Knowledge Traditions And Practices Of India: Class 11 — Chapter 4: Indian Art and Architecture

• Citraśālās: Art galleries in royal palaces mentioned in early epics like the Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata, as well as Kalidasa’s Abhijñānaśākuntalam and Daśakumāracaritam.
• Kāmasūtra: Written by Vātsyāyana (2nd century CE), it lists painting as one of the essential arts and outlines its core principles.
• Śilpaśāstra: Standard technical treatises dealing with the principles of painting, sculpture, and various media.
• Viṣṇudharmottara Purāṇa: One of the eighteen Upa-purāṇas; contains the most comprehensive chapters on the methods, ideals, and aesthetics of painting, emphasizing the interdependence of dance, music, and visual arts. It facilitated the transition from rough cave walls to refined fresco surfaces.

• Vastu: Originally denoted building, encompassing temple construction, town planning, public/private buildings, and fortifications.
• Atharvaveda: Contains early references to different structural parts of a building.
• Arthaśāstra: Kautilya's treatise detailing town planning, fortifications, and civil engineering.
• Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra: Authored by King Bhoja (1010–1055 CE); discusses site selection, soil analysis, measurement systems, qualifications of the sthapati (architect), building materials, foundation laying, and elevation details.
• Mayamata (1000 CE) & Mānasāra (1300 CE): Key texts detailing architectural plans and designs of the southern style of temple architecture, known as drāviḍa.

As defined in Vātsyāyana’s Kāmasūtra, the six essential elements of painting are:

1. Rūpabheda: The perception of difference in appearance and form.
2. Pramāṇa: Valid perception, measure, proportion, and structural form.
3. Bhāva: Feelings, emotions, and expressions depicted through forms.
4. Lāvaṇya yojana: The infusion of grace, beauty, and artistic representation.
5. Sādṛśyam: Similitude, likeness, or truth to nature.
6. Varṇikabhaṅga: The artistic use of brush, pigments, and the analysis of colour and hue.

• Geographic Distribution: Major rock art sites discovered across Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, and Bihar.
• Vindhya & Kaimur Ranges: Home to the richest and oldest rock paintings, dating back nearly 10,000 years, spanning the Paleolithic and Mesolithic eras.
• Artistic Style & Pigments: Depicted human and animal figures, and geometric patterns using white, black, and red ochre. Humans are represented as stick figures.
• Key Motifs: Wavy lines, rectangle-filled geometric designs, groups of dots, and hand-linked dancing human figures.
• Superimposition: Practice of painting new layers directly over older ones. At Bhimbetka, up to 20 distinct layers of paintings have been identified.
• Bhimbetka: Located 45 km south of Bhopal; declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003. The mineral-based pigments survived due to being painted on the protected inner walls of caves.
• Southern Neolithic Canvases: Granite rocks of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh feature paintings depicting mundane events, hunting, dancing, music, horse/elephant riders, animal fights, honey collection, and body decoration.

• Structure: Consists of 29 rock-cut caitya (prayer halls) and vihāra (monasteries) dating from 1st century BCE to 5th century CE.
• Themes: Depictions of the Buddha's life and stories from the Jātaka tales.
• Stylistic Features: Outward projections of figures, rhythmic lines, and body colours merging with outer lines to create a volumetric effect. Figures are heavy, reflecting western Indian sculptural styles.
• Famous Murals: Padmapāṇi Bodhisattva, Vajrapāṇi Bodhisattva, Mahājanaka Jātaka, and Umaga Jātaka.

• Location & Origin: Located 97 km from Dhar; excavated on a perpendicular sandstone rock face across the Baghani stream during the Satavahana period.
• Structure: Originally nine caves, only five have survived. All are vihāras designed with a quadrangular plan.

• Vishnu Cave: Excavated in the 6th century CE; contains mural fragments on the vaulted roof of the front maṇḍapa depicting palace scenes.
• Significance: Represents the stylistic extension of the mural tradition from Ajanta to South India.

