The Sculpture of India - 5,000 Years of Sculptur

The history of Indian sculpture is the story of one of the oldest cultures of the world, which continues till today. Five thousand years ago, there was a vast civilization established in the river valleys of North India. The first sites found were in the basin of the Indus River. All art found is made on a small scale and is very sophisticated. Even within the small space of the seals, animals are depicted in a highly naturalistic manner. Unlike other cultures, in the thousands of art objects found here, there are no images of warfare or prisoners. One of the most fascinating seals found is that with a depiction of a man in a posture very similar to yoga, which is an essential aspect of the spiritual life of India till today. In the beginning of the first millennium BC, the Upanishads were composed in the Indian subcontinent. These were based upon continuing philosophic traditions of the land. The ideas expressed here are basic to all Indic philosophies. Indian art is filled with the Upanishadic vision of the unity of all of creation. In this view, the material world around us is seen to be an illusion based upon our perceptions. Our attachment to the illusory world leads to pain. The high purpose in life and of art is to lift the veils of this illusion and to look beyond. In the 3rd century BC, Emperor Ashoka erected several large pillars with capitals and inscribed his edicts upon rocks. In keeping with ancient traditions, the inscriptions show that the emperor was preoccupied with dharma, one's duty to the whole of existence. The chakra is the Upanishadic symbol of the order of the universe. It is used often in Buddhist and Jain art. The four lions placed back to back indicate the spread of dharma. These are formal and stylized. Other examples, like this bull capital, are carved in a naturalistic manner. One of the best-known sculptures of Maurya times is that of a female chauri, or whisk-bearer, that was found at Didarganj in present-day Patna. The Shungas, who ruled in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, worshipped Hindu deities and were also benevolent to the Buddhist Sangha. Around 100 BC, a great Buddhist stupa was made at Bhargut in present-day Madhya Pradesh. A railing or vedika and a gateway, or torana, were made around it. Unlike the imperial art of the Mauryas, inscriptions here show that the reliefs and figures were donated by laypeople, monks and nuns. Images of yakshas and yakshis represent the protection of nature and its great fertility, which ensures the continuance of life. The Hindu deity of prosperity and abundance, Lakshmi, is also made on the vedika. The vedika reliefs depict many scenes from the life of the Buddha and from his previous lives. The Buddha himself is never made in this early Buddhist art. Instead, there are symbols which indicate his presence. In early Indian art, the focus was not on individuals, and there were no portraits even of kings who were patrons. In fact, in the Chitra Sutra, the ancient Indian treatise on art, it is the eternal themes and not personalities which are the fitting subject of art. The great stupa at Sanchi was originally made in the 3rd century BC. Later, under the Satvahanas, who worshipped Hindu deities themselves, four gloriously carved stone gates or toranas, 34 feet high, were added. They were completed in the 1st century AD. The veneration of nature's fertility and abundance, as seen at Bharuth, continues here. 24 auspicious women are made as bracket figures on the gateways. Reliefs made on the gateways reflect the lives of the towns and villages at that time. Over a thousand years, from the 2nd century BC onwards, more than 1,200 caves were excavated out of the mountains of the western Ghats. The first phase of prolific excavation was from the 2nd century BC till the 3rd century AD, under the rule of the Satvahanas and the Kshatrapas. Though these kings revered Hindu deities, they patronized all religious establishments. Individual sculptures and pillars were donated by merchants, bankers, gardeners, farmers, fishermen, housewives and others, including Greek devotees. This chaityagriha, or prayer hall, was made at Bhaja, in Pune district, in the 2nd century BC. For Buddhists and Jainas, the stupa is a symbol of the passage from the world of illusion to that of eternal bliss. A horseshoe-shaped arch dominates the facade of the cave. The shape was first made in imitation of wooden architecture in the Barabar caves of the Ajivikas. On a high hill opposite the range which has the caves of Bhaja, a grand chaityagriha and viharas were created in the 1st to 2nd centuries AD at Karle. The facade has on it six couples larger than life and filled with robust vitality. These are the yakshas and yakshis. Their closeness to each other in natural affection symbolizes the completeness and the harmony of the natural order. In the meantime, in the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, Jaina rock-cut caves and stupas were being made in many parts of India. These show the close similarity of art as well as that of the symbols of the Buddhist and Jaina faiths. The Kushanas ruled from the 1st to the 3rd centuries AD. They came from southern China. In early Indian art, there were no portraits of kings or other ephemeral personalities. The Kushanas brought a different outlook with them and built royal shrines with images of themselves. The making of the images of kings did not last beyond the rule of the Kushanas. However, in this period, there was a new focus on the depiction of personalities in art. Images of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Jaina Deerthankaras and Hindu deities were created in the Mathura region. These followed the earlier models of the yakshas and Nagas. The form in which the Buddha was presented was that of an enlightened being, one out of many, with 32 attributes that identified him as such. The summer capital of the Kushanas was at Peshawar in the Gandhara region. Concepts of Indian philosophy, which placed emphasis on the renunciation of worldly desires, were new to many here. The sculptures of this region show influences of Mediterranean and Persian styles. Instead of the spiritual idealized forms of the Indic mainstream