Paper 10: tourism products of India Historical Development of Tourism and Hospitality in the World Module 13: Sculptural Art of Ancient, Medieval and Modern India THE DEVELOPMENT TEAM Principal Investigator Prof. S. P. Bansal Vice Chancellor, Indira Gandhi University, Rewari Co-Principal Investigator Dr. Prashant K. Gautam Director, UIHTM, Panjab University, Chandigarh Prof. Manoj Dixit Paper Coordinator Vice Chancellor, R.M.L. University, Faizabad, UP Content Writer Dr. Sachin Kr. Tiwary Asstt. Professor, Department of AIHC & Arch., Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi Content Reviewer Prof. S. P. Bansal Vice Chancellor, Indira Gandhi University, Rewari ITEMS DESCRIPTION OF MODULE Subject Name Tourism & Hospitality Paper Name Paper 10, Tourism Products of India Module Title Sculptural Art of Ancient, Medieval and Modern India Module Id Module no-13 Pre- Requisites A brief knowledge about Sculptural Art of India Objectives Indus Valley, Mauryan Art, Shunga Art, Gupta & Post Gupta Art Keywords Tourism & Hospitality TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 What is Art & Sculpture 2.0 Indus Valley Civilization Art 3.0 Indus-Saraswati Valley Civilization (2500-1700 BCE) 4.0 Mauryan Period (322 BCE - 185 BCE) 5.0 Shunga (187 to 78 BCE) -Satavahana (100 BCE to 200 CE) Period 6.0 Kushana Period (100 to 300 CE) 7.0 Gupta Period (321 to 550 CE) 8.0 Post Gupta Period: Phase I (6th -8th cent. CE) 9.0 Post Gupta Period: Phase II (9th -12th cent. CE) 10.0 Modern Period (c. 1500 to c. 1800 CE) QUADRANT-I INTRODUCTION What is Art? Art is a diverse range of expression or application of human activities in the creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual materialistic form such as rock art executed at the site on the wall, ceiling, floor or sculpture made of stone, wood, metal, bone or painting on cloth, leather, wood, plaster wall (Mural Art), unprepared or prepared wall producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or an aesthetic or expression of inner view. “Art” is related to the Latin word “ars” meaning, art, skill, or craft. The first known use of the word art comes from 13th century manuscripts. It may divide in to three groups; representation, expression, and form. Sculptures, rock art from the Upper Paleolithic dating to roughly 40,000 years ago have been found at Bhimbetaka in Madhya Pradesh and in Kaimur range in Bihar etc. Fig.1: General view of the shelter and executed rock art on the wall, Kaimur, Bihar (Photo by Author) What is Sculpture? The word evolved from the Latin word Sculperemeans to carve. Traditionally sculpture had defining characteristics, like; two or three dimensional form of representation carving or shaping from stone, wood, metal, terracotta, ivory, stucco etc. or modeling by using clay, plaster, wax and casting metal or plaster like;‘Icon’, ‘image’ and ‘idol’ are three terms, commonly used for the object of ritualistic worship in Hinduism and other religions. Images undoughtedly existed in Vedic period. Many gods and goddesses like Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Aditi, Prithvi, Chandra, Surya, Agni, Soma, Vayu, Jala etc. Are listed in Vedas; but since 500 BCE, we have hardly any archaeological evidence till 500 BCE. The Indian art till pre-modern period is basically religious and spiritual and not merely ‘art for art sake’. The secular art; mainly in paintings in the courts of kings, is later development in medieval period. Sculptured architectural members are fairly more than independent sculptures. It is true with rock-cut temples and monolithic pillars which were sculptured with great care and devotion, technical skill and hard labour. Indus-Saraswati Valley Civilization (2500-1700 BCE) Among the sculptural remains at Indus-Saraswati sites, the most important image is ‘priest’ of lime stone (17.5 cm) and the bronze image of a dancing girl from Mohenjo- daro. The priest’s half closed eyes rests on the tip of his flattish nose, thick lips, upper lip shaven, ear resembling a two-edged shell with a hole, hair and beard neatly combed with a narrow ribbon tying the hair with a large stone in center at forehead. He is wearing a loose cloth decorated with trefoil pattern, running from under the left arm to the right shoulder. Fig.2: Image of Priest made of stone (A), Image of Dancing Girl made of bronze (B)Source:www.slideshare.net, Image of bullock cart displayed in National Museum (C), Image of terracotta mother goddess (D), Image of Male torso made of stone (E) Courtesy: Dr.D.P.Sharma The dancing girl’s right hand is on her waist and left with lots of bangles; on the bent left knee. This shows that Indus people were well aware of smelting metal. There are terracotta figurines of Mother Goddess worth to be mentioned. Mauryan Period (322 BCE - 185 BCE) The classical types of this period are Capitals (Single Lion, Four back to back seated lions, Bull, Horse, Elephant, Lions with Chakra), Yaksha-Yakshini, Male Torso, and