• Pallava Dynasty:
  • Panamalai: Features an exquisite mural of a female figure standing with an umbrella.
  • Kailasanatha Temple (Kanchipuram): Contains nearly fifty cells around the courtyard with traces of red, yellow, green, and black vegetable-based pigments.
• Pandya Dynasty:
  • Sittanavasal (Pudukottai): A 7th-century Jain monastery featuring paintings executed in the fresco-secco technique using mineral colours on ceilings, verandas, brackets, and pillars (e.g., dancing celestial nymphs).
  • Tirumalaipuram: Contains surviving Pandya-era murals on cave ceilings.
• Chola Dynasty (9th–13th Century):
  • Brihadeswara Temple (Thanjavur): Masterpieces of Chola art executed in the narrow passage surrounding the sanctum.
  • Layering: Two layers of paintings were discovered; the upper layer belongs to the Nāyaka period (16th century).
  • Themes: Shiva on Kailash, Shiva as Tripurāntaka, Shiva as Naṭarāja, and portraits of Rajaraja Chola with his mentor Kuruvar.

• Key Sites: Harappa and Mohenjodaro (Pakistan); Lothal and Dholavira (Gujarat), Rakhigarhi (Haryana), Ropar (Punjab), Kalibangan and Balathal (Rajasthan).
• Grid Pattern: Streets oriented along cardinal directions, creating a grid-like layout for houses, markets, offices, and public baths.
• Sanitation: Highly developed drainage systems with individual household bathrooms connected to street drains.
• Mohenjodaro: Features monumental structures like the Great Bath and the Granary.
• Dholavira: Located in the Rann of Kutch; features massive stone fortifications and a sophisticated network of reservoirs for year-round water supply.

• Stone Sculptures:
  • Red Sandstone Torso: A male torso polished and chiselled in the round, showcasing naturalistic modelling.
  • Bearded Priest: A steatite bust from Mohenjodaro depicting a bearded man wearing a shawl with a trefoil pattern.
• Bronze Casting: Mastered the lost wax (cire-perdue) technique.
  • Dancing Girl: An exquisite bronze statue from Mohenjodaro depicting a girl with hair in a bun, left arm covered in bangles, wearing a cowrie shell necklace, with her right hand on her hip.
  • Animal Bronzes: Highly artistic representations of a buffalo with an uplifted head and a goat.
• Terracotta & Seals:
  • Terracotta figurines were relatively crude compared to stone and bronze.
  • Thousands of steatite, terracotta, and copper seals have been found, featuring animal figures (e.g., the Unicorn Seal, Pashupati Seal surrounded by a rhino, buffalo, elephant, and tiger) and an undeciphered pictographic script.

• Monolithic Pillars: Sandstone pillars, 30 to 40 feet high, carved from single blocks of stone and polished to a mirror-like finish. Erected at Sanchi, Sarnath, and Lauriya Nandangarh.
• Capital Animals: Pillars were crowned with animal figures like the bull, lion, and elephant, symbolizing Buddhist and imperial concepts.
• Sarnath Lion Capital: Features four back-to-back lions seated on an abacus; adopted as the National Emblem of India.
• Colossal Sculptures: Large-scale freestanding statues of Yakśa and Yakśi (e.g., the Didarganj Yakshini) found at Patna, Vidisha, and Mathura.

• Lomas Rishi Cave: Located in the Barabar Hills of Bihar; features a carved facade mimicking wooden architecture, representing the transition from wood to stone.
• Stūpa Architecture: Hemispheroidal structures built to enshrine the relics of the Buddha or Buddhist saints.
  • Sānchi Stūpa: Originally built by Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE; later enlarged with stone balustrades, a circumambulatory path, and highly carved gateways (toranas) in the 1st century BCE.
  • Other major stūpa sites include Bharhut and Bodh Gaya in the North, and Amravati and Nagarjunakonda in the South.

• Characterized by tall, linear figures of Yakśas and Yakśiṇis.
• Sculptural volume is carved in low relief, sticking close to the picture plane.
• Narrative panels use a tilted perspective to create an illusion of three-dimensionality.

• 2nd Century CE: Mathura images become more sensual with lighter, thinner garments.
• 3rd Century CE: Postures show increased movement, with wider spacing between the legs and distinct body bends (bhaṅgas).
• 4th Century CE: Massiveness is reduced, and surface refinement increases.
• 5th–6th Century CE (Gupta Period): Drapery is fully integrated into the sculptural mass, achieving a transparent, weightless quality.

