The Sculpture of India - Roots of an Ancient Art : Ep #0

The early art of India is a valuable record of the thoughts and the vision of one of the most ancient civilizations in the world. This ancient art brings before us a view of the world which sees a great harmony in the whole of creation. It sees the same which is in each of us, in the animals, the flowers, the trees, the leaves and even the breeze which moves the leaves. All that there is is seen to be a reflection of the One. The phenomenal world of separated beings and objects seen around us is an illusion perceived and brought to us by our senses. Absorbed in this, we are blinded to the reality beyond. The primary illusion is the perception of ourselves as individual entities which leads us on a path of egoic existence. The high purpose in life is to seek reintegration with the One, to perceive ourselves as part of the beauty of the Divine. Our experience of beauty when we respond to a sunrise or to a great work of art is seen to be a moment when we perceive the grace which underlies the whole of creation. The moment of the aesthetic experience is stated in Indian thought to be akin to Brahmananda or the final ecstasy of salvation itself. The Chitra Sutra of the Vishnu Dharmotra Purana which was penned out of earlier oral traditions in the 5th century A.D. is perhaps the oldest known treatise on art in the world. It states that art is the greatest treasure of mankind, far more valuable than gold or jewels. There are no gods in the early philosophic vision of India, there are deities, deities who are the personifications of concepts and qualities. The qualities are within us. When we respond to these deities brought to us in art, we awaken those fine aspects within us. When we are filled by that grace, there is no space left for base desires and pain. We have become that deity. For about a thousand years in early times, vast quantities of art were produced in India. Deities, mythical creatures, animals, plants, trees, forms in which these beings were combined were made, as also common men and women. Yet this art did not depict the kings who patronized the art, nor was the name of the artist mentioned. According to the ancient treatise on art making, the Chitra Sutra, personalities are too unimportant to be depicted in art. The purpose of art is a noble one, to show the eternal beyond the ephemeral. Images from material life are very often seen in Indian art. The achievement of knowledge is likened to a victory. We see images of deities trampling the demons of ignorance. However, the demons smile as they are vanquished. In this world where all is seen as a part of a cosmic harmony, there is no anguish finally. What survives today of the early art of India is only a small fraction of what would have been created. Yet it consists of such vast numbers of monuments and sculpture that it staggers the mind. In the 4th millennium BC, one of the earliest civilizations of the world was developing in the river valleys of the Indian subcontinent. The first sites of this civilization were discovered at Mohenjodaro and Harappa in the basin of the Indus river. The name Indus Valley Civilization has remained. However, hundreds of other sites have been found in recent decades in Gujarat, Maharashtra and eastwards till Uttar Pradesh. It was by far the largest area of any civilization in the world at that time. There was a sophisticated concept of town planning. But there were certainly skilled, well-trained engineers. And you see this when you just look at the towns. The way the towns are laid out, very systematic, with broad avenues for major traffics between the gates, for example, and then smaller roads branching off the major avenues, and then alleys finally getting deep into the blocks where people lived. There were networks of hundreds of wells which supplied water to the residents. A drainage system was in existence and even the smallest houses were connected to it. Houses were made of fired clay bricks. They had several stories. More than 4,000 clay, stone and copper seals have been recovered in excavations. These were used to mark trade goods and for other purposes. Most of these seals combine text with images of animals, plants and persons. Even within the small space of the seal, animals are depicted in a highly naturalistic manner. The artist not only observed the world around him closely, he also had the means and skill to translate that observation into pictorial form. One of the most fascinating seals from Mohenjodaro is that with a depiction of a man seated cross-legged on a seat. The posture is very similar to yoga, which is an essential aspect of the spiritual life of India till today. The figure is flanked by several animals, leading some to identify him as a prototype of the later Lord Shiva, who is also known as Pashupati or the Lord of Beasts. Animal figures are made on the seat. Such seats as well as the other elements of this depiction are very similar to the images of Hindu and Buddhist deities in later Indian art. The artefacts that have been excavated from the Indus Valley culture are unique in their small scale. No monumental sculpture has been found. All the art objects, whether in terracotta, stone or metal, can be described as being on a human