Gudimallam Siva Linga along with railings, Insitu Carved Rock Cut Sculpture such as Dhauli Elephant etc. Ashoka, the great Mauryanking, had zealously followed the orders of the Buddha ie. ‘No - image- worship’, and only symbols were used to represent the Lord. He caused to built the dharma-stambhas or the pillars of piety with images of four great animals (mahapashus), ie. elephant, horse, bull and lion; representing the life of the Buddha(His mother’s dream, zodiac sign, mahabhinishkramana and Himself) along with wheel of religion (chakra), goose, pipalleaf, lotus etc.; the symbols sacred in Indian traditions- Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Fig.3: Lions capital, the National emblem of India from Sarnath Museum (A), Bull Capital from Rampurva, Biharnow displayed in RashtrapatiBhawan, New Delhi (Source: rashtrapatisachivalaya.gov.in), Lion capital from Kolhua, Bihar (C), DeedarganjYakshini from Patna Museum, Patna, Bihar (D), Rock Cut Elephant from Dhauli, Odisha (E), Terracotta mother goddess, Bihar (F), Ring Stone from Patna Museum, Bihar (G) (Photo by Author) Other images were being made as an image of Vishnu with a dedicatory inscription in late Mauryan or Shunga character was found from Malhar in Chhattisgarh and larger than life sized images of yakshas and yakshis from Parkham (Mathura), Kaushambi, Pratapgarh, Vidisha, Pataliputra etc. The Didarganj - yakshini (withMauryan polish) is most famous (2nd cent. BCE). Among these, two nude male torsos (with famous Mauryan polish on one of these) from Lohanipur in Patna district of Bihar province, is considered to be Jaina images. Other examples are Shiva Linga with standing Shiva trampling the apasmar from Gudimallam, Andhra Pradesh and an image of Balarama from Mathura (2nd cent. BCE). Thus the sculptural activities were much developed in between 236 BCE (Ashoka’s death) and 150 BCE (when Heliodors erected Garuda-dhwaja at Vidisha). Thus the Maurya art was restricted with pillars only made of sand-stone of Chunar in Uttar Pradesh. These were made with two parts- (i) The monolithic tapering shaft, round in section and many times bearing Ashokan edict, and (ii) The monolithic capital, depicting inverted lotus capped by the abacus on which panels of floral and faunal designs can be seen. On the abacus are the images of lion or bull or elephant or horse (?).The most famous and promising capital among these is the lion capital of Sarnath, showing four roaring lions, sitting back to back with smiling faces. This lion capital is the National Emblem of India. It has four animals on its abacus ie. Elephant, bull, horse and a lion described above. The pillars and capitals are highly polished with famous Mauryan polish. The caves bearing same polish at Barabar and Nagarjuni in Gaya district of Bihar, also show beautifully carved round hut at Sudama cave and arched gateway with panels carved with pictures of stupas being worshipped by elephants. The famous elephant image immerging from a rock at Dhauli in Odisha is worth to remember. Shunga (187 to 78 BCE) -Satavahana (100 BCE to 200 CE) Period The evidence of Sunga and Satavahna art are reported from Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal for Shunga art and Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh the Shunga- Satavahana art was mostly Buddhist in nature. The famous examples are stupa of Bharhut in Madhya Pradesh with railing pillars and gateway of sand stone (2nd cent. BCE), mahastupaand many smaller stupas at Sanchi, a rock-cut monastery at Pitalkhora and Jain monasteries at Udaigiri- Khandagiri and Mathura ornamented with sculptures of yaksha, yakshini, men, women, royal couple, animals, birds, reptiles, life scenes of Buddha, Jataka’s stories and Buddhist symbols like foot-print, wheel, triratna, stupa, Bodhi- tree etc.The men and women are often with foreign facial features confirming the connection with West Asia and tribal people of India herself. Fig.4: Terracotta female figurine (mother goddess) (A), General view of the toran from Sanchi (B), Close-up view of the HeliodorsBesnagar pillar (D), View of Bodhgaya railing (E), Close-up view of Sanchitorangate (F), A view of Bharahut railing displayed in Indian Museum, Kolkata, West Bengal (G) Fig.5: Stone slab with intricate carvings from Amrawati (A), Stone Medallion from the part of Vedica, Source: http://www.britishmuseum.org,Source:www.68.media.tumblr.com(B), Gold Ornaments Source:www.pinterest.com(C),Terracotta figurine made of Kaolin clay, Amarawati, Depiction of Mara-vijaya scene in Relief on stone, Source: www.wikipedia.org (E), A still from Satvahana art fromAmaravatiGuntur, Andhra Pradesh, Source:Guimet_Museum, Paris Kushana Period (100 to 300 CE) The Kushanas, a branch of Yu Chi tribe from Chinese Central Asia, accepted Indian religion whole heartedly without neglecting Greco-Roman imagery which was locally popular. Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Buddhism, Jainism were deeply rooted in India.