Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

ARCHITECTURE

period, they are deeply carved, crowded, active and have a more naturalistic body with a sense of movement. Subjects include wor- ship of the bodhi tree, Maya's dream and other scenes from the life of Buddha. Other places of similar Buddhist activity include Goli (in Guntur district of AP) and Nagarjunakonda (where Nagarjuna, the proponent of the Madhyamika doctrine lived). An intriguing as- pect of the art of the Ikshavaku rulers (3rd C A.D.) who fostered Buddhism though they themselves were Brahminic in their faith, is the production of viragals (hero stones) or "shade" pillars ( chaitya stambhas ), the latter to commemorate the death of an important personage. The viragals bear inscriptions revealing the circum- stances of their erection and date. THE GUPTAS While various schools of Buddhism were well developed by the end of the 3rd C A.D. north and north-central India was dominated by the political strength of the Gupta dynasty (319 A.D.-5th C A.D.) when an actual efflorescence in art, architecture and painting took place. Chandragupta I (319-335) and Samudra Gupta (335- 376) were responsible for expansion of patronage of the arts, which is said to constitute the classical period, when both Buddhist and Hindu forms flourished. During this period, the heritage of Kushana art at Mathura and Gandhara was visible, especially in the images of the Buddha, such as the one from Mathura, dated 434 A.D. dedicated by monk Yasadinna. The drapery is depicted in regular folds as well as clinging which is characteristic of Gandhara and Mathura respectively, while the contours of the body are fluid, graceful and slender. The developed classical (Gupta) style is ob- vious in the refined execution of the halo and faces made beautiful through the science of citra (art). An important image is that of the Buddha from Samath dated 475 A.D. representing the first preach- ing of the Buddha at the deer park at Sarnath. While the Kushana artists used the abhaya mudra to signify the event Gupta artists used the dharmacakra mudra (turning of the wheel of law). The pair of deers flanking the wheel and sardulas (winged creatures) sup- porting makara ends are utilised as auspicious symbols. Other sites of Gupta artefacts are Hadda, Mirpurkhas and Bamiyan in Af- ghanistan. The earliest intact body of Hindu art is found at Udayagiri (near Vidisha) in rock-cut chambers excavated during the regime of Chandragupta II. Cave 6 consists of Hindu deities which demon- strates that Hindu iconographic formulae were already well estab- lished. The decorated doorjambs, lintel and two goddesses, Ganga (standing on crocodile) and Yamuna (standing on tortoise) and dvarapalas (guardian deities) are represented. A representation of Ganesha, the elephant-headed deity is on the left, the overcomer of obstacles and invoked at the beginning of worship to help the devotee along his spiritual path. In contrast, Durga in her Mahishasuramardhini form who symbolises the concept of religious attainment or victory is on the right, after the devotee completes his circumambulation around the sanctum. In the Mahishasuramardhini story an asura (demon) named Mahisa was defeated by Durga, while he was a buffalo. Her victory indicated the victory over samsara and the defeat of death, the achievement of immortality. The emphasis on female goddesses and personification indicates a continuity with the prehistoric emphasis on the female. The two representations of Vishnu on the facade hold the Gada (mace sym- bolising the power of knowledge), cakra (discus connoting the uni- versal mind), the standard elements of Vaishnavite iconography.

forms. The bell capital here reaches its final form — like a 'cushion'. Other important caves are at Kuda and Kanheri. At Kanheri the chaitya wall was exacavated during the reign of Yagmasri-Sa- tatkarni, the Satavahana ruler (174-203 A.D.) Here the figure of Buddha flanked by two bodhisattvas and four Buddhas above indicate that stone representation of these iconographic forms was not the sole preserve of Kushana artists or those in Andhra Pradesh during the 2nd century A.D. but were probably in perish- able material such as wood. However, the verandah and interior do not bear images of Buddha. Thus the presence or absence of a Buddha image is not incompatible with a scheme that limits its use.

Closely related to the above sites are those at Amravati and Nagarjunakonda in Andhra Pradesh, under the sway of the Satavahana dynasty (2nd century A.D). The ancient capital of the later Andhra kingdom had the largest of the big stupas and the best example of a Buddhist stupa in South India. It stood on a low hill on the south bank of the Krishna river. The stupa was razed by a local zamindar who found it a convenient source of building material. Some of the beautifully carved marble slabs were rescued and sent to the British Museum in London and Indian Museum in Calcutta but the chief collection of remains is in the Madras Museum. Al- though the stupa at Amravati is non-existent the remains of sculpted stone slabs of the vedika (railing), depict the stupa. In contrast to the Sanchi Stupa I, the entrances do not have toranas but the openings project outward, providing the view of the Buddha in niche in addition to the ayaka (platform), a projection on four sides of the stupa. However, in regard to the sculptural style of the