Art and Architecture in the Ancient World: India

Introduction

Evidence of notable artistic and architectural accomplishments in India can be traced as far back as the Indus Valley civilization (c. 3500-1700 b.c.e.), which is best known by its two largest cities, Mohenjo-Daro, beside the Indus River in Sind, and Harappā, beside the former course of the tributary Ravi, nearly 400 miles (644 kilometers) northeast in the Punjab.

Mohenjo-Daro and Harappā

Mohenjo-Daro seems to have been a well-planned city. The many dwelling houses vary in size from small buildings with two rooms to a palatial structure having a frontage of 85 feet (26 meters) and depth of 97 feet (30 meters), with outerwalls 4 to 5 feet (1.2-1.5 meters) thick and made of high-quality burnt bricks. Evidence suggests the use of large bricks measuring 20.25 inches (51 centimeters) long, 10.5 inches (27 centimeters) broad, and 3.5 inches (9 centimeters) thick. The big houses have two or more stories and are furnished with paved floors and courtyards, doors, windows, and narrow stairways. A bathroom, drain, and walls are features of every house, and large pillared halls, some measuring 80 feet (24 meters) square, of elaborate structure and design, are commonly found in spacious buildings.

The roads cut each other at right angles, an arrangement that helped the prevailing winds work as a sort of suction pump, automatically cleaning the atmosphere. A sophisticated drainage system used brick-laid channels that varied from 9 to 12 inches (23-30 centimeters) deep to double that size flowing through every street. The channels were covered with loose bricks that could be removed when necessary. Brick-lined cesspits allowed the flow of rainwater and sewage from the houses. Long drains were provided with sumps at intervals to facilitate easy cleaning of the channels. Large brick culverts were constructed on the outskirts of the city to carry storm water. The Great Bath, 180 feet (55 meters) long and 180 feet (55 meters) wide, consisting of a large open quadrangle in the center with galleries and rooms on all sides, is the most imposing structure in the city. In the center of the quadrangle is a large swimming enclosure 39 feet (12 meters) long, 23 feet (7 meters) wide, and 8 feet (2.4 meters) deep. It has a flight of steps at either end and is fed by a well in one of the adjoining rooms. The water is discharged by a huge drain with a corbeled roof more than 6 feet (1.8 meters) in height.

Harappā reveals the oldest example yet known of systematic town planning. The citadel mound was fortified by a mud-brick rampart tapering upward from a 40-foot (12-meter) base, with a similarly tapering external revetment of baked brick. The 300 yards (274 meters) between the mound and the river enclosed barracklike blocks of workmen’s quarters, serried lines of circular brick floors with central wooden mortars for pounding grain, and two rows of ventilated granaries, twelve in all, marshaled on a podium. The total floorspace of the granaries was greater than 9,000 square feet (837 square meters). To the south of the citadel was an extensive cemetery.

The people of the Indus Valley had a large variety of pottery, both decorated and plain. All the ornamented wares are coated with an opaque red slip, on which various designs and motifs are painted with a thick black pigment. The paint appears to have come from the adjacent river and is tempered with sand that contains a large percentage of mica, or lime. The regular striations inside practically every vessel suggest the use of a potter’s wheel. The pottery made in Mohenjo-Daro differs very little in shape and mode of decoration from that of Harappā. The slip used for most pottery is red ochre, and designs were painted with brush on this red surface before firing. A common motif resembles a large comb with solar signs or chessboard patterns, and another design features a series of intersecting circles or tree patterns placed in metopes or panels alternating with other motifs. Figures of animals are juxtaposed with natural objects such as grass or leaves. Beautifully carved beads, seals, and seal amulets made of stealite, as well as some bronze and copper ware, have been identified as belonging to the Indus Valley civilization.

Evidence of notable post-Indus Valley civilizations is found in the legendary city of Hastināpura, dating back to about 1000-800 to 500 b.c.e., in the upper Ganges Valley, where remains of mud or mud-brick walls of unascertainable plan and distinctive gray painted pottery with black linear patterns have been found. Iron seems to have been widely used, and in later periods, a hard and distinctive glossy black ware emerged, which imitated polished iron with its steel-like quality. Hastināpura was the epic capital of the Kaurava kings and Ahicchattrā, near Ramnagar in UttarPradesh, is the capital of North Panchala; the splendor of both cities is richly described in the epic Mahābhārata (400 b.c.e.-400 c.e., present form by c. 400 c.e.; The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, 1887-1896).