scale. This is surely also related to the fact that no palaces or other monumental architecture has been found. All excavated evidence points to a thriving cooperative system, which was in existence and not a conventional kingship. One of the most enigmatic sculptures is a bust, sometimes known as a priest or a king. This is perhaps because of the dignified countenance and royal bearing of the figure. A male torso made of stone has been tentatively dated to the Indus Valley period. The breath of life, which is a characteristic feature of Indic art, is seen in this early depiction. The softly swelling stomach and the smooth modelling of the muscles again attest to the skill of the artist. One of the most delightful figurines is that of the Dancing Girl. Approximately 10 centimetres in height, this tiny figure stands with one hand at her hip. The body is composed of long tube-like limbs. She is made resting her weight on one leg in a very natural fashion, as in the contrapposto techniques of later sculpture. The jaunty manner and liveliness of the figure are remarkable. Around 1700 BC, with changes in the course of the rivers, many of the settlements in the river valleys had to be given up. In this period, people began to move down into Gujarat and also eastwards into the valleys of the river Ganga. By the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, a second phase of urbanisation in the Indian subcontinent began, this time in the valleys of the Ganga. By the 8th or the 9th century BC, the Upanishads were composed, out of philosophic traditions which perhaps came from the earliest times of Indian civilisation. The thoughts contained in the Upanishads were to form the basis of all major Indic religions thereafter. In this period, there were large numbers of ascetics who gave up the material attractions of the world to seek the truth beyond. The names of two historical renunciators of this tradition became most prominent. One of them is Mahavira, who is known as the 24th Tirthankara, or victor, and those who follow his path are known as Jainas. The other is Siddhartha, who is known as the 4th or the 7th Buddha, or enlightened one, and those who follow his path are known as Buddhists. Both Mahavira and the Buddha taught the philosophy of the Upanishadic age, and there are striking similarities in their teachings. One of the main principalities in North India was Magadha. Under the leadership of the dynamic Chandragupta Maurya, it expanded and became the first empire on Indian soil. With the coming of the first extensive state, the art also changed. Instead of the small, personal-sized objects of the earlier period, art was now created to project the messages and grandeur of rulers. Chandragupta Maurya's grandson, Ashoka, further extended his empire to cover the whole of North and Northwestern India. Perhaps following the examples of the Achaemenid Persians, he inscribed his messages on rocks and large pillars which he erected. But that is where the similarity ends. In keeping with the continuing Indian traditions, his inscriptions display that he was preoccupied with dharma. Dharma is a man's duty to all others, and the whole of existence around him. Ashoka's messages to his people were to follow the ethical path, to respect teachers, elders and much else which is a part of dharma. The lion capital of the pillar at Sarnath is a fine example of royal Maurya art. Four lions placed back to back face the cardinal directions, indicating the spread of dharma. These are formal and stylized and are reminiscent of the Persian tradition. However, other examples like the bull capital from Rampurva are carved in a naturalistic manner. The four lions on the Sarnath pillar originally supported a large chakra or wheel. Chakras are also made on the circular drum under the feet of the lions. The chakra is an important symbol of cosmic order in Upanishadic thought. In Buddhism, it represents the turning of the wheel of law. Unlike the lions above, these animals are made in a highly naturalistic manner. Ashoka and his grandson Dashratha made rock-cut caves at Barabar near Gaya in present-day Bihar. They were made for the Ajivikas, a deeply ascetic sect of that time. This began one of the greatest architectural traditions in India. A very large number of rock-cut caves were made later for Buddhists and Hindus. The Mauryan period brings us finely sculpted figures, which established the traditions to come in later times. A two feet high nude male figure may represent a follower of the Digambara sect of Jainas, who renounce clothing. The artist's mastery over stone is seen in the naturalism and sensitivity in modelling. There are many similarities between this figure and the tiny male torso of the Indus period. One of the best-known sculptures is that of a female chori, or whisk-bearer, that was found at Didarganj in present-day Patna. The high polish of the sandstone here is a hallmark of Mauryan stone sculpture. The story of art is the story of humankind, of man's perceptions and thoughts. From the river valley civilizations till the period of the imperial Mauryas, we see the foundations laid of the art of one of the oldest civilizations. We see a vision of the world, and the roots of a culture which has survived more than 5,000 years.