The art of Sculpture (in ancient India)

SCULPTURE on "Art and by this is ordinarily understood, painting, sculpture and allied handicrafts-is but the handmaid of architecture which has been the foundation of all great aesthetic movements since history began." Percy Brown further adds that "a powerful creative spirit is an essential quality" of the arts of sculpture and painting co-related to architecture. The short account of houses together with articles of furniture and of the objects of sculpture and painting as described above does not include numerous other objects which may be included under the category of fine arts distinct from mere crafts. The fine arts or Kala in Sanskrit are classified under a traditional list of sixty-four ' But a commentary and 1 The 64 arts include singing, instrumental music, dancing, painting, paints over the body, arranging flowers in pots gardens, bed making, garland making, dramatic play, composing verses, jugglery, sewing, weaving, solving literary puzzles, carpentry, dress.making, doll-making, house-making, etc.

vaguely refers to as many as 528 fine arts of which no details are available and may have been made up by including crafts of which the number is unlimited. The objects of mere craft are intended to serve only the utilitarian purpose, for instance a sailing vessel, a doll for a child, a basket to carry things, a godown to store goods, a third class waiting room in a railway station, an office room in a shop, etc. As objects like these are intended for a set purpose some engineering skill is roquired in their execution and a certain amount of durability is also ensured in order to make them marketable. But an object of fine art demands much more than skilful workmanship and durability. It must have a symbolic meaning and its beauty must consist in proportion, symmetry, uniformity and harmony which alone can satisfy the aesthetic craving of an educated mind. Thus in its execution there must be a definite plan and design and it must be made in strong and durable materials. The same object, therefore, may be treated as an instance of craft or fine art. A doll for instance may be made both as a play thing for a child or as a fine sculpture with a symbolic significance and an aesthetic value. Similarly a house may be built as a mere object of engineering or as a real object of architecture both externally and internally, to demonstrate externally its character by its mere look as a man is distinguished from a woman or a Sikh is distinguished from a Gurkha, and internally to show without a name plate whether it is a temple room or a bride's room, a school room or an office room. Thus it is stated by Burgess that "architec- ture, it must be understood, is something more than the mere art of building in any form; and, if a definition is required, it must be that it is the fine art of designing and constructing ornamental buildings in wood, stone, or other (lasting) materials. It is thus distinct from common building or civil engineering." This definition is equally applicable to objects of cther basic arts also, viz., sculpture and painting. Like the artistic temples referred to above and described more fully elsewhere there still exist in India numerous objects of sculpture. But the extant objects of artistic painting are confined to a few places especially at Ajanta. Although art was practically absent in the buildings. unearthed at Mahenjodaro and Harappa, the object of

sculptures were not wanting. The human heads and various animals especially the bull were carved with skill and scientific accuracy. These realistic images. are, however, in sharp contrast with the idealistic terracottas which are mere crafts. In the Vedic period we do not find description of sculptural objects like those of the architectual ones. In the Ramayara, however, a clear reference is made to carving of Sti's image in gold in so much realistic details that ordinary onlookers would not be able to distinguish it from Sita herself accompanying her husband at the great festival known as the Aswamedha sacrifice. Similar realistic descriptions are supplied by the Mahabharata and the Buihist texts. The pre-Mauryan sculptures exist in the colossal statues of Yaksha obtained fron, the village of Parkham with an inscription in Mauryan B.ahmi which states that it was carved by 'Gomitra, pupil of Kunika'. This establishes the fact that there were trained carvers and necessary chisels and tools to carve the hardest stone, much like 'the skilled masons, accomplised stone cutters and dainty jewellers, who built the Piprahwa stupa in 450 B. C. on the frontier of Nepal. Yaksha and Yakshi images have also been found at Patna, Besnagar, Parola, Mathura, and the Naga statues at Besuagar and Chhargaon, and the Kalpavriksha at Besuagar. But these specimens of sculpture indicate only crude representation and lack in real art. They are objects of crafts only. Since B. C. 500 all the basic aris must have developed rapidly. The Budohist art which commenced from BU. 250 during the reign of the great Asoka, comprises monuments of perfect beauty. The numerous columns artistically erected to bear Asoka's edicts are well-proportioned and beautifully polished monoliths 'with grooved capitals which are surmounted by the image of some animal. The abacus as a rule is also decorated with animal and floral ornaments' The charming and well-known lion capital at Sarnath near Benares bears four figures of stately lions which once surported the Dharma chakra or stone wheel, the symbol of Law that Buddha had proclaimed. The abacus is decorated with four effigies of the sac ed wheel alternating with four animais an elephant, & bu 1, a horse and a lion. Protes r Vogel rightly surmises that "in all probability these animals symbolize the four quarters, the whole menu-

ment being meant to convey that the good doctrine was destined to spread in all directions to the ends of the earth The images also exhibit the artistic proportion, symmetry, uniformity and harmony and the perfection in their carving.¹ Tradition ascribes to Asoka the erection of 84,000 stupas with which nonasteries and convents were no doubt built. The stupas proper as at Sanchi, Bharhut, Benares, Gandhar, Mathura and other places is not, however, of much artistic value. It is a primitive type of building, a sort of masonry tumulus intended as receptacle of relics. It is, however, crowned with a square railing of stone which enclosed a standard supporting an umbrella. But the enclosing railings at the lower part as well as on the ground and the monumental gateways are covered with sculptures which are very remarkable specimens of genuine Indian art. Both at Sanchi and Bharhut the sculptured decoration consist of panels in which scenes portrayed from the life of the Buddha and the Jataka stories, concerning Buddha's previous existences, especially those in which he appeared on earth in the shape of some animal, are illustrated in profusion on the stone railing pillars, along the coping of the large balustrade, and all over the gateways. This art as Professor Vogel concludes possesses a 'powerful charm by virtue of its genuine naivete, its great love of nature, and pre-eminently its devotion to and intense veneration of the Buddha. It is remarkable for its scrupulous avoidance of Buddha's portrayal in visible form. At Bharhut secular subjects also were portrayed. Thus the procession of Ajatasatru on his visit to Buddha is depicted artistically. Jetavana monastery with its mango tree, temples and Anathapinda emptying a a cartful of gold pieces are also beautifully carved. There is also a beautiful carving of the inmates of two storeyed house locking down from balconies and a pair of geese and peacocks standing on the wall, which carry the idea of a peaceful home. Mauryan arts are also illustrated by the remains of a pillared hall at Patna, rock-cut shrines at Barabar hills, a throne at Bodh Gaya together with the famous temple of much artistic skill, some terracotta heads found at Sarnath and the elephant carved beautifully at Dhauli in Orissa. Amidst 1 See plate appended as in plate 1 of Vogels Buddhist Art 26

