• While the central face represents Vasudeva, the other two faces are that of Narasimha and Varaha.
• The Narasimha avatar and Mahishasuramardini Durga images of Himachal Pradesh are among the very dynamic bronzes from that region.
• In Buddhist centres like Nalanda, a school of bronze-casting emerged around the ninth century during the rule of the Pala Dynasty in Bihar and Bengal regions.
• A remarkable bronze is of a four-  armed Avalokitesvara, which is a good example of a male figure in graceful tribhanga posture

• Shiva- dancing position
• In this Chola period bronze sculpture he has been shown balancing himself on his right leg and suppressing the apasmara, the demon of ignorance or forgetfulness, with the foot of the same leg.
• At the same time he raises his left leg in bhujangatrasita stance, which represents tirobhava, that is kicking away the veil of maya or illusion from the devotee’s mind.
• His four arms are outstretched and the main right hand is posed in abhaya hasta or the gesture suggesting.
• The upper right holds the damaru his favourite musical instrument to keep on the beat tala.
• The upper left hand carries a flame while the main left hand is held in dola hasta and connects with the abhaya hasta of the right hand.
• His hair locks fly on both the sides touching the circular jvala mala or the garland of flames which surrounds the entire dancing figuration.

Chapter 8
SOME ASPECTS OF INDO-ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE

• IN the seventh and eighth centuries CE, Islam spread towards Spain and India.
• Islam came to India, particularly, with Muslim merchants, traders, holy men and conquerors over a passage of six hundred years.
• Although by the eighth century CE, Muslims had begun to construct in Sind, Gujarat, etc., it was only in the early thirteenth century that large-scale building activity was begun by the Turkish State, established after the Turkish conquest of northern India.
• By the twelfth century India was already familiar with monumental constructions in grandiose settings.
• Certain techniques and embellishments were prevalent and popular, such as trabeation, brackets, and multiple pillars to support a flat roof or a small shallow dome.
• While arches were shaped in wood and stone, these were unable to bear the weight of the top structure.
• A mix of many structural techniques, stylised shapes, and surface decorations came about through constant interventions of acceptance, rejection or modification of architectural elements.
• These architectural entities or categories showcasing multiple styles are known as Indo-Saracenic or Indo-Islamic architecture.
• Muslims forbidden to replicate living forms on any surface, developed their religious art and architecture consisting of the arts of arabesque, geometrical patterns and calligraphy on plaster and stone.

TYPOLOGIES OF STRUCTURES

• Mosques for daily prayers, the Jama Masjids, tombs, dargahs, minars, hammams, formally laid out gardens, madrasas, sarais or caravansarais, Kos minars, etc., were constructed over a period of time.
• Architectural edifices in the Indian sub-continent, as elsewhere in the world, were constructed by wealthy people.
• Heavily influenced by prevailing sensibilities of Indian architectural and decorative forms.
• A lot depended on the availability of materials, limitations of resources and skills and the sense of aesthetics of the patrons.

JAMA MASJID

• Congregational prayers were held here every Friday afternoon which required the presence of a minimum of forty Muslim male adults.
• At the time of prayers a Khutba was read out in the name of the ruler and his laws for the realm were also read out.
• In medieval times a city had one Jama Masjid which, along with its immediate surroundings became the focus of the lives of the people, both Muslim and non-Muslim.
• This happened because a lot of commercial and cultural exchanges were concentrated here besides religious and indirect political activity.
• Generally such a mosque was large with an open courtyard, surrounded on three sides by cloisters and the Qibla Liwan in the west.
• It was here that the mihrab and the mimbar for the Imam were located. People faced the mihrab while offering prayers as it indicated the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca.

