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In cave 5, a large-scale representation of Varaha, the incarna-

tion of Vishnu, appears with the body of a man but the head of a boar

lifting the earth (personified as the female goddess, Prithvi). The

relief may be read literally as the story of the rescue of the earth and

in the secular realm it has been suggested that the representation

of Ganga and Yamuna on either side symbolises the region of

Madhyadesa, heartland of the Gupta empire, while the Gupta king

(especially Chandragupta) are similar to Varaha, who rescued his

people. Often, political meanings are hidden in religious imagery,

and are not contradictory. The object of worship in Cave 4 is the

ekamukhalinga;

the

linga

being a dramatic symbol of Shiva with a

representation of one or more human heads. It implies the unifica-

tion of the sexual energy of the universe with the intellect.

The growing popularity of Hinduism led to the construction of

temples dedicated to various Hindu deities throughout north and

north-central India. Ritual needs, sectarian differences and re-

gional patterns necessitated the development of individual types.

The Sanchi temple was an example of an early type of Gupta temple

but by the end of the fifth century A.D. the Vishnu temple at

Deogarh shows considerable advancement in the development of

Hindu temple architecture. It anticipates the development of the

northern-style

sikhara.

The main shrine occupies the centre of a

square plinth and originally 4 subsidiary shrines were present, one

at each comer of the plinth, called

Panchyatana

type (5 shrines).

The elaborate temple consists of

Mithunas

(couples) on doorways,

guardians, river goddesses and all the standard iconography on a

Hindu temple doorway. The major sculptures are those of Vishnu

Narayana as Anantasayana, Nara Narayana and Gajendramoksa.

In the Anantasayana relief, the four-armed Vishnu reposes on the

serpent (Sesa) while from his navel emerges the 4-faced creator

Brahma (3 are visible) signifying the beginning of the creation of the

creator. The story of Gajendramoksha is concerning a king who had.

been changed into an elephant (Gajendra) by a curse. When a

crocodile seized the leg of the elephant, the struggle lasted for a

1000 years till the elephant invoked Narayana and was saved.

After the disintegration of the Gupta political state (mainly due

to the invasion of the Hunas) regional patterns along linguistic, ar-

tistic and cultural lines increasingly became the hallmark of Indian

civilisation.

Bengal

emerged as a force in

Buddhism helped by

Buddhists from other

parts of Asia, such

as China and S.E.

Asia. By the Pala

period (8th century

A.D.) many Buddhist

establishments

viharas

dotted the

region

modern

Bihar.

Although

most of the sculp-

tures of the 6th and

7th centuries A.D.

have been lost there

are those in stone at

the

Mahabodhi

temple at Bodh Gaya

owning debt to Sar-

nath idioms. In Bodh

Gaya is the greatest and the most

sacred shrine to the glory of Lord

Buddha. On the banks of the river

Niranjana, it was here

that

Sakyamuni Gautama attained su-

preme knowledge to become Bud-

dha, "The Enlightened One". The

Bodhi tree is now marked by a

raised platform.

This temple is unique in India,

for instead of the usual curvilinear

contours it has a spire in the shape

of a pyramid. Four smallertowers at

the corners of the basement

were added later togive balance to the original structure. Inside the

shrine sits a huge gilded Buddha, his handstouching the earth. Legend

has it that the Buddha called the earth to witness the

austerities he practised to attain enlightenment. There is an unbe-

lievable peace that pervades the atmosphere, giving credence to

the legend. The monastic establishment at Nalanda was an inter-

national seat of learning and liberal scholarship where there now

exists a stupa temple No. 3, which is a product of several different

phases of construction, consisting of decorative stucco figures of

Buddha and Bodhisattvas.

In western India in the wake of the decline of the Guptas, arose

Hindu art,especially during the Maitraka dynasty when over 100

temples in Saurashtra were built although manyare now in ruins. The

invasion of the Arabs was only a prelude to the large-scale advent of

Muslims whose iconoclastic zeal was a leading cause for

the decline in the production of monumental art in north India. The

regional art here is due to the merging of the earlier Gandhara and

Gupta styles. Unique

sculptures at

Samalaji

(especially in the rep-

resentationof Vishnu Visvarupa 8- armed, 4-

faced seated on An-

anta) shows the

trend

toward

elaboration.

Visvarupa

(hav-

ing all forms)

Vishnu

appears

as the Universal

whom

all

things are em-

bodied and from

whom all things

emanate. This is

described in the

Bhagavat Gita

work

appended

the

Ma-

habharata

when

Krishna

reveals

himself to Arjuna

in a form that

embodies

every

aspect of the

universe. While such a vision is impossible to portray in art, the

artist has 'tried to suggest the multiplicity inherent in it.

Mahayana Buddhism entered into a very active period (concur-

ring with the emergence of production of Hindu temples) in western

India under the Vakatakas. The spectacular efflorescence at Ajanta