carvings of various kinds which exist at Bodh Gaya there are a few figures of female devotees but no images of Buddha. The reliefs illustrating the Jataka stories include the purchase of Jetavanirama. But the inner faces of the old Bodh Gaya rail contain animal figures including horses, etc. There are also lotus medallions with human busts and animal figures, superhuman male and female beings of a fearful nature. There are sculptures of the Brahmanical deities also. One relief represents Indra and another the Sun in a chariot drawn by four horses The Earth goddess is represented standing on a tortoise, Lakshmi mounted on her vehicle, and also the Bhairava attendant of the god Siva. Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Lumbini garden at the border of Nepal and Kusinagar or Kasia near Gorakhpur are the four famous places associated with the four main events of Buddha's life, viz., enlightenment, preaching of the first sermon, birth, and nirvana or death. At Lumbini garden there is the memorial pillar erected by Asoka. At Kasia there is a stupa and a colossal image of Buddha made in the fifth century A.D. by one Dinna, a sculptor from Mathura as stated in an inscription. At Sarnath there are sculptures of the Maurya, Sunga, Gupta, and later periods. The Dharma-chakra monasteries at the Deer Park and the Dharmarajika stupa of the Mauryan age are all in ruins and have mostly disappeared. But 'the lion capital of Asoka column, though in fragments, is a piece of most developed Indian symbolic art. In the masterful strength of the crowning lions with their swelling veins and tense muscular development the Mauryan sculptor had shewn dexterity and experience of generations behind'. Several of the stone-railing belonging to the ruined stupas are assigned to the Sunga period ending about 50 A.D. Of the subsequent period known as Kushan period, about 50-300 A.D., there is a colossal statue of Bodhisattva with an inscription of the third year of Kanishka's reign. The head of this image is shaven and the style of drapery resembles that of the Parkham statue of Yaksha. The sculptures of the Gupta period (300-600) include stele divided into four panels of equal size one above the other, which represent four scenes of the Buddha's life, viz, his birth, enlightenment, preaching and demise. There are some slabs of eight panels also, portraying the

above four events as well as the four minor scenes of Buddha's life. The latter include the scene of his descent from the heaven at Sankasya or modern Sankisa in Farrukhabad district in U. P., the great miracle at Sravasti, modern Saheta-Maheta in Gonda District, the presentation of bowl of honey by a monkey in the Perileyaka forest near Kausambi, and subduing of the wild elephant Naligiri. Several of the Jataka stories are also illustrated. On a beautiful door lintels four bas-reliefs relating to the Kshantivadi Jataka are artistically depicted. There are standing images of the Bodhisattvas also. There are also well carved stone images of Avolokitesvara, Maitreya, and Manjusri, gods of the Mahayana pantheon. There are several images of Tara, in one of which the goddess holds by the left hand a water pot on the hip, in another the goddess is attended by Marichi, the goddess of Dawn and by the angry Ekajata, in a third one Tara is seated in an easy pose on a lotus and in a fourth one Vajra Tara is carved in the round with four heads and eight arms or There are also Jain reliefs with standing images busts of Tirthankaras. The Brahmanical images include a colossal figure of Siva spearing Andhaka demon with his trident. There is an image of Trimurti with three faces. There are also the image of Ganesa in sitting pose and the representation of Durga holding mace adorned with a pair of human skulls on her left shoulder, and in another she is shown piercing the buffalo with her trident in the right hand. A votive plaque shows a four armed figure of Vishnu wearing a high head dress, a sacred thread and a garland, his right hands holding a lotus and a conch and left hands a mace and a wheel. The minor images include faces of animals, image of Jambhala, the God of wealth, with the protruding eyes and tusks, corpulent deformity, wearing cobras and trampling on a prostrate figure. The image of Marichi the goddess of Dawn or Vajravarahi is carved with three faces including the boars' head and three hands wielding various weapons, and standing in the archer's attitude on a chariot drawn by seven boars. There are the images of Vasudhara, the goddess of plenty, Bhairava riding a dog, and the Vamana or dwarf incarnation of Vishnu The Sarnath sculptures show a flourishing condition of art in all its varieties.

Mathura on the bank of Yamuna situated between Delhi and Agra was the place of Krishna cult in the pre-historic period. The well known Kharoshti inscription on the Lion capital found near Saptarshi Tila states that in the first century B. C. Kshatrapa Rajula and his son Sodisa were ruling over Mathura. From about the first century A. D. Mathura passed under the soverignty of the Kushans who played an important part in the development of Indian sculpture. They introduced the image worship of Buddha in accordance with the Mahayana doctrine in place of the symbol worship of the Hinayana system which had been in vogue at Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Sanchi, and Bharhut. Beginning was made here of the Buddha images which ultimately developed into five varieties, viz., Buddha in meditation, Buddha in ecstacy, Buddha as a teacher, Buddha as a pilgrim, and Buddha on his death-bed. Thus during B. C 50 and 300 A. D. Mathura served as the distributing centre of Buddha images and other objective sculptures. It owed its importance as Professor Vogel says, 'as an emporium to its situation on the great trade route which connected the two capitals of the north west border provinces, Pushkalavati or Purushapura, modern Peshawar, and Taxila (where Gandhara school of sculpture developed during the same period) on the one side with Pataliputra or Magadha on the lower Ganges and on the other with Bharukachchha, the great sea-port on the west.' Mathura appears to have been closely connected also with Dhanyakataka or Dharanikata, modern Amaravati in the Guntur district, Madras, where the Andhra kings were ruling from B.C. 250 to 100 A. D. In the districts adjoining the deltas of the Krishna and Godavari rivers Buddhism flourished from Asoka's time. The famous Buddhist scholar Nagarjuna who was born in Vidarbha, modern Berar, and died at Srisailam gave birth to the Mahayana school which introduced the Buddha images in the south wherefrom its chief centre was established at Nalanda and thence it spread to Mathura and Gandhara. We shall see the influence of the Mathura school on the Amaravati schools in the south and the Gandhara school in the north. "Buddhism in its gradual expansion over Indian continent", holds Professor Vogel. "naturally followed the great trade routes. It is clear also from numerous inscriptions that among the merchant class its most zealous adherents were counted."

Numerous pieces of sculpture have been discovered in the city and the district of Mathura, although not a single building to which they belonged has been preserved. But several inscriptions of the Kushan kings make it clear that the first wife of the great Satrapa Rajula founded a monastery with an adjoining stupa on the river bank below the city. There was another monastery farther south which was famous for the splendour of its sculptural ornamentation and was founded by the Kushan king Huvishka. A third micnastery known as the Yasa-Vihara was in existence in the sixth century Excepting its slender shape the Mathura stupa resembled those at Sanchi and Bharhut, the balustrade, railings, gates and their decoration being of the same pettern. The ornamentation of the pillars also including lous-rosettes, paimettes, animals and female figures, bears strong resemblance. "Mathura school must be considered," declars Professor Vogel, "as a direct development of the early sculpture of central India. It is, therefore, fundamentally Indian. The earlier sculptors of Mathura had represented Buddha by means of symbols. Thus a railing pillar shows a Bodhimanda under the Bodhi tree. A relief shows the worship of Buddha's alms bowl. The railing pillars illustrate some Jataka scenes also including those of the worst evil and the presentation of honey by monkeys. There are Basreliefs illustrating scenes of Buddha's birth, enlightenment, descent from the heaven, first sermon, death", etc. But the symbolic form of worship was replaced by the image worship when the Mahayana system was introduced during the Kushan period. And Mathura produced numerous Buddha images of various dimensions. Sri Apurva Prakash in his Foundation of Indian Art and Archaeology has classified these into two types side by side showing the Buddha head as shaven as well as with luxuriant hair twisted into large knot upon the crown of the head, clean shaven face as well as face with moustache and beard in terracottas, formal ear as well as ear with elongated lobes, head without Ushnisha or skull protuberance and head with Ushnisha covered with spiral locks, drapery leaving the right shoulder bare as well as drapery covering both the shoulders, drapery with natural locse folds concealing the body and drapery transparent showing the body and arranged in schematic folds, nimbus plain or scallaped at the edge in low