Mauryan Empire

After the Greek invasion of Persia in the early fifth century b.c.e., the convergence of need and opportunity brought to the Mauryan Empire trained artisans from Persia who, in collaboration with native artisans, ushered in a revolution in masonry architecture in India. The defenses of Old Rājgīr in the hills of southern Bihār, 25 miles (40 kilometers) in length, are dry-built of unshapen stones, with square bastions at frequent intervals, and enclose the city of Magadha, which achieved distinction in the sixth century b.c.e. with the association of Buddha and Vardhamāna.

In the fifth century b.c.e., the rulers of Magadha built a fortress on the plain beside the rivers Ganges and Son, where the town of Patna now stands. About 320 b.c.e., the first Mauryan emperor enlarged this fortress of Pāṭali into the splendid capital city of Pāṭaliputra. From the accounts of Megasthenes, the envoy of Seleucus I at the Mauryan court about 302 b.c.e., and archaeological excavations, it has been determined that Pāṭaliputra formed an oblong beside the river more than 9 miles (14.5 kilometers) long and more than 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) wide. Fortified by a ditch 200 yards (183 meters) across and a timber palisade with towers and loopholes for archers, the city was beautified by several parks, fish tanks, shady groves, and pastures planted with trees. The sophistication of the architectural endeavors is confirmed by the lengths of imposing timber framework and masonry that have been unearthed, particularly a column-capital with stepped impost, side volutes, and central palmettes of Persian and bead-and-reel patterns. Religion plays an integral part in the artistic and architectural attainments of a culture, and the influence of Buddhism and Jainism along with Hinduism is evident in the art and architecture of the Mauryan Empire.

The art of sculpture or rock cutting reached its zenith during Aśoka’s reign (r. c. 265-238 b.c.e.), when Buddhist edicts were engraved on highly polished monolithic pillars. The capital of the famous Sārnāth pillar consists of four lions that originally supported the wheel of law resting on the abacus bearing in relief an elephant, a horse, a bull, and a lion. Sudama cave, an excavated hall of the Aśokan period found at Barabar Hills, consists of a circular chamber and an antechamber with side entrances. The remains of Aśoka’s palace at Pāṭaliputra resemble the pillared halls of the Achaemenian kings of Persepolis.

Sanchi in Bhopal contains the most remarkable group of early Buddhist shrines, or stupas, belonging to Mauryan, Sungan, and the Sātavāhana periods (72-25 b.c.e.). The reliefs of the great gateway, whose principal themes are drawn from the life of the Buddha and from the Jātakas, are marvels of decorative storytelling. There are three main stupas and several smaller ones, on average measuring about 120 feet (37 meters) in diameter and 54 feet (16 meters) in height and all originally plastered. The balustrade and gateways are carved with numerous details from Buddhist legends and carry fascinating details—processions and battles and sieges; walled townships, temples and holy trees; kings and warriors, fairies, dwarfs, and snake-gods; elephants and chariots, lions, goats, camels, bulls, griffins and peacocks—all depicting everyday life. Another interesting relic of Aśoka’s age is the Bharhut stupa (located near Allahabad), which is covered with a coat of plaster and in which hundreds of triangular shaped recesses had been made to hold lights for the illumination of the monument. It was common Buddhist practice to decorate the stupas with flowers, garlands, banners, and lights.

Taxila, an ancient city mentioned extensively in Alexander the Great’s campaign records, has several temples and shrines contained within 12 square miles (31 square kilometers). The north gate in the town wall, about 15 to 20 feet (4.6 to 6 meters) thick, is the main entrance to the city and leads on to the main blocks of buildings, each with a frontage of 110 to 120 feet (34 to 37 meters), divided off by streets at right angles on each side. The building foundations that remain date to the first centuries before and after the common era and for the most part formed the basis of private houses and shops. Found on the east side are exceptional examples of Buddhist or Jain stupas that combine classical Hellenistic design with Corinthian plasters but also include niches in purely Indian modes. Important Buddhist religious shrines include Mohrā Morādu, Pipalīya, Jaulian southeast of Sirsukh, and those that grew up in the vicinity of the famous Dharmarājika Stupa, which was itself refaced at this time. During the Kushān Dynasty (second century b.c.e. to c. 300 c.e.), the Dharmarājika Stupa area was a focus for architectural and artistic activity.

