Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India

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ARCHITECTURE

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

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.