relief and nimbus ornamented with a narrow foliated band, in sitting posture with the right hand raised in Abhaya-mudra and the left hand clenched resting on the thigh, in the same posture the fingure being in the Bhumi-sparsa-mudra, in the erect or standing posture the left hand supporting the drapery as well as lifting up the hem of the drapery; the feet protruding from the drapery and lying flat and uncovered up to the thighs and cross-legged when seated as against the drapery covering the entire body up to the ankles leaving only the feet free and the feet also covered with drapery in sitting posture; the seat being a lion throne (simhasana) as against lotus throne (padmasana) or diamond throne (vajrasana); for standing images there often being a seated lion detween the feet as against a bundle of lotus buds between the legs. In several examples both these types are found mixed up. Buddha images all over India come under one of these peculiarities whether created simultaneously or borrowed from the Mathura stock. same Professor Vogel recognises the fact that early in Kanishka's reign a Bodhisattva image was brought from Mathura to the Deer Park at Benares. A similar image with a stone parasol was erected by the donor, the monk Bala, in the Jetavana of Sravasti. In several other spots on the Gangetic plains fragments of sculpture have been recovered which are carved in the yellow-flecked red sandstone of Mathura. Such pieces have also been found in Sanchi and as far north as Taxila. As late as the fifth century a colossal image of the dying Buddha was erected at Kushinara on the site of the Teacher's Nirvana. The inscription states that it was the work of one Dinna, a sculptor of Mathura. These few examples will suffice to show that Mathura in the first centuries of the Christian era was the great centre from which Buddhist art (that is sculpture spread over the entire region of the Ganges and far beyond including Gandhara on the one side and Amaravati on the other. The first forms of most of the Brahmanical gods and goddesses probably originated at Mathura because of its association with the Krishna cult. Thus we see here the Eka-mukhi (one-faced) Lingam of Siva, Siva and Parvati as husband and wife, Ardhanarisvara image of Siva and Parvati, Simha-vahini Durga, four

armed Vishnu, Gaja-Lakshmi, four-armed Mahisha-mardini Durga, Vasudhara, and Surya (sun) with Usha (dawn). There are reliefs illustrating Vasudeva, Krishna's father carrying the baby Krishna to Gokula across the Yamuni. There are railing pillars depicting the ascetic Rishyasringa, Kapila, Bharadvaja, etc. There are several statues of the Sun god including one with Danda and Pingala by his sides, one with Ushi and Pratyusha, one seated in a chariot of two horses and wearing coat and trouser found in the Kankali Tila. The earlier sculptors of Mathura depicted on the railing pillars 'Yakshinis or Vana-devis engaged in toilet scenes holding mirror in hand, enjoying tricks with unwary cranes and parrots, playing with balls, bathing under mɔuntaneous cascade and singing to the accompaniment of seven stringed flute'. The pillars of Bhutesvara contain Yakshi figures of erotic character. Mathura possesses yet another type of images representing male beings adorned with rich head gear and a profusion of ornaments. There are numerous terracottas and stuccos of archaic tutelary female Yakshinis, Vedic deities, Buddha and Bodhisattva images, Jina images and symbols, secular scenes and decorative panels in stucco, baked clay and stone. Besides the images of gods, goddesses, incarnations of Vishnu in ten forms, the Mathura sculptors were successful in carving images of historical persons like Vema Kadphises, Kanishka and other Kushan princes, ladies, noble men, as well as local residents. wearing turbans, etc. There are panels depicting the lovely toilet scene of Buddha's half brother, Nanda, and his wife Sundari, which Asvaghosa immortalised in his poem, the Buddha-charita. Like Mathura, Gandhara occupied an important situation as a centre of culture. It covered the region between the Indus and Kunar rivers comprising the districts of Hazara, Rawalpindi including including Taxila. Peshawar, representing ancient Pushkalivati and Purushapur, Bajaur, Swat, Bunar and Yusufzai, Gandhara monasteries embrace the remains at Jamalgarhi, Takhti Bahi, Shadhehri, Sanghao, Nathu. Loriyan Tangai and Swat representing Vedic Suvastu Darius I conquered Gandhara along with Sindh and part of the Punjab and it remained under the Persian from

. C. 530 to 330. The Persian rule was replaced by the Greek after the conquest of Alexander the Great who entered the Peshawar valley when Gandhara was under the rule of an Indian king called Astes by the Greeks with his capital at Pushkalavati, modern Charsadda, and Taxila was under Omphis or Ambhi. In about B. C. 300 Gandhara came under the Maurya rule as a result of treaty between Seleukos Nikator and Chandragupta. Asoka fixed up the border of the Mauryan empire by his Rock edicts at Shahbazgarhi some ten miles east of Mardan. After the breakup of the Maurya empire in about B. C. 200 Gandhara was absorbed by Diodotus I the Indo-Parthian monarch in his kingdom. The Eucradites replaced the family of Demetrius in Bactria, Kabul valley and Gandhara, but in about B. C. 135 they were expelled by the Scythian Sakas and the Kushans finally turned out the Parthians and continued to rule the Gandhara provinces from 150 to 550 A. D. when the Huns Toraman and Mihirgula overran northern India. King Asoka introduced Buddhism in Gandhara where from Buddhism made the triumphal progress to China and Japan through Central Asia or Serindia and to Insulindia or Indonesian islands. But the prosperity of the Gandhara sculpture was due to the Kushan king Kanishka who held the Third Buddhist council guided by famous Nagarjuna of the south and embraced Mahayana Buddhism to which the introduction of Buddha images is ascribed. Outside India the Gandhara art appears to have been the parent of the objective art of Eastern Turkistan, Mangolia, China, Korea, and Japan In about 400 A.D. the Chinese pilgrim Fa Hian saw the stupa of the Eye-gift decorated with silver and gold and some 700 Buddhist priests at the Patra chaitya. Song-yun in 520 A. D. was the last to see the glories of the Buddhist shrines in Gandhara province who met the Hun king Mihiragula in camp practising the most barberous rocities. When Hiuen-Tsang visited the country in 630 A. D. most of the monasteries were in ruins. The monastic ruins of ancient Gandhara have supplied an incredibly large quantity of sculptures which are now preserved in museums at Peshawar,

Lahore, Calcutta, Louvre at Paris, British Museum in London and in the Museum fur Volkerkunda at Berlin. But among these many thousands of sculptures there is not a single one which bears a clear date, the inscribed sculptures being very few. The Buddha image of Leriyan Tangi is date in the year 318 and the Hastanagar pedestal in the year 384 of some unknown eras. The stupa at Manikyala is dated in the 18 th year of Kanishka whose actual date is still a matter of dispute. The hemisphere over the Gandhara stupas were loftier and more slender than that of the stupas at Sanchi and Bharhut. The former were placed upon a square platform consisting of several terraces. Thus the whole looked like towers and were so called by the Chinese pilgrims. There were no stone balustrade and Toranas or gateways at Gandhara stupas which were decorated with rows of reliefs depicting the life of the Buddha fully and in chronological order Jataka scenes were few and included the stories of the Prince Vesvantara who was the king of the Sibis and of the hermit boy Syama. The Boddisattva is illustrated by the scene of Buddha's departure from Kapilavastu both at the east gate at Sanchi and at Gandhara.¹ He is dressed as prince Siddhartha in royal robe riding on his horse Kanthaka whose hoofs are supported by Yakshas. On one side is the umbrella-bearer and on the other is Mara in the garb of a warrior who as the Buddhist Satan vainly tries to make Buddha to return to the domestic life. Here the halo around Buddha's head marks him as Bodhi-sattva There is a Buddha figure on a lotis throne with a long stalked lotus on either side, one on the left supporting a Vajrapini and the other bearing a half-worshipping figure. As in Mathura the detached images were found at Gandhara also. One of these in sitting posture was carved in monk's dress." It is marked with Urna, a slight eminence of circular shape between the eye-brows and the Ushnisha, a krob on the top of the head tapering in shape in later examples. These are the tokens of his superhuman nature. The head is covered with 1 Plate appended from Vogel, No. 9. 2 Plate appended from Vogel, No. 7. 27