• Chausa (Bihar): Hoard of Jain Tirthankara bronzes dating to the Kushana Period (2nd century CE).
• Gupta & Post-Gupta Period: Standing Buddha images in abhaya mudrā cast in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar (5th–7th century CE).
• Phophnar (Maharashtra): Vakataka-era bronzes showing the influence of the 3rd-century Amaravati style.
• Akota (Gujarat): A major hoard of bronzes proving the widespread practice of metal casting in western India.
• Kashmir & Himachal Pradesh: Developed a highly distinct style of Buddhist and Hindu bronze iconography between the 8th and 10th centuries.
• Nalanda & Kurkihar (Bihar): Emerged as a major school of bronze casting under the Pala Dynasty (9th century CE), reviving classical Gupta aesthetics.
• Pallava Period (8th–9th Century): Notable for icons like Shiva seated in ardhaparyaṅka āsana (one leg dangling) with the right hand in ācamana mudrā.
• Chola Period (10th–12th Century): Produced some of the world's finest bronzes, particularly the iconic dancing Shiva as Naṭarāja. The tradition continues to be practiced in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu.

• Andhra Pradesh & Telangana: Home to major stūpa sites like Amaravati (featuring a grand mahācaitya), Jagayyapeta, Bhattiprolu, Nagarjunakonda, and Goli.
• Western Rock-Cut Caves: Caves at Bhaja, Kanheri, Karla, Ajanta, Ellora, Bedasa, Nashik, Junnar, and Pitalkhora.
  • Caitya Halls: Characterized by a semi-circular arch, open front with a wooden facade, and a stūpa at the rear.
  • Ajanta Cave 26: A massive cave containing a colossal carving of the Mahāparinibbāṇa (reclining Buddha).
• Ellora Caves: Located 100 km from Ajanta; features 32 caves representing Buddhist, Brahmanical, and Jain faiths (5th–11th century CE), showcasing stylistic eclecticism.

• Guntapalle (Andhra Pradesh): A unique site where structured stūpas, vihāras, and a circular rock-cut caitya cave are excavated together.
• Udayagiri & Khandagiri (Odisha): Earliest rock-cut caves in Odisha, meant for Jain monks; contain historical inscriptions of King Kharavela.

• Early Sites: Deogarh (Uttar Pradesh), Eran, Nachna-Kuthara, and Udayagiri near Vidisha (Madhya Pradesh).
• Structure: Simple, modest shrines consisting of a small veranda, a pillared maṇḍapa, and a small square garbhagṛha (sanctum sanctorum).
• Ratha Style: Early rock-cut temple style seen at Mahabalipuram, where the five monolithic Rathas represent the Pandavas.

• Features: Built on an elevated stone platform (jagati) with steps. Characterized by one or more towers (śikhara) rising above the sanctum.
• Three Sub-types of Śikhara:
  1. Latina / Rekhā-prāsāda: Square base with walls that curve gently inward to a point at the top.
  2. Phamsana: Broader and shorter than Latina; roofs are composed of several slabs that rise on a straight incline to a single point.
  3. Valabhi: Rectangular buildings with a barrel-vaulted roof.
• Regional Variations:
  • Central India: Temples made of sandstone (e.g., Khajuraho's Vishvanatha Temple).
  • Western India: Temples in Gujarat (e.g., Sun Temple, Modhera) and Rajasthan, utilizing sandstone, basalt, and soft white marble (e.g., Dilwara Temples at Mount Abu, Ranakpur).
  • Odisha Style: Classified into three orders: rekhāpīḍa, piḍhadeula, and khākarā. Major sites include Bhubaneswar, Puri, and Konark.

• Features: Enclosed within a high compound wall. The entrance gateway is marked by a monumental tower called a gopuram.
• Vimāna: The main temple tower, which rises geometrically as a stepped pyramid, unlike the curved northern śikhara.
• Chola Masterpieces: Built during the Chola zenith in the 11th century CE, including the Brihadeswara Temple at Thanjavur, Gangaikonda Cholapuram, and Darasuram.