Sample Material of Our IAS Mains GS Online Coaching Programme
Subject: General Studies (Paper 1 - Indian Heritage and Culture, History & Geography of the World & Society)
Topic: Culture - Architecture
ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE IN INDIA
Though nothing remains of the cities built by the Mauryas, the splendour of power that the Mauryas tried to create is reflected in an account of the capital city of Pataiiputra given by Megasthenes. The city, occupying a parallelogram about 10 miles long and two miles wide, was girded by a stupendous wooden wall pierced with loopholes for the archers. The wall was topped by over 500 towers and provided with as many as 64 gates. Within the enclosure was the royal palace, which, in plan and decorative treatment, appears to have been inspired by the Achaemenid palaces at Persepolis in Iran.
The imperial palace was still standing when the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Fa-Hien saw it around 400 A.D., and he was so impressed by the walls, doorways and the sculptured designs that he felt sure that they could not have been executed by nuinan hands. Asoka, grandson of Chandragupta, embraced Buddhism and Use immense Buddhist missionary activities that followed encouraged in the field of art the development of distinct sculptural and architectural styles.
Pillars:The court art of Asoka is best seen in tne white-grey sandstone columns erected by him al! over his empire either to mark a sacred site associated with Buddha’s life or to commemorate a great event. On many of these pillars are inscribed the famous edicts of Asoka propagating the ‘Dharma’ (Buddhist Law) or the imperial sermons to his people. Rising to an average height of about 40 feet, the pillars in their rncst developed state, are tall, tapering monoliths with sculptured capitals, incorporating a series of fluted petals in elongated shape, (whicii falling together take the form of a bell, commonly known as the Persepolitan Bell) surmounted by a circular abacus ornamented with animal and floral motifs in relief.
There is a crowning animal sculpture on the round, which is usually the lion, bull or elephant, represented singly on the early capitals, and grouped on the later ones.
In the Bull capital from Rampurva (now in the National Museum at New Delhi) the bull is rendered naturalistically in a manner reminiscent of seal carving from the Indus civilisation, suggesting a continuity in tradition. The Lion capital once stood at Sarnath from where Buddha preached his first lesson. The animals around the drum of the capital — consecutively the bull, horse, lion and elephant between which are depictions of chakras — almost appear to be pulling an invisible vehicle as if to perpetuate the wheel of ‘Dharma.’
The pillar in its original form had a gigantic stone wheel crowning the top of the lions. The crisp carving, smooth polish and high quality of craftsmanship have earned this work, particularly the capital, a reputation as one of ancient India’s greatest artistic achievements.
Rock-Cut Architecture: Asoka”s reign also saw the firm establishment of one of the most important and characteristic art traditions of South Asia — therock-ci.it architecture. The series of rock-cut sanctuaries in the Barabar and Nagarjuni hills, near Gaya in Bihar, contain a number of inscriptions which show that they were donated for the habitation of certain Ajivika ascetics, perhaps followers of the Jain religion.
Architecturally, their main interest lies in being the earliest known examples in India of the rock-cut method. Also they represent a contemporary type of structure that combined wood and thatch, udama and Lomas Rishi caves are the two notable hermitages, each consisting of a circilar cell with a hemispherical domed roof attached to a barrel-vaulted ante-room with side entrances.
CAVE ARCHITECTURE
Before the Gupta period the chief architectural remains, other than stupas and their surrounding gateways and railings, are artificial caves, excavated for religious purposes. Early cave specimens were excavated on wooden models — standardised religious meeting places consisting of thatched huts. The early caves — two at Barabar -near Gaya) and Nagarjuni Hills — are quite unadorned.
The inner walls of the caves are finely polished, no doubt by workmen of the school responsible for the polish of the Asokan pillars. Later cave temples and monasteries arc to be found in many pais of India, but it was in the Western Deccan, under the Satavahana Empire and its successors, that the largest and most famous artificial caves were excavated.
The earliest rock-cut caves in India are attributed to Asoka (273-232 B.C.) and his grandson Dasaratha. Eventually this rock-cut architecture, initiated by Asoka, developed into a powerful and popular architectural style and gave the country nearly 1,200 excavations which are scattered in many parts. This architecture had three definite phases: the earliest dating from the 2nd century B.C. to the 2nd century A.D., the second from the 5th to theJth century and the last from the 7th to the 10th century.