short curls. It is provided with a moustache but there is no beard or ear-ring. The drapery keeps the right shoulder and arm uncovered. The hands are joined upwards at the middle of the breast in a special mudra. The legs are crossed in swastika posture keeping the sole of the feet upwards. The image is seated upon a pedestal which is held up by two lions at the two ends between which just below the feet of Buddha there is a seated image in meditation attended by two figures on each side. The Gandhara images of the Buddha were carved both in human as well as docetic form with the physical characteristics establised by Indian tradition. It is stated to bear the well marked Greek influence by its features "which sometimes remind one of Apollo or Dionysus", and especially by the nimbus round the head and also probably by the folds of the drapery. The types similar to the Gandhara ones are still found in Tibet, China, and Japan. Besides the various facial expressions there is also some similarity in the treatment of hands, hair, drapery, pedestal, etc. The other Hellenistic motifs of Gandhara art are supposed to be decorative elements like the vine leaves with bunches of grapes, the winged or snake-tailed monsters, the kneeling Tritons, acanthus leaves, the Corinthian pilasters, the Bacchanelian scenes, the socalled silenus, Hercules with the Nemaon lion, and the narrow line of saw-tooth ornament above the medallions. Professor Vogel recognises 'the painstaking workmanship bestowed on some of these reliefs which reveals the artistic sense and pious mood of the sculptors. On the other hand Gandhara for all its output has produced few works of art of outstanding merit. These few include the image of the king of the Yakshas, Buddha emaciated by his long fast found both at Gandhara and Mathura and the striking scene of Mara's threatening host of demons on the march to wrest from the Buddha his seat under the Bodhi tree'. Havell and others also hold that the Gandhara sculptors were not high class artists but some some sort of mechanical craftsmen. It is necessary to note that the Gandhara images like those of Mathura were not exclusively Buddhistic. Thus the Jataka scenes include the figure of Indra. The sun and the moon are represented with the nimbus on the relief from Jamalgarhi. Sarasvati, the Brahminical

goddess of learning and music, is represented sitting sideways on a lion and holding on her knees a lute. A Siva image was found at Charsada with three heads, three eyes, six arms holding the Damaru or drum, trident, and water pot and standing before the Bull Nandi. There are also Vishnu images with several arms and the mutilated statue of the one-horned sage Eka-sringa. Besides the numerous Buddhist and Brahmanical images carved in stone there are large number of heads made of stucco and of terracotta They vary in size from two inches to life size. They are sometimes seated and clothed in folds of drapery with hair woven into rows of curls. Many of the stucco fragments from Takhti Bahi are well preserved and of great delicacy and beauty Some of these are furnished with beard and heavy moustache. Some scholars think that these represent Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Like many other critics Professor Vogel is also uncertain about the origin of the so-called Greco Buddhist art in Gandhara It is a hybrid combination. There is an undeniable stamp of the Grecian and other foreign semblance. But the essential elements are purely Indian. Even in the Buddha images one cannot fail to notice absolutely Indian way of sitting in particular asina or seat, keeping the hands in Indian Mudra forms, and above all meditating in the peculiarly Indian method. The images bear the Indian proportion of the Talamana measure Besides the Buddha was recognised as one of the ten incarnations of Vishnu. At the same time. as pointed out above certain decorative features of the Buddha image like the folds of drapery and especially the nimbus round the head are of foreign origin. Professor Vogel does not think king Menander (150 B. C) could have introduced the Grecian influence on Gandhara sculptures. The evidence of coins points rather to the Scythian Prince Azes who reigned about half a century before the Christian era and made the beginning of the Graeco-Buddhist art. But the hayday of Gandhara art was brought about by the Kushans who about 50 A.D subdued northern India and made the Satraps of the Parthian and Scythian kings their tributaries. King Kanishka founded a stupa outside the walls of his capital Pushpapura (Peshawar) which is praised by the Chinese pilgrims as the largest pagoda of India. He also introduced the Mahayana pantheon which gave rise to

the Buddha image. Victor Goloubew is quoted by Apurva Prakash as holding the view that the Buddha images were at first made in Mathura. It also seems that all essential elements of the iconography of Buddha and Bodhi-sattva figures had already appeared in Mathura before they were noticed in Gandhara. The spiral locks and the curly hair had been known to the Mathura sculptors. The drapery leaving the right shoulder and right arm free and Ushnisha, etc., were already practised in Mathura ; they only took new forins in Gandhara under the Hellenistic and other foreign influence. Some practising artists notice in the Gandhara sculptures a fidelity to nature and anatomical treatment. 'A definite attempt is made towards the realisation of the idea of perspective. The figures in groups are delineated on different planes. The light and shade are so well controlled that they convey the impression of a picture. The objective artists of Gandhara gave attention to naturalness and reality, endeavouring to render the optical impression in a correct objective manner. They presented the body as relaxed without any tension in its attitude and well graduated. It was in the best period of Gandhara sculptures that the objective Indian artists paid their attention to display anatomy. The early subjective sculptures (like the portions of an elephant frieze nos. 305, 319) were not chiselled with so much fidelity to nature. Minute and careful observation and accurate delineation are noticed in the later objective representations. They are thus stated to be intrinsically beautiful, skilfully executed, and well adapted to express both the objective ideal of the Indian artists and the religious sentiment of their patrons or donors.' Some foreign influence of decorative and unessential character has been variously tried to be explained. The Gandhara sculptures flourished most during the supremacy of the Kushans who before they came to India had long sojourn in Bactrian and Oxus valleys and might have absorbed some non-Indian motifs which they introduced to the Gandhara sculptures. Roman sculpture of the same period has some semblance to the Gandbara sculptures. But since the time of the Seleucids it was from Western Asia that the streams of art flowed westward over the Roman empire.