In addition to their architectural splendor, these sites have a wealth of sculpture in clay and plaster belonging to the Gandhāra School (named after the ancient name for the region), which is a northern Kushān art style complementary to the southern Mathurā school of Muttra. Its outstanding characteristic is the admixture of late Hellenistic conventions with native Indian styles. At the Jaulian site, on a hilltop 300 feet (91 meters) above the plain, is the finest collection of late Gandhāra stucco work, most of it dating from the fifth century c.e.

Significant architectural accomplishments after the Aśokan period include the Great Stupa of Amaravātī, which originally was built in the late second century b.c.e. and was provided with sculptured casing slabs and railings in the first, second, and third centuries c.e. On the drum of the stupa are four projecting offsets facing each of the entrances and each displaying five pillars called Āryaka Khambhas. Surrounded by a rail, the stupa was decorated with rosettes, stories from the Jātakas, walled and moated cities, palace buildings, and stupas. The old vihāra (monastery) at Bhaja near Poona, datable to the second century c.e., contains unique reliefs. Bedsa and other caves of the same period near Poona consist of a nave, apse, and aisle; the apse contains a solid stupa, and the aisle continues round the apse, thus providing a path for circumambulation. The caitya (hall of worship) at Karle, which may be dated to the first century b.c.e., has magnificent horseshoe windows, great pillars, and finely carved reliefs.

The Gupta period

Indian architecture and sculpture attained their zenith in the Gupta period (fourth to sixth century c.e.) and are best represented in temple architecture, a notable example of which is the famous Dhamekh stupa, with exquisitely carved geometrical and floral ornaments, at Sārnāth near Banaras, datable to the sixth century c.e.

The Cālukyan Dynasty (c. 550-642) used the river gorge of Ajanta, with its almost sheer rock sides at an impressive horseshoe bend in the stream, to build a series of rock-cut structures, which fall into two classes: caityas (halls of worship) and vihāras (monasteries), having a central court, cells for monks, and a shrine. All caves are long-aisled structures with colonnades forming an apse around a stupa, which, in the later caityas belonging to the Māhāyana sect of Buddhism, are fronted by an image of the Buddha. The vihāras essentially have a square central court with a veranda and, in the later examples, pillars within the court with surrounding cells and a shrine at the rear. The rock-hewn structures reproduced, underground and in solid stone, the features of the monasteries, shrines, and assembly halls previously built in wood above. On some pillars are found striking figures of bodhisattvas, which in their pose and details of drapery resemble the semi-Hellenistic Gandhāra tradition of northwest India, and the pictorial scenes consist mainly of Jātakas, legends of the former existences of the Buddha. The most famous one is the great bodhisattva with the lotus (Padmapani) on the left of the entrance to the shrine.

The Deccan area, with fine-grained homogenous volcanic formations that eroded into almost vertical rock faces, was conducive for elaborate subterranean architectural sculpture and gave rise to the paintings of Ellora. The best preserved of the group depicts a large figure of the Buddha on a lion throne flanked on the sidewall by great standing figures of bodhisattvas. Tin Thal, a vihāra dating from the early eighth century c.e., has a large Buddha on the ground floor with attendant figures and an open veranda and pillared hall on the first floor with a shrine in the back wall and numerous other sculptures. The top story, with its forty-two plain square columns in accurate alignment, is very impressive. Two finely sculptured deer bear the Buddha on a throne below. The main group of rock temples, consisting of seventeen constructions, belongs to the Brahmanical or Hindu religious tradition, and the temples range in date from the eighth to the ninth centuries c.e.

The Kailāsa, probably begun by the Rāshtrakūta Dynasty in 760 c.e., is an exemplary piece with the temple carved by digging out a great rectangular quarry 154 by 276 feet (47 by 84 meters), more than 100 feet (30 meters) deep, around a central block of stone. The northernmost group consists of double-storied temples of the Jain faith built from around the second half of the eighth century c.e. Dilwāra, Vimala, and Tejapāla are Jain temples that contain elaborately conceived stonework and ingenious craftsmanship in marble. Between 950 and 1050 c.e., the beautiful temples at Khajuraho were erected. Exquisitely hewn floral and human sculptures add considerably to its beauty.

The Pallavas

The Pallavas were a great power in southern India and on the east coast between circa 500 and 800 c.e. and contributed significantly to the artistic and architectural growth in south India. The five rathas (chariots) at Mahabalipuram are all monoliths datable to the first half of the seventh century c.e. The great gopurams (temple towers) of the Pāṇḍya period are found at Srirangam, Madurai, and Kumbakonam. The examples of the great pillared mandapa (temple prayer hall) of the Vijayanagar period are found at Kanchi, Vijayanagar, and Vellore.

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