THE ART OF INDIA
Jenny Sun
AP Art History
Period 6
INDIAN ART:
OVERVIEW
• The GUPTA PERIOD (c. 320-500 CE)
• Buddhist Sculpture
• Painting
• The POST-GUPTA PERIOD
• The Early Northern Temple
• Monumental Narrative Reliefs
• The Early Southern Temple
• The EARLY MEDIEVAL PERIOD (c. 950-1200
CE)
• The Monumental Northern Temple
• The Monumental Southern Temple
• The Bhakti Movement in Art
The Gupta
Empire at its
largest extent
THE GUPTA
PERIOD
• The Indian subcontinent is a peninsular
region that includes the present-day
countries of India, southeastern
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, and
Bangladesh.
• The Guptas founded a dynasty in the
eastern region of central India known as
Magadha.
• This dynasty is renowned for its
flourishing artistic and literary culture.
• During this period, Buddhism reached its
greatest influence in India.
• Two schools of Buddhist sculpture
dominated in northern India: the Mathura
and the Sarnath.
BUDDHIST
SCULPTURE
• He embodies the fully developed Sarnath
Gupta style and stands in a mildly relaxed pose
with the body clearly visible through a clinging
robe.
• This plain sanghati (Buddhist robe) is distinctive
of the Sarnath period: its effect is to focus
attention on the perfected form of the body,
which emerges in high relief.
Stokstad plate 9-17:
Standing Buddha, from Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh,
India
Gupta Period, 474 CE
Chunar sandstone, height: 6’4” (1.93 m)
Archaelogical Museum, Sarnath
4
BUDDHIST
SCULPTURE
• He is sculpted with a graceful/slight body with
broad shoulders and a well-proportioned torso.
• His downcast eyes suggest otherworldly
introspection.but gentle, open posture maintains a
human link
• There are remains of a large circular halo carved
in concentric circles of pearls and foliage behind
the head./contrast with plain surfaces of figure
• The Sarnath Gupta style reveals the Buddha in
perfection and equilibrium; he is represented as a
being whose spiritual purity is fused with his
physical purity.
Stokstad plate 9-17:
Standing Buddha, from Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh,
India
Gupta Period, 474 CE
Chunar sandstone, height: 6’4” (1.93 m)
Archaelogical Museum, Sarnath
5
PAINTING
• This mural is from the Buddhist rock-cut
halls of Ajanta, in the western Deccan
region of India.
• Cave I is a large vihara (Buddhist
monastery) hall with monks’ chambers
around the sides and a shrine chamber in
the back
• The walls of the central court were
covered with fresco murals that depicted
episodes from the Buddha’s past lives.
Stokstad plate 9-18:
Bodhisattva, detail of a wall painting in Cave I,
Ajanta, Maharashtra, India
Gupta Period, c. 475 CE
6
PAINTING
• Two large bodhisattvas (one of them
shown here) flanked the entrance of the
shrine.
• The bodhisattvas are enlightened beings
who postpone nirvana and buddhahood
to help others achieve enlightenment.
• They are distinguished from buddhas in
art by their princely garments.
Stokstad plate 9-18:
Bodhisattva, detail of a wall painting in Cave I,
Ajanta, Maharashtra, India
Gupta Period, c. 475 CE
7
• This bodhisattva is lavishly adorned with
delicate ornaments.
• He wears a complex crown with many
tiny pearl festoons, large earrings, long
necklaces of twisted pearl strands,
armbands, and bracelets.
• He displays a sympathetic attitude with
his graceful bending posture and serene
gaze.
• His spiritual power is suggested by his
large size compared to the smaller
surrounding figures.(hierarchical
perspective)
• Outline drawing was always a major
ingredient of Indian painting.
• The bodhisattva appears both
graciously divine and yet very
human.Thisis a special Gupta artistic
Stokstad plate 9-18:
achievement
Bodhisattva, detail of a wall painting in Cave I,
Ajanta, Maharashtra, India
8
Gupta Period, c. 475 CE
•
naturalistic style balances outline and softly
graded color tones (formal analysis)
•
the tonal gradations impart 3-d illusion, with lighter
tones for protruding parts
9
•
What about the Mathura style?
10
POST-GUPTA PERIOD
• The Gupta dynasty’s influence in religion and the arts lingered until
the mid-10th century.