In Western Asia the arts of Greece and Ionia were fused together. Some Persian elements are also observable in Gandhara sculptures. Excepting the inscription in Aramaic character no other monument of Indo-Persian period has however, been found at Taxila and in its neighbourhood There is hardly any evidence to support the theory of Chinese influence on the Gandhara sculptures sculptures as profounded by Kakasu Okakura in his 'Ideals of the East with reference to the Art of Japan.' The sculptures of the Han dynasties of B. C. 206 to 220 A.D may have some features, drapery and decoration in common in common with those of Gandhara sculptures but no direct intercourse between China and India at that period can be traced. The more convincing appears to be the assumption that in the evolution of arts among various nations and countries there was an independent growth of certain features of non-essential character which were the common. development without any influence or borrowing. So Apurva Prakash holds the view that 'the Gandhara Buddha is neither Greek, nor Roman, neither Iranian nor Chinese, neither Scythian nor Kushan, but universal'. It appears to be clear that the Gandhara sculptures are essentially Indian and belong entirely to Indian life as they deal with Indian topics. Indian saints, Indian legends, Indian religions, Indian animals and Indian plants and flowers. There are local varieties but the theme is all Indian and the iconographic proportions are based on the Indian talamina as suggested by the Silpa-sastra. Amaravati in the Guntur district of Madras represents the ancient Dharanikota the old capital of the Andhra kings from about B. C. 250 to 100 A. D. In the district adjoining the deltas of the Krishna and the Godavari rivers Buddhist Buddhist ourments once existed in large number. But the entire Amaravati stupa with its sculptured pillars and panels were demo'ished for building materials. The stupa at Jaggayyapeta or Betavolu 30 miles north-west from Amaravati was plundered for its rails and the marble casing of its basement, the dome was destroyed and the relic casket dug out and stolen. Remains of other Stupas also testify to the predominence of Buddhism in this province a couple of centuries before and after the Christian era. The Amaravati stupas at Dharanikota appears to have

been constructed in the second century B. C. as indicated by the oldest sculptures bearing inscriptions of the Andhra kings in Brahmi characters of about B. C. 200 and also of the time of Nagarjuna who was intimately associated with this monument as the originator of Mahayana Buddhism. An inscription records that some devotees constructed a number of Chaityas and Viharas, and dug wells for pilgrims visiting the sacred place from Gandhara, China, Apiranta, Vanga (Bengal), Vanavasi, Ceylon or Tamra-parni dvipa, etc. Archaeologists have succeeded in rescuing some precious sculptures. Seven beautiful pieces are preserved at Indian Museum in Calcutta ; 160 pieces adorn the great staircase of the British Museum in London; 400 damaged pieces are preserved in the Museum at Madras. Some of the earliest pieces are obviously related to the type of Bharhut. Sculptures of the second series resemble in certain respects the Mathura and the Gandhara style. The railings resemble those at Sanchi and Bodh Gaya in their general appearance. Majority of the sculptures on the railing were executed during the Andhra kings as indicated by the inscriptions of three Andhra kings, Pulumayi, Sivamka, and Yajna. A further set was added during the later Andhra Kings. A relief from Amaravati' as preserved at Madras museum gives an idea of the famous edifice. The miniature stupa in the relief shows a high bell-shaped dome surmounted by a square Harmika, which supports two umbrellas. It is surrounded by a profusely decorated railing which represents a balustrade of balustrade of circular plan. 'Facing the four projections of the stupa are the entrances to the procession path, which are formed by the balustrade bending outwards either side.' The primitive character of the Amaravati stupa is indicated by the entire absence of the toranas or gateways and the square terrace connected with flight of steps which decorated the stupas at Sanchi and Bharhut. The great balustrade of the Amaravati stupa consists of pillars of extreme richnes and refinement, about 9 feet high and connected with cross-bars and covered by a continuous coping. On the outside both pillars and cross-bars are thickly covered with beautifully carved lotus-rosettes 1 Plate Appended as No. 14 of Vogel's Buddhist Art.

alternating with gambolling dwarfs in various attitudes. On the inside the ornamentation is even more varied. The central lotus rosette of the pillars is here replaced by a medallion containing some story-telling relief, while the space above and beneath is occupied by smaller panels likewise representing either an episode from the Buddha legend or some Jataka. Alorg the inner side of the coping there runs a series of sculptured scenes, while outside it is decorated with motif of the garland-bearers. But unlike those at Mathura and Gandhara the garland was transferred at Amaravati into a waving and differently decorated scroll which is carried by rurning dwarfs in Indian garb. The vacant spaces between the curves of the waving scroll are filled with symbols of the Bodhi tree, wheel of the law, (dharmachakra, a stupa, a five headed Naga or serpent or a Garuda bird. The reliefs illustrate the Buddha legends vividly. One well preserved piece in Calcutta museum represents the descent of the future Buddha. The first panel shows a Bodhi-sattva in the Tushita heaven surrounded by heavenly attendants. The next panel shows him being carried through the sky in the shape of an elephant, and supported by Yakshas among the dancing and jubilant gods, and the third panel depicts the sleeping Queen Maya dreaming the Boddhisattva descending in the shape of a white elephant. This legend is 'portrayed in grotesque clumsiness at Bharhut and in uninspired realism in Gandhara. But the Amaravati sculptures evinced imagination and plastic skill such as even in India have never been excelled. Another relief preserved in Madras museum is a splendid specimen showing the Buddha's encounter with the mad elephant egged on by his wicked cousin Devadatta to destroy him. The centre is occupied by a group of frightened citizens who are trying to escape from the dangerous beast. The Buddha is seen approaching from the right side. The elephant has been pictured twice, first in his rage seizing a man with his trunk, and again devoutly kneeling before the Master."¹ Here too the pathos expressed by the Amaravati artists is missing in the 'irrelevant detail' of Sanchi. Another Madras 1 See Plate 17 from Vogel Buddhist Art.

specimen presents the four principal events of Buddha's life. The edifying legend of the conversion of Buddha's half brother Nanda, which has been described in the Saundarananda by the poet Asvaghosha, is illustrated in a relief the upper half of which is lost. The two remaining panels show young Nanda in the company of his beautiful wife Sundari whom he assists at her toilet and in the next scene he is on his way to monestery carrying the begging bowl of his inexortable brother. I here are also reliefs depicting scenes from court life, frivolous ladies in company of young men are masterfully shown The Buddha standing on a lotus pedestal appears at Amaravati, Mathura and Gandhara. Similarly Buddha with a nimbus is included in sculptures of all these three school centres. The other Buddhist ruins near about Amaravati include the Jaggayyapeta stupa founded by Virapurishadatta of the Ikshwaku dynasty together with inscribed Ayaka columns, and a Mahachaitya, two temples of the old absidal type, monasteries and a few smaller monuments, all of the same style as at Amaravati itself. I Buddha's encounter with the mad elephant and other scenes are specimens of the objective Buddha images while his descent from the heaven, etc., are symbolic representations. Although originated at Amaravati the Buddha images developed remarkably at Mathura and Nalanda. As shown above several scenes are common at Amaravati, Mathura and Gandhara and more or less contemporary. Their commen motifs and reliefs may have originated from legends common throughout India and without any direct influence from one to the other. The Kushan kings exert influence both at Gandhara and Mathura but not at Amaravati. The influence of Mathura which is situated mid-way between Gandhara and Amaravati is, however, noticed in both the latter places. Besides Mathura gave rise to the Krishna cult before the Buddha cult. Thus Mathura's influence upon the sculptures of Gandhara and Amaravati may be assumed. But the sculptors of Amaravati were more artistic and skilful than those of two other places. 1 No Brahmanical motifs or reliefs are noticed among the sculptures of Ameravati although they are found in large number in Mathura and in Gandhara.