GOL GUMBAD

• Gumbad is situated in Bijapur in the Bijapur District of Karnataka.
• It is the mausoleum of Muhammad Adil Shah (1626–1656) the seventh Sultan of the Adil Shahi Dynasty of Bijapur (1489–1686). Built by the ruler himself it is a striking edifice in spite of being unfinished.
• The tomb is a complex of buildings such as a gateway, a Naqqar Khana, a mosque and a sarai located within a large-walled garden.
• The Gumbad is a monumental square building topped with a circular drum over which rests a majestic dome, giving the building its nomenclature.
• It is built of dark gray basalt and decorated plasterwork.
• Each wall of the tomb is one hundred and thirty-five feet long and one hundred and ten feet high and ten feet thick.
• With the drum and the dome the building rises to a height of over two hundred feet.
• The tomb has only one square chamber and the dome, with a diameter of one hundred and twenty-five feet, covers an uninterrupted floor space of 18,337 square feet, the largest in the world.
• The tomb chamber contains the burial place of the Sultan, his wives and other relatives, while their real graves lie perpendicularly below in a vault, accessed by stairs.
• The hemispherical masonry dome over a square base was constructed with the help of pendentives.
• These pendentives not only lent shape to the dome but also transferred its weight to the walls below.
• New vaulting systems consisting of arch-nets or stellate forms in squinches were created to cover angles formed by intersecting arches.
• The building has an amazing acoustical system.
• Along the drum of the dome there is a whispering gallery where sounds get magnified and echoed many times over.
• At the four corners of the building are seven-storeyed octagonal spires or minaret-like towers.
• These towers house staircases leading to the top dome.
• The drum of the dome is decorated with foliation.
• A heavily bracketed cornice resting on corbels is a distinctive feature of the facade.
• Gol Gumbad is a fine convergence of many styles located in medieval India.
• Monumentality, majesty and grandeur, integral aspects of the architectural experience in India, are associated with buildings of Bijapur.
• While its structural particularities of dome, arches, geometric proportions and load bearing techniques suggest Timurid and Persian styles, it is made of local material and is decorated with surface embellishments popular in the Deccan.
• Four towers at the corners are reminiscent of turrets attached to mosques such as Qila-i Kuhna Masjid and the Purana Qila in Delhi

CATEGORIES OF STYLES

1. Imperial Style (Delhi Sultanate),
2. Provincial Style (Mandu, Gujarat, Bengal, and Jaunpur),
3. Mughal Style (Delhi, Agra, and Lahore) and
4. Deccani Style (Bijapur, Golconda)

MANDU

• The city of Mandu is located sixty miles from Indore, at an elevation of over 2000 feet and overlooks the Malwa Plateau to the north and the Narmada valley to the south.
• Mandu’s natural defence encouraged consistent habitations by Parmara Rajputs, Afghans and Mughals. As the capital city of Ghauri Dynasty (1401–1561) founded by Hoshang Shah it acquired a lot of fame.
• Subsequently, Mandu was associated with the romance of Sultan Baz Bahadur and Rani Rupmati.
• The Mughals resorted to it for pleasure during the monsoon season.
• Mandu is a typical representation of the medieval provincial style of art and architecture.
• It was a complex mix of official and residential-cum-pleasure palace, pavilions, mosques, artificial reservoirs, baolis, embattlements, etc.
• In spite of the size or monumentality, the structures were very close to nature, designed in the style of arched pavilions, light and airy, so that these buildings did not retain heat.
• Local stone and marble were used to great advantage.
• Mandu is a fine example of architectural adaptation to the environment.
• The Royal Enclave located in the city comprised the most complete and romantic set of buildings, a cluster of palaces and attendant structures, official and residential, built around two artificial lakes.
• The Hindola Mahal looks like a railway viaduct bridge with its disproportionately large buttresses supporting the walls.
• This was the audience hall of the Sultan and also the place where he showed himself to his subjects.
• Batter was used very effectively to give an impression of swinging (Hindola) walls.
• Jahaaz Mahal is an elegant two-storey ‘shippalace’ between two reservoirs, with open pavilions, balconies overhanging the water and a terrace.
• Built by Sultan Ghiyasuddin Khilji it was possibly used as his harem and as the ultimate pleasure and recreational resort.
• It had a complex arrangement of watercourses and a terrace swimming pool.
• Rani Rupmati’s double pavilion perched on the southern embattlements afforded a beautiful view of the Narmada valley.
• Baz Bahadur’s palace had a wide courtyard ringed with halls and terraces.
• A madrasa called Asharfi Mahal now lies in ruins.
• Hoshang Shah’s tomb is a majestic structure with a beautiful dome, marble jali work, porticos, courts and towers.
• It is regarded as an example of the robustness of Afghan structures, but its lattice work, carved brackets and toranas lend it a softer hue
• The Jama Masjid of Mandu was built on a large scale to accommodate many worshippers for Friday prayers.
• It is entered through a monumental gateway, topped with a squat dome, beyond which lies an open courtyard flanked with columned cloisters on three sides, also topped with smaller domes. The building is faced with red sandstone.
• The mimbar in the Qibla Liwan is supported on carved brackets and the mihrab has a lotus bud fringe.
• Pathan architecture of Mandu is regarded as too close to the structures of Imperial Delhi to make a bold statement of local traditions.
• Nevertheless, the so-called robust, austere Pathan architecture of Mandu with its surface embellishments of jalis, carved brackets, etc., and the lightness of the structures was an important intervention in the narrative of the Indo-Islamic  architectural experience