• Hinduism began to dominate Indian religious life.
• Hindu temples and sculptures of the Hindu gods increasingly
appeared during the Gupta period and the post-Gupta era.
• The Hindu temple can be classified into two types: northern and
southern.
11
PARTS OF BUDDHIST STUPAS &
TEMPLES
Nice diagram
12
Northern Hindu temples generally
• The northern type is distinguished by a
superstructure called a shikhara, a solid mass
above the flat stone ceiling and windowless
walls of the garbhagriha (sanctum), which
houses an image of the temple’s deity.
• the shikhara curves inward in a paraboloid
shape
• a circular, cushion-like elements called an
amalaka (a fruit) crowns the top
• talk about fiial and rest of temple theme from
p.. 346
• what about “meaning and ritual in Hindu
Temples and Images” box on p. 346?
13
THE EARLY
NORTHERN
TEMPLE
Stokstad plate 9-19:
Vishnu Temple at Deogarh, Uttar Pradesh,
India
14
Post-Gupta Period, c. 530 CE
• The northern type is distinguished by a
superstructure called a shikhara, a solid mass
above the flat stone ceiling and windowless
walls of the garbhagriha (sanctum), which
houses an image of the temple’s deity.
• This is one of the earliest known northernstyle temples.
• Much of the shikhara has crumbled away, so
it’s hard to determine its original shape with
precision.
Stokstad plate 9-19:
Vishnu Temple at Deogarh, Uttar Pradesh,
India
Post-Gupta Period, c. 530 CE
15
• It was a massive, solid structure built out of
large, cut stones that would’ve given the
impression of a mountain, which is one of
several metaphoric meanings of a Hindu
temple.
• This early temple has only one chamber that
corresponds to the center of a sacred diagram
called a mandala.
• The garbhagriha is likened to a sacred cavern
within the “cosmic mountain” of the temple.
Stokstad plate 9-19:
Vishnu Temple at Deogarh, Uttar Pradesh,
India
Post-Gupta Period, c. 530 CE
16
• The entrance takes a worshiper from the
mundane world into the sacred; stepping
over a threshold is considered a
purifying act.
• Two river goddesses, one on each lintel,
symbolize the purifying waters flowing
down over the entrance.
• A small image of the god Vishnu is
placed above the door in the center.
• Male and female guardians flank the
doorway at the bottom.
• Large relief panels with images of
Vishnu act as “windows” that function
symbolically to let the light of the deity
out of the temple to be seen by those
outside.
Stokstad plate 9-20:
Doorway of the Vishnu Temple at Deogarh
17
• Vishnu sleeps on the serpent of infinity,
Ananta, whose body coils endlessly into
space.
• His female energy (shakti) is personified
by the goddess Lakshmi, seen holding
his foot.
• He dreams the universe into existence
as a lotus springs from his navel, which
symbolizes the birth of the universe.
Stokstad plate 9-21:
Vishnu Narayana on the Cosmic Waters
Relief panel in the Vishnu Temple at Deogarh
Stone
18
c. 530 CE
• The first being created is Brahma, who
appears as a central, four-headed figure
in the row of gods above Vishnu.
• Vishnu is depicted as a large figure with
four arms, symbolizing his unlimited
power.
• The 2 leftmost figures represent evil and
the 4 rightmost figures personify
Vishnu’s powers
• The birth of the universe and the
appearance of evil are portrayed here in
3 registers.
Stokstad plate 9-21:
Vishnu Narayana on the Cosmic Waters
Relief panel in the Vishnu Temple at Deogarh
Stone
19
c. 530 CE
MONUMENTAL• NARRATIVE
Another major Hindu god is Shiva, whose name
means “benign”.
RELIEFS
• He exhibits a wide range of forms, both gentle
and wild: the Great Yogi who meditates in the
Himalayas, a Husband for makes love to the
goddess Parvati, the Slayer of Demons, and
the Cosmic Dancer who dances the destruction
and re-creation of the world.
• Many of these forms appear in the monumental
relief panels of the Cave-Temple of Shiva,
located on the island of Elephanta off the coast
of Bombay in western India.
• This temple contains 3 entrances: one facing
north, one east, and one west
• The interior is designed along 2 main axes: one
running north-south and the other east-west
• The 3 entrances are the only sources of light
and create a mysterious atmosphere, which
matches Shiva, the most unpredictable of the
Hindu gods
• Along the east-west axis, large pillars cut from living rock appear to
support the low ceiling, but they are not structural.