tradition, these attempt to present the appearance and expressions of people in the world. In early Buddhism, the focus was within oneself on the potential for enlightenment, which is in each of us. In the Gandhara region, the attention began to go more towards a heroic personality of a Buddha and other Buddhas as distinct individuals. These could be prayed to for their help. The early Buddhist site of Amravati is on the bank of the river Krishna in the present-day state of Andhra Pradesh. In the 2nd century AD, under the Satvahanas, the sculptural reliefs of the magnificent stupa reached their culminating phase. A world of Buddhist narratives was created. The Satvahana rulers were devoted to Hindu deities and gave grants to the Buddhist Sangha. However, as in Central and Western India, the art was patronized by the people. In 320 AD, Chandragupta I founded the Gupta Empire in North India. He ushered in an age in which all aspects of culture flowered. In the 1st century, deities and human form had been created in Indian art to provide a support to minds not prepared to comprehend the formless abstract. The human form had to be created, which rose above itself. It was an embodiment of that which was eternal, undisturbed by turmoil and cravings. Meditating upon such a form, devotees awakened the best within themselves. Fine sculptures from Sarnath in Uttar Pradesh show the form that was created to express the spiritual state of the Buddha. Behind lowered eyelids, the look is within. It is around this time that the Chitra Sutra, the oldest known treatise on art, was penned. Out of traditions which were ongoing, canons guided the artist. Individual achievement and works of rare beauty were born out of the immediate experience of the artist of the visualized reality itself. In the first quarter of the 5th century, 20 rock-cut caves were carved out of the hill at Udaigiri, not very far from Sanchi. These are the earliest surviving Hindu temples. The most magnificent representation here is of the Naravaraha, avatara of Vishnu. At Deogarh, near Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, stands a temple to Vishnu, dated to about 500 AD. On three sides of the temple are niches which depict different avataras of Vishnu. The magnificent Buddhist site of Ajanta is a hundred kilometers from Aurangabad. Many caves had been excavated here around the 2nd century BC. In the mid-5th century, under the rule of the Hindu Vakataka kings, it saw renewed activity. The facades of early chaitya grihas presented a grand simplicity. The second phase of Ajanta brings us a changed world. The many figures made now display a great humanity. In cave 26, a profoundly moving scene is that of the Mahaparinirvana of the Buddha, when he finally achieves release from the mortal world. This is one of the grandest yet most sensitive depictions in all of Buddhist art. At the site of Kanheri, within present-day Mumbai, were made great buddhas over 22 feet high in the 5th century. This is the beginning of the tradition of Brihad or colossal buddhas, which spread near and far. Cave 90 of the early 6th century has the earliest representation of the mandala, which represents a graded path towards enlightenment. The most wondrous Hindu excavation of the 6th century is on Gharapuri island in Mumbai harbour. The island is popularly known as Elephanta. On the south wall of the cave is made a profoundly moving representation of Lord Shiva. The image emerges from a dark void as a vision of the unmanifest eternal. The red sandstone cliffs of Badami in Karnataka offered a spectacular setting for the excavation of four caves. In cave 1 of the mid 5th century is a magnificent depiction of the Nataraja, Shiva in the cosmic dance. It is in the Virupaksha temple of the 8th century at Pattadakkal that we encounter the full glory of art under the early Chalukyas. This vitality and movement is seen in 8th century art across many parts of India. Including Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Odisha. On the shores of Tamil Nadu is Mammallapuram, a marvellous town of temples carved out of the rock. Here a granite hill face almost 100 feet by 50 feet has been transformed into a world of divine and earthly beings. This giant relief is of the 7th century. About a hundred figures of animals, men, women and divine beings are made approximately life-sized and with great sensitivity and naturalism. One of the most magnificent depictions in Mammallapuram is that of Mahisha Surmardhani made in a 7th century cave. Durga, a feminine aspect of Shiva battles the demon buffalo or Mahisha who represents the evil of ignorance. The Adivaraha cave is notable for having the portraits of king Narasimha Varman and his son with their wives. After the period of the Kushanas, these are the earliest surviving portraits of Indian kings. In the 8th century, king Narasimha Varman II, Rajasimha made the structural shore temple at Mammallapuram and the Kailashanatha temple at Kanchipuram. The deity in the Kailashanatha temple and by implication the temple itself was named Rajasimha Pallaveshwara or the lord of Rajasimha Pallava. Besides the Shiva Linga, the shrines of the temple have the image of the Soma Skanda. This shows Shiva with Parvati as Uma and their son Skanda or Kartikeya. The lord and his spouse are presented as universal parents. A parallel is drawn between the divine family and that of the king. Unlike the art of ancient India, now the grandeur of the king is being expressed through the art. In the 8th century, a vast section of a rocky hillock at Kalugumalai was carved into an unfinished Shiva temple. The many figures carved on the tiers of the roof are graceful and in naturalistic poses. The journey of Indian art has brought us to a point where the human form is used to convey ideas which transcend our mortal existence. The subject of the art is the depiction of the essence and not only the optical reality of the world. As stated in the ancient treatise, the Chitra Sutra, the depiction of harmony and beauty has a transforming influence upon the viewer. When we respond to beauty, for that moment, we come out of ourselves. Our worldly cares and concerns are left behind. In that moment, we are absorbed in the grace which is everywhere in creation.