ARCHITECTURAL INFLUENCES

• Amongst provincial styles, the architecture of Bengal and Jaunpur is regarded as distinct.
• Gujarat was said to have a markedly regional character for patrons borrowed elements from regional temple traditions such as toranas, lintels in mihrabs, carvings of bell and chain motifs, and carved panels depicting trees, for tombs, mosques and dargahs.
• The 15^th century white marble dargah of Shaikh Ahmad Khattu of Sarkhej is a good example of provincial style and it heavily influenced the form and decoration of Mughal tombs.

DECORATIVE FORMS

• The designs were either left plain or covered with colours.
• Motifs were also painted on or carved in stone.
• These motifs included varieties of flowers, both from the sub-continent and places outside, particularly Iran.
• Popular colours were blue, turquoise, green and yellow.
• Subsequently the techniques of tessellation (mosaic designs) and pietra dura were made use of for 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 and low relief carving and a profuse use of jalis.
• The high relief carving has a three- dimensional look.
• The arches were plain and squat and sometimes high and pointed.

MATERIALS FOR CONSTRUCTION

• The walls in all buildings were extremely thick and were largely constructed of rubble masonary, which was easily available.
• These walls were then cased over with chunam or limestone plaster or dressed stone.
• An amazing range of stones were utilised for construction such as quartzite, sandstone, buff, marble, etc.
• Polychrome tiles were used to great advantage to finish the walls.
• From the beginning of 17^th century, bricks were also used for construction and these imparted greater flexibility to the structures.
• In this phase there was more reliance on local materials.

FORTS

• Symbolising the seat of power of a king.
• When such a fort was captured by an attacking army the vanquished ruler either lost his complete power or his sovereignty.
• Examples- forts of Chittor, Gwalior, Daulatabad, earlier known as Devgiri and Golconda.
• Commanding heights were utilised to great advantage to construct forts.
• These heights gave a good perspective of the region, strategic advantage for security, unfettered and unhindered space to make residential and official complexes while simultaneously creating a sense of awe in the people.
• Other complexities woven into such topography were concentric circles of outer walls as in Golconda, so that the enemy had to breach these at all stages before getting in.
• Daulatabad had several strategic devices to confound the enemy, such as staggered entrances so that gates could not be opened even with the help of elephants. It also had twin forts, one within the other but at a higher elevation and accessed by a complex defence design arrangement.
• The Gwalior Fort was invincible because its steep height made it impossible to scale.
• It had had many habitations and usages.
• Babur, who did not find much merit in many things he saw in Hindustan, was said to have been overawed at the sight of the Gwalior Fort.
• Chittorgarh bears the distinction of being the largest fort in Asia and was occupied for the longest length of time as the seat of power.
• It has many types of buildings including stambhas or towers to signify victory and bravery.
• It was replete with numerous water bodies. Innumerable acts of heroism have been associated with the principal people in the fort, forming the substance of many a legend.
• An interesting aspect associated with forts is that within the palace complexes stylistic and decorative influences were absorbed most liberally.

Minars

• Examples- Qutub Minar in Delhi and the Chand Minar at Daulatabad Fort
• The everyday use of the minar was for the azaan or call to prayer.
• Its height, symbolised the might and power of the ruler.
• The Qutub Minar also came to be associated with saint of Delhi, Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki.
• The Qutub Minar, built in13th  century, is a 234-feet-high tapering tower divided into five storeys.
• The minar is a mix of polygonal and circular shapes.
• It is largely built of red and buff sandstone with some use of marble in the upper storeys.
• Chand Minar, built in the fifteenth century, is a 210- feet-high tapering tower divided into four storeys.
• Painted peach now, its façade once boasted of chevron patterning on the encaustic tile work and bold bands of Quranic verses.
• Although it looked like an Iranian monument, it was the combined handiwork of local architects with those from Delhi and Iran.

TOMBS

• Examples of Tombs- Ghyasuddin Tughlaq, Humayun, Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan, Akbar and Itmaduddaula
• Beginning with the introduction of Quranic verses on the walls, the tomb was subsequently placed within paradisiacal elements such as a garden or near a body of water or both, as is in the case of the Taj Mahal.

