Pariksha SaathiLesson 3 of 10 · Indian Art and Culture
Indian Sculpture and Painting: From Mauryan Polish to Pahari Miniatures
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Mauryan court and popular art
Large-scale stone sculpture begins with the Mauryas. Court art produced the polished pillar capitals of Chunar sandstone; popular art produced big free-standing yakshas and yakshis, folk deities of wealth and fertility. The Didarganj Yakshi, a life-size fly-whisk (chauri) bearer found at Patna in 1917, is commonly attributed to the Mauryan period for its glossy polish, though some scholars date it later, and the Parkham Yaksha comes from near Mathura. Long before, the Harappans had cast the bronze Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro by the lost-wax method and carved the steatite bust called the Priest-King.
From symbols to images of the Buddha
The reliefs of Bharhut and Sanchi tell the Buddha's life and the Jataka tales without showing him: he appears as a footprint, an empty seat, the Bodhi tree, a wheel or a stupa. The Buddha in human form appears in the Kushana period in two centres. Gandhara in the north-west (around Taxila and Peshawar) worked in grey-blue schist and stucco under Greco-Roman influence: wavy hair, muscular bodies, heavy drapery in deep folds and a calm, spiritual face. Mathura worked in spotted red sandstone in an Indian idiom: a shaven head with a coiled top-knot, a smiling face, a large halo and thin drapery over a strong body; it made Buddhist, Jain and Hindu images and the headless portrait statue of Kanishka. In the Krishna valley of Andhra, the Amaravati school under the Satavahanas and Ikshvakus carved white limestone panels crowded with lively narrative, a style also seen at Nagarjunakonda.
Gupta and later sculpture
The Gupta age set the classical norm. The Sarnath school made Buddhas of cream sandstone with transparent drapery and downcast eyes, the finest being the seated Buddha preaching the first sermon in the dharmachakra mudra. Hindu sculpture matured in the Varaha panel at Udayagiri near Vidisha and the Vishnu panels of the Dashavatara temple at Deogarh. The Pallavas carved the huge open-air relief of the Descent of the Ganga (Arjuna's Penance) at Mahabalipuram in the seventh century, and the Pala kings of Bihar and Bengal (eighth to 12th centuries) patronised black-stone and bronze images linked with Nalanda.
Chola bronzes
South Indian bronze casting reached its height under the Cholas, especially in the 10th to 12th centuries, by the lost-wax method (cire perdue): a wax model is coated with clay, heated so that the wax runs out, and the mould filled with molten metal, so every image is unique; Swamimalai in Tamil Nadu still practises it. The best-known image is Nataraja, Shiva as Lord of Dance performing the ananda tandava within a ring of fire: he holds a drum (damaru) in the upper right hand and fire in the upper left, shows the abhaya (fear-not) gesture with the lower right hand, crushes the dwarf Apasmara, who stands for ignorance, under his right foot and raises his left leg. Bronzes of Parvati, Rama and the saints were made to be carried in temple processions.
Wall painting
Painting begins in the prehistoric rock shelters of Bhimbetka (Madhya Pradesh), found by V. S. Wakankar in 1957, with hunting and dancing scenes in red and white. The Ajanta murals, in mineral colours on lime-coated plaster, show Jataka stories and the Buddha's life; Cave 1 has the Bodhisattva Padmapani, and Cave 16 the scene called the Dying Princess. The Bagh caves in Dhar district (Madhya Pradesh) have murals close to Ajanta in style but more worldly in mood. Later murals survive at Ellora, in the Jain cave of Sittanavasal (Tamil Nadu), in the Brihadeeswara temple of the Cholas and at Lepakshi (Andhra Pradesh) of the Vijayanagara period.
Mughal miniatures
Miniature painting began with illustrated palm-leaf manuscripts of the Pala school (Buddhist texts) and of the Western Indian or Jain school (texts such as the Kalpasutra). The Mughal school began when Humayun brought two Persian masters, Mir Sayyid Ali and Abdus Samad, from the Safavid court. Akbar's studio illustrated the Hamzanama, the Razmnama (the Persian Mahabharata) and the Akbarnama with Indian painters such as Daswanth and Basawan. Under Jahangir the school peaked in portraits and nature studies: Ustad Mansur painted birds and animals, Abul Hasan excelled at portraits, and Jahangir claimed he could name the painter of every face in a picture. The style grew formal under Shah Jahan, and under Aurangzeb painters moved to Rajput and provincial courts.
Rajasthani and Pahari schools
The Rajasthani schools painted Krishna legends, Ragamala (pictures of musical modes), Barahmasa (the twelve months) and court life in bright colours. Mewar (Udaipur) is among the earliest centres, with Sahibdin's Ramayana; Bundi and Kota are known for hunting and rain scenes; Kishangarh, under Raja Sawant Singh, produced the Bani Thani of Nihal Chand, with long curved eyes and a sharp profile. The Pahari schools of the hill states began at Basohli (Jammu) with bold colours and beetle-wing pieces used as jewels, and matured at Guler and at Kangra under Raja Sansar Chand, whose lyrical Gita Govinda and Bihari Satsai sets are the most delicate in Indian painting. In the 20th century Nandalal Bose of Santiniketan and his students decorated the pages of the original Constitution of India.
Key facts
- Didarganj Yakshi: life-size chauri-bearer in polished Chunar sandstone, found at Patna in 1917; commonly attributed to the Mauryan period and cited for Mauryan polish on a human figure, though its date is debated.
- Early Buddhist reliefs (Bharhut, Sanchi) are aniconic: the Buddha is shown by a footprint, empty seat, Bodhi tree, wheel or stupa; the human image comes in the Kushana period.
- Gandhara = grey schist, Greco-Roman, wavy hair, heavy folds; Mathura = spotted red sandstone, Indian, smiling face, thin drapery; Amaravati = white limestone narrative panels.
- Sarnath school (Gupta): seated Buddha preaching the first sermon in the dharmachakra mudra, transparent drapery.
- Nataraja (Chola bronze, lost-wax): ananda tandava in a ring of fire, damaru in the upper right hand, right foot on Apasmara (ignorance).
- Ajanta: Bodhisattva Padmapani in Cave 1, Dying Princess in Cave 16; Bagh caves (Dhar district) have Ajanta-like murals; Bhimbetka found by V. S. Wakankar in 1957.
- Mughal painting: Humayun brought Mir Sayyid Ali and Abdus Samad; Akbar's Hamzanama and Razmnama; Jahangir's Ustad Mansur (birds) and Abul Hasan (portraits).
- Bani Thani: Nihal Chand, Kishangarh school, under Raja Sawant Singh; Kangra school flowered under Raja Sansar Chand; Basohli used beetle-wing jewels.
- Nandalal Bose and his Santiniketan students decorated the pages of the original Constitution of India.
Quick revision
Mauryan: Chunar polish, Didarganj Yakshi (Patna, 1917, usually called Mauryan); early Buddhist art aniconic; Kushana: Gandhara (schist, Greco-Roman) and Mathura (red sandstone, Indian, Kanishka statue); Amaravati white limestone; Gupta Sarnath Buddha (dharmachakra mudra); Chola Nataraja by lost-wax (Swamimalai); Ajanta Padmapani (Cave 1); Bagh; Mughal: Mir Sayyid Ali, Abdus Samad, Ustad Mansur; Bani Thani (Nihal Chand, Kishangarh); Basohli, Kangra (Sansar Chand).