Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

ART

ART

Dynasties and their contributions to Indian art.

Palas (8th-10th C A.D.)

Mauryas (320-185 B.C.) The Mauryan emperor Ashoka built stupas to house the relics of the Buddha. He also erected pillars crowned with animal figures. Sungas (85-72 B.C.) The Sungas who succeeded the Mauryas in the north embellished the stupas by construct- ing railings and gateways. The embellished railing around the stupa at Bharhut is attributed to the Sungas. Satavahanas (2nd C B.C - 2nd C A.D.) The Satavahanas (also known as Andhras who came to power in the Deccan) built the carved toranas (gateways) to the Sanchi stupa.

The Palas brought peace and stability to Bengal after the disintegration of the Gupta empire. Dharmapala, the most renowned Pala ruler, was a Buddhist and enriched the monastery at Nalanda. The stupa at Paharpur was built during this period. Since there is little rock in Bengal the artists excelled in terra- cotta monuments with inter- spersed stone carvings. The greatest monument of the Western Gangas who ruled from their capital at Ta- lakad (Karnataka) on the Cauvery is the colossal image of Gomatesvara (10th C) at Sravanabelagola. Western Gangas

The stupa near Amaravati in the Krishna valley is attributed to them. The railing round the stupa was built under the supervision of Nagarjuna, the Buddhist phi- losopher who was a close friend of the kings of the dynasty. Kushans (l-3rd Centuries A.D.) They were contemporaries of the Satavahanas. The Kushana empire extended from Central Asia in the north to beyond Mathura

in the east. Two schools of art developed — the Gand- hara school in the north-west (in the region now called Pe- shawar and Rawalpindi in Pakistan and Kabul) and the Mathura school. The former was strongly influenced by the art of Greece and Bactria. The Buddha images of Gand- hara are realistic while the Mathura images are abstract with the features moulded gently into the smiling round face.

Western Chalukyas (6th-8th C A.D.) The Chalukyas of Badami succeeded the Vakatakas in the Deccan. Their art is seen mainly in the cave temples and structural temples of Badami, Aihole, Pattadakal and Alampur. Rashtrakutas (8th-10th C A.D.) A feudatory of the Chalukyas of Badami they rose to suprem- acy under the leadership of Dantidurga defeating the Chalukyas around 726 A.D. Krishna I, the successor of Dantidurga, is credited with the creation of the Kailasa temple at Ellora, one of the highest architectural achievements of Indian art, a monolithic temple carved out of a hill of solid rock.

Guptas (4th-6th C A.D.) The classical period of Indian art when sculpture, architecture and painting reached their highest perfection. Although a period of Hindu revival, both Buddhism and Jainism flourished throughout the Gupta empire. The Dasavatara temple at Deogarh is one of the most famous in India. Gupta art appears also in the Ajanta caves, in some reliefs at Karle and in the Udaygiri caves near Bhopal. Vakatakas (3rd-6th C A.D.) Most of the paintings in the Ajanta cave temples are by the Vakataka artists. Eastern Gangas (8th-13th £ A.D.) This dynasty which ruled Orissa from Kalinga, modern Mukhal- ingam, in the Ganjam district, built the Jagannatha temple at Puri, the Sun temple at Konark, the Lingarju and Muktesvara temples at Bhubaneshwar.

The Pallavas (6th-9th C A.D.) The kingdom of the Pallavas extended from the Krishna river to the Cauvery river. Their capital was Kanchipuram, near Madras in Tamil Nadu state, their innumerable temples can be found all over