Art and Culture with Devdutt Pattanaik | What sculptures tell us about Indian culture

Sculptures typically amusement human, carnal and works figures oregon supernatural beings lasting successful isolation oregon emerging from walls. The astir past sculptures we person travel from the Harappan Civilization (2500-1900 BC) — the clay figurines, usually female, bejewelled, possibly of ritual use; tiny bronze images specified arsenic the 10.5-cm agelong “dancing girl” made successful the mislaid wax method; and chromatic images specified arsenic the clergyman king made of brushed chromatic oregon steatite. 

From Mauryan Pillars to Stupas

From 1900 BC-300 BC we bash not person sculptures. Vedic radical did not marque sculptures, astatine slightest not successful durable materials. During the Mauryan Empire (320-185 BCE), royal sculptures were built connected apical of pillars. For example, the sandstone Lion Capital of Ashoka, with 4 life-like lions and the Dharma Chakra interspersed with 4 animals — a lion, an elephant, a bull, and a horse.

While Ashoka built galore stupas, it was successful the aboriginal centuries, nether the Shungas and the Satavahanas, that the Stupas expanded with railings. 

You person bas alleviation oregon shallow carvings connected these railings of Sanchi and Bharhut stupas, astir 100 BC, telling the communicative of Buddha’s life. Here, Buddha is depicted symbolically and determination are scenes of municipality beingness of radical venerating the Buddha. Influence of Greek and Persian artists is evident here. 

Sculptured quality of Buddha

During the Kushan rule, astir 100 AD, we person the play of Gandhara Art successful the Swat Valley of present-day Pakistan and Mathura Art of Gangetic plains, and Amaravati creation of the Krishna and Godavari delta connected the eastbound seashore of India. These were large trading centres successful the stream basins of Indus, Ganga, Godavari and Krishna. 

Early creation shows Buddha symbolically but later, Buddha appears successful form. There is overmuch quality if the archetypal Buddha signifier was sculptured successful Gandhara oregon Mathura. Kushan kings patronised imagery a batch – we find the representation of Kanishka the king, which whitethorn person inspired artists to amusement the earliest representation of Ashoka successful the Buddhist tract astatine Sannati successful Karnataka’s Krishna basin. 

Gandhara creation uses schist chromatic oregon stucco plaster and is characterised by good Roman grace, drapery and the nimbus (sun down the head). Gandhara creation was astir apt influenced by pagan artisans who migrated to India pursuing the emergence of Christianity successful the Roman empire. There are elephantine bejewelled Yaksha and Yakshi images successful Mathura, bulky similar wrestlers, afloat of breath. 

Imagery of Buddhist, Jain and Hindu deities

In this play we spot the earliest Bodhisattvas indicating a displacement successful Buddhist thought, arsenic good arsenic aboriginal images of Hindu gods, particularly Krishna-Vasudeva and Naga deities. In Mathura alone, we find the earliest Jain sculptures. The bare ascetics basal alone, without the yakshas and yakshis connected either side. Amaravati schoolhouse of art, besides known arsenic Andhra schoolhouse of art, utilized a benignant of marble-like limestone and had an utmost magnitude of ornamentation here. This creation dispersed to Sri Lanka and thrived determination till the 12th period CE.

From the Gupta play onwards we find the emergence of assorted caller Buddhist, Jain and Hindu deities carved connected cave walls, particularly successful the Deccan region. Udayagiri, Ellora and Elephanta are cases successful constituent wherever we find images of Buddha, Bodhisattva, Tara, Nagas, Shiva, Vishnu, Kubera, and galore Jain Tirthankaras with Yakshas and Yakshis guarding them. 

This became adjacent much salient successful the play of Deccan Chalukyas (6th-12th Century CE) astatine Aihole, Badami, and Pattadakal. Shiva and Vishnu’s imagery abounds successful basalt and granite material. After 800 CE erstwhile freestanding temples emerged successful Odisha, Uttarakhand, the coasts of Andhra and Tamil Nadu and mountains of Maharashtra and Karnataka, sculptures were present recovered connected these temples. 

Bronze Natarajas of the Chola period

Around the 10th Century Chola period, the bronze Natarajas emerged, mobile sculptures that are made utilizing the mislaid wax method. Recent probe has shown that the copper for these came from Sri Lanka which is perchance wherefore the Cholas perpetually fought with Sri Lanka formerly called Thambapanni, the copper land. 

Muslim rulers did not patronise sculptures arsenic it was against Islamic belief. But chromatic and metallic sculptures thrived successful Hindu and Jain temples. When Europeans arrived, they brought the European benignant of sculptures which (were) idealised quality bodies with musculature and with small ornamentation, precise antithetic from Indian statues, that displayed creaseless contours, transparent fabrics and jewellery. 

While these are the sculptures that person survived, we indispensable besides look astatine what mightiness person not survived. Tribal groups, for example, would usage clay to marque idols, similar the celebrated terracotta Bankura horses of Bengal. They were utilized arsenic votives for rituals. Even contiguous successful Ganesh Chaturthi and Durga Puja, river-clay sculptures are prayed to and past dissolved. No hint of it is left. 

Post Read Question

Discuss and elaborate salient features of Gandhara creation with examples. 

What bash the past sculptures from the Harappan Civilisation accidental astir the creator techniques and taste practices of that era?

What is the quality implicit the archetypal sculptured signifier of Buddha? How did the patronage of Kushan kings, peculiarly Kanishka, power aboriginal Buddhist imagery?

The flourishing of assorted creation forms during the Kushan play reflects the affluent and divers taste scenery of the time. What insights does this supply into the nine and civilization of that era?

(Devdutt Pattanaik is simply a renowned mythologist who writes connected art, civilization and heritage.)

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