• Each pillar has an unadorned, square base rising to nearly half its total
height.
• Above each pillar is a fluted circular column with a cushion capital.
Stokstad plate 9-22:
Cave-Temple of Shiva at Elephanta,
Maharashtra, India
Post-Gupta period, mid-6th century CE
View along the east-west axis to the lingam
21
• The focus of the east-west axis is a square lingam shrine with each of its
four entrances flanked by a pair of colossal standing guardian figures.
• The lingam is seen in nearly every Shiva temple and represents the
presence of Shiva as the Brahman; it symbolizes his erotic nature and his
form as the Great Yogi meditator.
Stokstad plate 9-22:
Cave-Temple of Shiva at Elephanta,
Maharashtra, India
Post-Gupta period, mid-6th century CE
View along the east-west axis to the lingam
22
• The focus of the north-south axis is a
relief on the south wall depicting
Shiva in his Subtle Body.
• A huge bust of Shiva represents his
Sadashiva, or Eternal Shiva form.
• 3 heads are shown but 5 are implied:
the fourth in the back and the fifth,
never depicted, on top.
Stokstad plate 9-23:
Eternal Shiva, rock cut relief in the Cave-Temple of Shiva at
Elephanta
Mid-6th century CE
Height approx. 11’ (3.4 m)
23
• The heads summarize Shiva’s
fivefold nature as creator (back),
protector (left shoulder), destroyer
(right shoulder), obscurer (front),
and releaser (top).
• His protector nature is depicted
as female and his destroyer
nature wears a fierce expression
with snakes around his neck.
• Indian artists often convey many
aspects of essential nature in a
deity with multiple heads or arms
with convincing naturalism
Stokstad plate 9-23:
Eternal Shiva, rock cut relief in the Cave-Temple of Shiva at
Elephanta
Mid-6th century CE
Height approx. 11’ (3.4 m)
24
• What about third great Hindu
deity Devi?
25
Stokstad plate 9-24:
Durga Mahishasura-mardini (Durga as Slayer of the Buffalo
Demon)
Rock-cut relief, Mamallapuram, Tamil Nodu, India
Pallava period, c. mid-7th century CE
26
• Durga, the warrior goddess, is the
essence of the conquering powers of
the gods.
• Triumphantly riding her lion, a symbol of
her shakti, the eight-armed Durga
battles the Mahishasura, the buffalo
demon.
• The huge demon figure with a human
body and a buffalo head is shown
lunging to the right as his warriors fall to
the ground.
Stokstad plate 9-24:
Durga Mahishasura-mardini (Durga as Slayer of the Buffalo
Demon)
Rock-cut relief, Mamallapuram, Tamil Nodu, India
Pallava period, c. mid-7th century CE
27
• Durga’s moods of victory and defeat are
shown by her victorious figure flashing
her weapons, accompanied by energetic,
dwarfish warriors.
• The artist clarifies the drama by focusing
our attention on the two principal actors,
while the surrounding figures play
secondary roles that support the main
action.
• It is evident that this was created during
the Pallava dynasty (7th - 9th century):
figures tend to be slim and elegant with
little ornament.and rhtyms of line and
form have a graceful, unifying, and
humanizing charm
Stokstad plate 9-24:
Durga Mahishasura-mardini (Durga as Slayer of the Buffalo
Demon)
Rock-cut relief, Mamallapuram, Tamil Nodu, India
Pallava period, c. mid-7th century CE
28
THE EARLY SOUTHERN
TEMPLE
• The Five Rathas preserve a sequence of
early architectural styles and one of these,
the Dharmaraja Ratha, epitomizes the early
southern-style temple.
• probably arved in style of contemporary
wood or brick structures that have long
disappeared
• It looks different from the northern style but
uses the same symbolism to link the
heavens and earth.
• The tradition of narrative reliefs began dying
out and the stories they told became
focused in statues of individual deities.
Stokstad plate 9-25:
Dharmaraja Ratha, Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu,
India
29
Pallava period, c. mid-7th century CE
THE EARLY SOUTHERN
TEMPLE
• The temple, square in plan, remains
unfinished, and the garbhagriha sanctum
usually found inside was never hollowed
out.