TAJ MAHAL

• Taj Mahal was built in Agra by Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his deceased wife Mumtaz Mahal.
• Taj Mahal was the apogee of the evolutionary architectural process in medieval India.
• The sublimity of the building comes from its orderly, simple plan and elevation, amazingly perfect proportions or symmetry, the ethereal quality marble has lent to it, the perfect setting of bagh and river and the pure outline of the tomb silhouetted against the sky.
• The patina the Taj has lends it a different hue at various times of day and night.
• The Taj complex is entered through a monumental red sandstone gateway the opening arch of which beautifully frames the mausoleum.
• The tomb is laid out in a Chahar Bagh, criss-crossed with paths and water courses, interspersed with pools and fountains.
• The structure is placed on the northern extremity of the bagh instead of the middle to take advantage of the river bank.

• A straight path through the bagh reaches the plinth of the tomb from where is 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 building is topped with a drum and dome and four cupolas forming a beautiful skyline.
• The plinth, the walls of the structure and the drum-dome are in perfect proportion to one another.
• Towards the west of the white marble-faced tomb lies a red sandstone mosque and a similar construction in the east to maintain balance.
• Marble for the building was quarried from the Makrana mines in Rajasthan and this white edifice is contrasted with the red sandstone of the surrounding structures.
• The tomb structure is a square with chamfers forming eight sides, recessed with deep arches.
• This structural stylisation produces in the elevation of the building a variety of contrasting planes and shade and solids and voids effects.
• All sides of the building, the twin elevations of floor to roof and roof to pinnacle, atop the foliated crest of the dome, measure 186 feet each.
• The interior arrangements of the mausoleum consist of a crypt below and a vaulted, octagonal tomb chamber above, with a room at each angle, all connected with corridors.
• Light to every part of the building is obtained by means of carved and perforated jalis, set in the arched recesses of the interior.
• The ceiling is as high as the façade creating a void with the help of a double dome.
• Four types of embellishments have been used with great effect for the interior and exterior surfaces of the Taj Mahal.
• These are stone carvings in high and low relief on the walls, the delicate carving of marble into jalis and graceful volutes (spiral ornament on the pillar), and the creation of arabesques with pietra dura (yellow marble, jade and jasper) on walls and tombstones and geometric designs with tessellation.
• Lastly, the art of calligraphy is used with the inlay of jasper in white marble to write Quranic verses.
• Calligraphy provided a decorative element on the walls and a continuous connection with the Almighty

SARAIS

Medieval India-

• Ringed cities and dotted the vast space of the Indian subcontinent.
• Sarais were largely built on a simple square or rectangular plan and were meant to provide temporary accommodation to Indian and foreign travellers, pilgrims, merchants, traders, etc.
• In effect, sarais were public domains which thronged with people of varied cultural backgrounds.
• This led to cross-cultural interaction, influences and syncretic tendencies in the cultural mores of the times and at the level of the people.

GLOSSARY

• Agate- A fine-grained variegated chalcedony, its colours arranged in stripes, blended in clouds, or showing moss like forms
• Amalaka- Ribbed, lenticular or globoid part resembling the amalaka (Indian gooseberry fruit) crowning the top of the North Indian style shikhara
• Anda-Semi-circular dome
• Arabesque- An ornamental design consisting of intertwined flowing 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 stone of contrasting colours located on either side of an arch and within the spandrels
• Burin- A pointed tool of flint or stone with a transverse edge 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 or pyramid-shaped roof
• Chahar Bagh- A square, walled garden divided into four by intersecting water channels
• Chaitya Arch- Semi-circular arch with pointed tip in the centre towards the top
• Chaitya - Place of congregation and worship
• Chakra- Wheel
• Chamfer- To cut off the edge or corner, thereby increasing the number of sides
• Chert- A flint like material, usually black or dark brown in colour. Although it has a conchoidal fracture like flint it is not so fine-textured
• Chevron Patterning- V- shaped patterns
• Corbel- The stone or wooden bracket laid horizontally to support a cornice or an arch
• Sheshashayana is the form of Vishnu where he is shown reclining on the sheshanaga called Ananta.
• Nara-Narayan shows the discussion between the human soul and the eternal divine.
• Gajendramoksha is the story of achieving moksha, symbolically communicated by Vishnu’s suppression of an asura who had taken the form of an elephant.