Of the three recognised schools of cur sculptures Amaravati is the most creative and artistic, Mathura is the most universal and exhaustive, and Gandhara is the most receptive. The survey of the Buddhist art in India would be never complete without a reference to the monuments at Tibet, Burma, Ceylon and Java and other Indonesian islands. The architectural monuments of these places have been described elsewhere. Sculptural monuments of Ceylon and Java only may be briefly referred to here. Although Buddhism vanished from India about 1200 A. D. it is still a national religion in Ceylon. Thus the Buddhist monuments still exist there. Ruins of Buddhist stupas include the early Ambastha'a Dagaba containing the bones of Mahinder and Mahasaya and one containing a hair of the Buddha, which are situated on the sacred mountain of Mihintale. The stupas at Anuradhapura dating between 800-1000 A. D. are of gigantic diamensions and were made of solid bricks. Of these the Ihuparama dagaba was built by Tissa. The Ruanwali dagaba is ascribed to Duttagamani about B. C. 10. ihe Jetavanarama or Eastern dagoba was built by king Mahisena of 325-352 A. D. This is the largest structure, the square paved platform measuring some 600 ft. both ways and the base covering abou: 8 acres. The Abhayagiri or Northern dagoba was equally big and built by king Vathagamini Abhaya about B. C. 29. The dagobas have retained the early type of the Indian stupas. "They are hemispherical structures raised on a triple circular terrace. The superstructure was a cube carrying a tapering pinnacle. The grooved pinnacle which is connected with the cube by means of narrow neck, still recalls the Harmika with its row of stone parascls peculiar to the early stupas of Indian continent. They are also provided with four rectangular structures projecting from the drum of the dome and facing the cardinal points They are variously designated as altars, chapels, frontispieces, or screens. These were copied from the Mahachaityas of Amaravati and Nagarjuna Konda which consist of a solid dome and drum with four rectangular projections with Ayaka pillars each. The stupas of Ceylon have neither railings nor toranas or gateways and thus missed the opportunity of 28

sculptural decoration on them. But the two ends of the altar is surmounted by a seated lion figure carved in the round. The front is carved with a high stalk rising from a bulbous vase. And at the Abhayagiri Dagoba there is a charming Niga figure. Exquisite specimens of sculptural objects are, however, found with other monuments at Anuradhapura. Professor Vogel refers to the flights of stone steps as "works of rare beauty." The circular slab forming the door step or the so called moon stone is decorated with a procession of animals including elephant, buil, lion and horse as are found on the abacus of the Asoka capital at Sarnath. The guardstones at the entrance are carved with two Naga figures, one with a hood of five cobra heads and the other with a nine or elevenfold hood. 'Sculptures illustrating the Buddha legend or the Jatakas are almost unknown in Ceylonese art. Professor Vogel refers to two reliefs', one showing a male figure, looking like a Buddha image, seated with his outstretched right arm resting on his knee, and the head of the horse over his shoulder. The other represents an an armorous couple.' The female figure looks charming and the male compaion appears to be a warrior with his sword and shield. The three Buddha images of the Ruanwali dagoba resemble the Buddha type of Amaravati by their general style and treatment of the drapery with its schematic folds. Another Buddha image of 8 ft. heignt carved in very dark granite is hidden in the forest of Anuradhapura. Here the image is seated in the attitude of meditation with folded legs and hands resting on the lap. Dr. Vogel praises it as 'a grand work of art in which mental repose is admirably expressed.' At the same site two colossal standing figures represent two ancient monarchs of Ceylon, one 8 ft. in height and the other 10 ft high. Polonnaruwa is a later capital of medieval period. Its two large stupas known as Rankot Vihara and Kiri Vihara were made in imitation of the Anuradhapura types. There are two other temples, called Jetavanarama or Lankatilaka, ornament of Ceylon, and Thuparama. 1 Plate no. 35 of Vogel's Buddhist Ind.a,

They contain gigantic standing 219 images projecting from the back wall of the sanctum and made of plastered brick. Remains of frescoes representing Jatakas are found at Lankatilaka. There are also the group of rock cut images at Gal Vihara including a Nirvana statue measuring 46 ft. in lenghth which is much impressive but not of much beauty. There is a master piece at the Palgul monastery. The figure with its simple dress, imposing imposing beard, braide hair reading a palm-leaf book appears to represent the Bramhanical sage Kapila or Agastya. Professor Vogel declares it as 'the greatest work of art found in Ceylon'. The most wonderful of the Buddhist stupas is the Barabudur in Java derived from the simpler relic shrines of india. It is most elaborate in construction and ornamentation and quite unique in other respects also. It was built on the top of a hill in the fertile plains of Kedu by the Sailendra kings of Srivijaya, a mighty kingdom comprising Java, Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula in the latter half of Sth century A. D. as indicated by the Buddhist inscription of 700 Saka era correspoding to 778 A. D. found near the village of Kalasan in central Java. The whole edifice consists of six square terraces at the bottom with double recessed corners surmounted by three circular terraces. The uppermost circular terrace is occupied by a large dagaba measuring 52 ft. in diameter and bearing the hemispherical form of the In lian stupa, which crowns the whole monument. All the three circular terraces are 'beset with small dagabas arranged in three concentric circles and numbering 32, 24 and 16 respectively and these 72 degobas are unknown in any other parts of the Buddhist worli'. They are not solid but perforated bell-shaped domes each enshrining a Buddha image seated in the attitude of preaching (dharmachakra Mudra). The four square terraces succeeding the enlarged basement are each provided with a solid stone rampart forming a kind of balustrade'. Thus there are four corridors or passages open to the sky serving as the pradakshina or the path of circumambulation. From the middle of each of the four sides of the square basement a flight of steps leads up to the top of the 1 Plate no. 36 Vogel's Buddhist India and the plate appended.

2:20 INDIAN CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION monument. On each square terrace the flights of steps pass through a gateway adorned with sculptures including a Kila-makara consisting of a lion head placed in the apex of the arch combined with two makaras or crocodiles. Four classes o' Dhyani Buddhas are arranged along the four fascades. Each of these is represented by 92 statues enshrined in 92 niches which are arranged in four horizontal rows along the respective fascades. 'Besides this there is an upper row of Buddha figures 64 times repeated and placed along the highest square terrace. On each fascade the total number of enshirned Buddha figures consequently amounts to 108. Of the four Dhyani Buddhas Akshobhya is placed on the east in Bhumisparsa mudra (touching the earth, Ratnasambhava on the south in Varada-mudra (offering boon, Amitabha on the west seated in Dhyana mudra (meditation) and Amoghasiddha onthe north in Abhaya-mudra (imparting protection. These indicate the fifth Dhyani Buddha, named Vairochana as placed on the zenith. The sixth Dhyani Buddha, called Vajrasattva, highest of all and identified as the supreme deity is placed in Dharma-chakra-mudra or preaching attitude among the 72 Buddhas enshrined in the 72 dagabas along the three circular recesses which stand upon the six square recesses. There is also a life-size Buddha carved in the round and seated cross-legged on his lotus seat placed on the rows of niches outside the four balustrade. These long rows of Buddha figures arranged along the fascades in impressive uniformity but in different attitude or mudris are one of the most striking features of the whole monument. There are also continuous rows of sculptured panels, numbering some 1500 and extending if placed side by side, over three miles, placed on the main walls and balustrades all along the four passages. These sculptures include skilfully carved haman figures, 'admirably characterized' elephants and monkeys and other animals, and equally depicted accessory buildings and forest sceneries. Professor Vogel speaks very highly of their aesthetic value and artistic skil when he says that "they are, of course, not all of equal merit but most of them are far above the average and several are real master-pi ces", although the artists rendered types rather than individuals. 'Bearded figures in scanty