• The Dharmaraja Ratha has a pyramidal
tower (vimana) that contains several rows
of miniature shrines, and it is crowned with
a octagonal capstone
• similarities to northern style?
• missing some interesting description
Stokstad plate 9-25:
Dharmaraja Ratha, Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu,
India
30
Pallava period, c. mid-7th century CE
THE EARLY MEDIEVAL PERIOD
• A so-called Medieval period extended from the 10th to the 17th
century
• During this period, many small kingdoms and dynasties
flourished, which led to a rise in regional styles
• Some were long-lived, such as the Pallavas and Cholas in the
south and the Palas in the northeast
• Buddhism declined while Hindu gods became increasingly
popular
• Local kings rivaled each other in the building of temples to their
favored deity
• By around 1000 CE the Hindu temple had reached unparalleled
heights of grandeur and engineering
31
THE MONUMENTAL NORTHERN
TEMPLE
• The Kandariya Mahadeva is a temple
dedicated to Shiva at Khajuraho that was
probably built by a ruler of the Chandella
dynasty.
• Khajuraho was the capital and main temple
site for the Chandellas, who built more than
80 temples there.
• The Kandariya Mahadeva temple is in the
northern style, with a shikhara
superstructure rising over its shrine and
crowned by an amalaka (stone disk).
32
THE MONUMENTAL NORTHERN
TEMPLE
•
Like at Deogarh, the temple rests on a stone
terrace with a steep flight of stairs at the front
that leads to a series of three halls called
mandapas. What do the mandapas halls
symbolize? The halls serve as spaces for
ritual such as dances and for the presentation
of offerings.
• The temple is built of stone blocks using only
post-and-lintel construction.
• The exterior suggests a “cosmic mountain”
composed of ornately carved stone.
33
amalaka
mandapas
• The towers of the superstructure
are separated from the lower
portion by strong horizontal
moldings and by open spaces.
• Three rows of sculptures (about
600 figures) are integrated into the
exterior walls.
• The sculptures depict gods and
goddesses and are thought to
express Shiva’s divine bliss.
Stokstad plate 9-26:
Kandariya Mahadeva temple, Khajuraho, Madhya, Pradesh,
India
Chandella dynasty, Early Medieval period
c. 1000 CE
34
amalaka
mandapas
nice
• The lower portion of the temple is
characterized by a verticality
whose visual impact is similar to
that of engaged columns and
buttresses.
• The porches, two on each side
and one in the back, contribute to
the complexity by outwardly
expanding the ground plan.
Stokstad plate 9-26:
Kandariya Mahadeva temple, Khajuraho, Madhya, Pradesh,
India
Chandella dynasty, Early Medieval period
c. 1000 CE
35
THE MONUMENTAL SOUTHERN
TEMPLE
• The Cholas succeeded the Pallavas in the mid-9 century.
th
• The dynasty reached its peak during the reign of Rajaraja I, who built
the Rajarajeshvara Temple to Shiva in his capital, Thanjavur.
• This temple is the supreme achievement of the southern style of
Hindu architecture and stands within a huge, walled compound near
the banks of the Kaveri River.
• Clarity of design, a formal balance of parts, and refined décor
contribute to the Rajarajeshvara’s majesty.
• It was probably the tallest structure in India in its time at 216 feet.
• Like the Kandariya Mahadeva, it has a longitudinal axis and greatly
expanded dimensions.
• Typical of the southern style, the mandapa halls at the front of the
Rajarajeshvara have flat roofs, as opposed to the pyramidal roofs of
the northern style.
36
• The base of the vimana houses
the garbhagriha rises for two
stories.
• The exterior walls are
ornamented with niches, each of
which holds a single statue,
usually depicting a form of Shiva.
• The clear, regular, and wide
spacing of the niches contrasts
with the irregular, concaveconvex rhythms of the northern
style.
Stokstad plate 9-27:
Rajarajeshvara Temple to Shiva, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu,
India
Chola dynasty, Early Medieval period, 1003-1037
CE
• The vimana of the Rajarajeshvara
is a four-sided, hollow pyramid that
rises for 13 stories.
• Each story is decorated with
miniature shrines, window motifs,
and robust dwarf figures.
• At the top of the vimana is an
octagonal dome-shaped capstone
that is exactly the same size as the
garbhagriha housed 13 stories
directly below.