dress are Brahmans; personages wearing rich attire and abundant ornaments are kings, princes, or nobles but may also be Devas or gods. No attempt is, however, made to characterise a special personage either by his facial expression, hair dress, or garments. There is a marked tendency to evade the rendering of violent scenes except when such subjects were unavoidable as is the case with several reliefs on the basement partly portraying the punishments in hell. It is to be noted that 'the portroyal of human society, animal life and vegetation is distinctly Indonesian'. The life story of the Buddha up to the first sermon at Benares as given in the famous Sanskrit text Lalita. vistara is illustrated in the 120 panels in each of the double rows along the main walls of the first gallery. A number of avadana or edifying tales are similarly illustrated in the lower row of panels. A large number of Jataka stories are illustrated on the reliefs along the balustrades of the first and second passages. The wonderings of the Bodhisattva Sudhara in search of supreme wisdom and meeting with noble men, Gods and Bodhisattvas including Manjusri, Maitreya and Samantabhadra as given in the Gandavyuha, are illustrated on the reliefs of the second, third and fourth galleries. Professor Vogel has reproduced two beautiful specimens of the Buddha legends in his Buddhist Art'. The one shows the Bodhisattva practising austerities in the wilderness in the company of the five Brahmanical anchorites, and the other represents him crossing the river Nairanjana previous to his enlightenment whilə divine beings are paying him homage. Exquisite sculptures are found also in the two other Buddhist temples, Chandi Mendut and Chandi Pawon. The walls of the former show 'graceful figures of Bodhisattvas and goddesses and a number of animal fables probably from Jatakas, and on the vestibule there are two graceful panels representing the god of wealth and the goddess of fertility Among the sculptures of the other temple there are the Kalpavriksha or the Divine tree and the treasure vase probably showing the dedication of the temple of Kubera, the god of wealth. A group of monuments of the Hindu period is found near the village of Prambanan including lofty temples dedicated to the Brahmanical gods, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. In the eastern Java there are many temples

dedicated to Brahmanical deities, In several instances the temple of this later phase of the Javanese art is at the same time a sepulchral monument preserving the ashes of some Javanese king or queen. The image of the God or goddess enshrined in the temple was at the same time the statue of the king or queen whose remains had been buried beneath the icon. The Indian impress is indicated by the Nagari letters of the name on the statue. Professor Vogel and all other experts appreciate the remarkable aesthetic value of the Barabudur sculptures in particular. "From an artistic point of view the Barabudur is invaluable on account of its sculptures which are unsurpassed in the east for their profusion and beauty. No where do we find a sculptural illustra. tion of Buddhist lore and doctrine so marvellous in its extent and detail. Also they are distinguished by a definite style in which mental repose is expressed in forms of singular gracefulness." i To know Indian art in India alone,' says John Marshall,1 ' is 50 know but half its story. To apprehend to the full, we must follow it in the wake of Buddhism to 'eutral Asia China and Japan; we must watch it assuming new forms and breaking into new beauties as it spreads over Tibet and Burma and Siam; we must gaze in awe at the unexampled grandeur of its creations in Cambodia and Java. In each of these countries, Indian art encounters a different racial genius, a different local environment, and under their modifying influence it take on a different garb.' It is an extraordinary incident to note that so far as the great art of sculpture and painting is concerned 'the form of expression was not artistically perfected until about the 7 th or Sth century when a marked deterioration in literature and other matters commenced'. According to Havell and others the great creative period of Indian art corresponding to the highest development of Gothic art in Europe was the period between 7 th and 14 th centuries. From the 16 th century the creative impulse of the old Indian art began markedly to diminish. He further holds in his "The Ideals of Indian Art' that Indian art in Java has a character of its own which 1 As quoted in U. N. Ghosal's Progress of Greater Indian Research 1917.42 and referred to by Jawaharlal Nehru in his Discovery of India, p. 24).

:23 distinguishes it from the Indian art whence it came. "There runs through both the same strain of deep serenity but in the divine ideal of Java we lose the austere feeling which characterises the Hindu sculpture of Elephanta and Mamallapuram. There is more of human contentment and joy in Indo-Javanese art, an expression of that peaceful sacurity which the Indian colonists enjoyed in their happy islan! home, after the centuries of storm and struggle which their forefathers had experienced on the mainland. The broken image of the dancing Nataraja Siva in the Elephanta caves shows a majestic conception and embodiment of titanic power. Though the rock itself se-ms to vibrate with the rhyth.nic movement of the dance, the noble head bears the same look of serene calm and dispassion which illuminate the face of the Budaha." The great creative period of the Indian art during the period between the 7 th and 14 th conturi s had its foundation laid during the Gupta period from 300 to 600 A. D. It was, therefore, possible in the 7 th and 8 th centuries to cut the mighty caves of Ellora out of solid rock, with the stupendcus Kailasa temple in the centre and carve on the walls and ceilings of the temples and along the walls of the corridors in storeys the wonderful Brahmanical gods and goddesses and the reliefs containing illustration of stories and legends from the Puranas, the Rimaya and the Mahabharata. 'It is difficult t imagine,' says wonderstruck Nehru in his Dicovery of India, 'how human beings conceived this, or having conceived it gave body and shape to their conception,². Buddhist sculptures of Bharaut of second century B. C. included several Brahmanical deities like Indra, Brahma, Lasshmi, etc. The Sanchi sculptures included the figure of Gaja-Lakshmi. The figure of the fire god Agni appeared on the Mitra coins of the 1 s century B. C. The images of sun god and Siva were carved on the Kushan coins of Kadphises II and Kani-hka whose reigns preceded the beginning of the Gupta period from 320 A. 1). Thus the Gupta period saw the revival of the Brahmanical sculptures. Probably as a reaction against Buddhism the Gupta artists at the beginning fell upon the popular belief of the pre-vedic 1 Havell, Ideal of Indian Art (1920), p. 169. 2 Nehru, Discovery of India, p. 245, 257.

224 t INDIAN CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION period and introduced deities with many heads and arms as describe in the later hymns of the Rigveda. To this belief may also be described the appearance of Vahana or animal vehicles for Brahma, Vishun, Siva, and their consorts, and for other gods and goddesses. Thus we find the rivers Ganga and Yamuna depicted with their respective vehicles, crocodile and tortoise. In the later upta period the deities of the Puranic mythology together with the ten incarnations of Vishnu appeared. At Udayagiri caves some six miles north of the Sanchi Stupa, the scene of the great Boar saving the earth from destructive flood is depicted with great vigour and much artistic skill. The other incarnations including the Buddha are als illustrated. Tha Gwalior museum contains remains of Navagraha or Nine planets of the Pauranic tradition. Else where the great seven sages. and host of mythological scenes are skilfully carved. Now the vedic tria Agni, Indra and Surya were replaced by the Pauranic triad Brahma, Vishnu and Siva In sculptures these and other deities were associated not only with their animals but also with their Saktis or consorts Thus Brahma is accompanied by Sarasvati, the goddess of learning as his consort and Hamsa or goose as his vahana or vehicle. Similarly Vishnu is represented with Sri cr Lakshmi the godess of prosperity at his right and earth goddess Mahi or Prithvi at his left. Vishnu's vahana or vehicle is Garuda who is represented as a powerful human figure with two wings of a bird and having an aquiline nose and round eyes and placed beneath the lotus throne of Vishnu kneeling on the right knee and, with folled pands in adoration. Siva has some eight Saktis as his consorts including Uma, Gauri, and Parvati. But in sculptures he is mostly represented as lying under the feet of the ten-armed fighting Durga or the four-armed Kali adorned with a garland of human heads. He is also carved as a great Yogi or ascetic wraft in meditation, with matted hair, crescent moon, tiger-skin as drapery, skull and a snake, and trident as the attribute in the north, and an axe-drum and antelope in the south His vehicle Nandi Bull is represented generally in a recumbent posture, but also standing erect separately as in his marriage scene on the inner wall of a rock cut temple at Ajanta. The famous Tanjore Bull is placed recumbent facing the Siva temple The Bangalore