Stokstad plate 9-27:
Rajarajeshvara Temple to Shiva, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu,
India
Chola dynasty, Early Medieval period, 1003-1038
CE
•
•
•
•
•
•
THE BHAKTI MOVEMENT IN ART
Throughout the Early Medieval period two major religious movements were
developing that affected Hindu practice and its art: the tantric (esoteric) and
the bhakti, or devotional.
The tantric sect mainly influenced the north while the bhakti movements
mainly influenced the south.
The bhakti devotional movement was based on ideas expressed in ancient
texts, especially the Bhagavad Gita. Bhakti revolves around the ideal
relationship between humans and deities.
According to the bhakti, it is the gods who create maya (illusion), in which we
are all trapped. Bhakti stresses an intimate, personal, and loving relation with
god, and the complete devotion and surrender to god.
The bhakti movement spread during the ensuing Late Medieval period into
North India.
New religious forms eventually evolved from Islam’s long and complex
interaction with the peoples of the subcontinent.
39
• The corridors of the passages around the
garbhagriha in the Rajarajeshvara temple
were orginally adorned with frescoes that
were only recently discovered.
• One painting apparently depicts the ruler
Rajaraja himself, as a simple mendicant
humbly standing behind his religious
teacher.
• With his white beard and dark skin, the
aged teacher contrasts with the youthful,
bronze-skinned king.
Stokstad plate 9-28:
Rajaraja I and His Teacher, detail of a wall
painting in the Rajarajeshvara Temple to Shiva
Chola dynasty, Early Medieval Period
c. 1010 CE
40
• The position of the two suggests that the
king treats the saintly teacher with
intimacy and respect.
• Both figures allude to their devotion to
Shiva by holding a small flower as an
offering, and both wear their hair in the
“ascetic locks” of Shiva in his Great Yogi
aspect.
• The portrayal shows a contrast: the old
and the youthful, the teacher and the
devotee, the saint and the king---united as
followers of Shiva.
• Line is the essence of the painting.
Stokstad plate 9-28:
Rajaraja I and His Teacher, detail of a wall
painting in the Rajarajeshvara Temple to Shiva
Chola dynasty, Early Medieval Period
c. 1010 CE
41
• No sculpture is more representative of
Chola bronzes than the statues of
Shiva Nataraja, or Dancing Shiva.
• The dance of Shiva is a dance of
cosmic proportions, signifying the
universe’s cycle of death and rebirth.
also a dance for each individual,
signifying liberation of the believer thru
Shiva’s compassion
• In the iconography of the Nataraja, this
sculpture shows Shiva with four arms
dancing on the prostrate body of
Apasmaru, a dwarf figure who
symbolizes “becoming” and whom
Shiva controls.
Stokstad plate 9-29:
Shiva Nataraja, from Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
Chola dynasty, 12th century CE
Bronze, 32” (81.25 cm)
National Museum of India, New Delhi
42
• The central axis, which aligns the
nose, navel, and insole of the weightbearing foot, maintains the figure’s
equilibrium while the remaining limbs
asymmetrically extend far to each side.
• He represents a characteristically
Indian synthesis of the godly and the
human
Stokstad plate 9-29:
Shiva Nataraja, from Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
Chola dynasty, 12th century CE
Bronze, 32” (81.25 cm)
National Museum of India, New Delhi
43
• Shiva’s back right hand holds a drum; its
beat represents the irrevocable rhythms
of creation and destruction, birth and
death.
• Shiva’s extended left hand holds a ball
of fire; a circle of fire rings the god as
well.
• The fire is emblematic of the destruction
of maya and our ego-centered
perceptions.
• His front right arm gestures the “have no
fear” mudra.
• The front left arm, gracefully stretched
across his body with the hand pointing
to his raised foot, signifies the promise
of liberation.
Stokstad plate 9-29:
Shiva Nataraja, from Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
Chola dynasty, 12th century CE
Bronze, 32” (81.25 cm)
National Museum of India, New Delhi
44
• Shiva wears a short loincloth, a ribbon
tied above his waist, and delicately
tooled ornaments.
• The scant clothing reveals his
perfected form with its broad
shoulders tapering to a supple waist.
Stokstad plate 9-29:
Shiva Nataraja, from Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
Chola dynasty, 12th century CE
Bronze, 32” (81.25 cm)
National Museum of India, New Delhi
45