Bull is worshipped in a separate temple of its own. At the entrance of Siva temples Nandi Bull as well as the three leggled Bhringi are placed as guards. Ganesa and Kartikeya are represented as the two sons of Siva and Parvati. The former is also known as Ganapati and Vinayaka and sculpturally represented with the head of an elephant and a large belly as the god of wisdom seated on his vehicle Mushike or rat and without any female consort. Kartikeya is variously known as Kumara and Skanda in the north, and Subrahmanya in the south. He is the god of war and is decorated with weapons. He rides on his vehicle Mayura or peacock. So netimes he is represented with two consorts, Valli and Devasena. As a warrior he is, however, known as a confirmed bachelor. Virabhadra created from the Siva's hair also served as a warrior as he slew Daksha as reprisal for insulting Siva's consort Sati at the great sacrifice. Sculptural representations of several other deities are noticed all over the continent of India. Nagas in the form of Sesha, Vasuki, Takshaka, Sankhadhara, Kulika, etc., are represented in many places. The demi gods Yakshas, Vidyadharas, Gandharvas, Kinnars, Apsaras are illustrated at Mamallapurami and other places. The Dikpalas or quarter lords are represented with their vehicles, Indra with elephant, Agni with ram, Yama with buffalo, Nairitya with man, Varuna with shark or crocodile, Vayu with deer, Kubera with horse, and Isina with bull. The Dvarapalas or doorkeepers comprising Chanda and Prachanda, Jaya and Vijaya, Haraprabha and Subhadra are placed in pair at the entrance of the Bralimanical shrines. Sculptural representation of the Navagrahas or nine planets, like those of the ten incarnations, comprise the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, as Surya, Chandra, Mangala, Budha, Brihaspati, Sukra and Sani respectively and Rahu and Ketu. Pingala, the attendant of Surya is represented on his right as a bearded, pot bellied man with a pen and inkstand in his hands. The divine physicians, Asvini-Kumaras, the god of death Yama, the father of man Manu are represented as the three sons of Surya. The largest group of medicval temples in northern India numbering some 600 in Bhuwaneswara and Puri districts in Orissa are remarkable for profusion of 29

sculptures, some figures of which are grossly obscene but the ornamentation as distinguished from the sculptures properly so called, exhibits the usual variety and delicacy. Similarly the Khajuraho group of temples in Bundelkhand built between 90-1200 by the Chandel kings present numerous bad sculptures some of which are grossly obscene. Near the seven pagodas at Mamallapuram 35 miles south of Madras there is a beautiful group of sculptures in the form of a tableau representing the goddess Durga in conflict with the buffalo demon, This is praised as the most animated piece of Hindu sculpture by Babington and as of spirited character by Fergusson. There is a huge bas-relief, 90 ft. long and 30 ft high, representing the four armed Durga together with numerous other figures and a whole menagerie of animals. There are also colossal images of a Naga Raja and his queen. These sculptures are ascribed to the 6 th or 7 th century. The Halebid temple erected by Hoyasala king Vishnu Varddhana in the 12 th century is remarkable for the rich friezes of elephhants, lions, crowded with thousands of figures. Some 7 miles to the south is the Belur temple of which the outer walls and the spire are decorated with numerous Brahmanical deities. The Chalukyan temples of Bellary district in Madras ascribed to the 12 th century are remarkable for the carving which are characterized by 'marvellous intricacy and artistic finish in even the minutest details' and remarkable for its exuberance of varied forms, boldly designed and finely executed but the figure sculpture is feeble'. The marble temples at Mount Abu in Rajputana dating from 1032 to 1231 carry to its carry to its highest highest perfection the Indian genius for the invention of graceful patterns. The 80 ft. high Jain tower at Chitor in Rajputana and other towers of 1442-1449 are covered with sculptures of highly artistic value. The Jain tower in nine storeys are decorated with statues and ornaments inside and out, and every Hindu deity with the name inscribed below is represented thereon. "These sculptures', says Vincent Smith, 'constitute an illustrated dictionary of Hindu Mythology'. The Siva temple at Madura uating from the 17 th century is remarkable for its hall of a thousand columns which is decorated with sculptures of marvellous

elaboration. The walls of some of the buildings are adorned with mythological frescoes. The two magnificent temples at Trichinapoly are celebrated for the colossal rampart, the horses standing about 12 ft. high placed on pedestal in front of the pillars of the Seshagiri Rao Mantapam are striking for their general design, and look spirited with the attendant grooms and are superior to that of most of the Indian sculpture. The temple at Tanjore is celebrated for its colossal rec: mbent bull which is a master piece of sculpture. Gols, goidesses and other sculptures at the temple at Chidambaram and Ramesvaram are remarkable for their aesthetic value. With the great revival of Brahmanical Hinduism in the 4 th century the Buddhist worship was not violently extirpated during the Imperial Guptas but slowly decayed. The Buddha images of the Gupta period had a distinct style. The rules of the Silpa-sastras were appliedto the Buddhist sculptures also. Thus the Buddha image had the same proportion as the Brahmanical gods of the first ranking, the image being ten times its head in length in accordance with the ten tala system. Buddha images were carved in greater variety of Mudras and were furnished with decorated Prabhamandala or nimbus but there was no Urna or raised mark on the forehead between the eye-brows. The head was shaven and had also curly hair, the drapery being over one or both shoulders. The back of the image was sometimes decorated with four principal scenes of Buddha's life. The Jataka stories, however, were seldom illustrated. Despite the patronage of king Harsha with the assistance of Hieun-Tsiang towards Buddhism in the seventh century Buddhist sculptures lost their their popularly. Buddhism continued to flourish under the sympathetic Pala kings of Magadha between the 11 th and 12 th centuries until the Muslim conquest and traces of it are found in many other parts of the country up to a late time, but Buddhist sculptures could no longer be revived. The medieval Buddhist statuary of Bihar became almost identical with that of Hindu sculptures and the two classes of objects are frequently confounded. The mercantila and trading classes who formed the great stronghold of Buddhism seem to have turned to the allied Jain system, especially in central and southern India. Bundelkhand is full of Jain images of the 11 th and 12 th centuries, whereas Buddhist

at remains of that period are rare. The colossal monolithic nude Jain statues of the south are among the wonders of the world. The Jina image at Sravana Belgola in Mysore is 57 ft. in height cut from a single block of gneiss. Similar images were erected in about 1432 Yenur and Karkala in south Kanara. On the Parasnath Hill in Bihar the Tirthankaras are beautifully illustrated. According to the rules of the Silpasastras the Jina images were marked by long hanging arms, Srivatsa symbol on the chest, and nudity. They were attended by Yaksha couple and Gandharva figures and had the marks of Svastika, mirror, book, flower, garland and two small fish. They had their own chawry-bearer ard symbolic tree and Lanchana or some sort of animal vehicle like those of the Brahmanical deities. an These medieval figures belonging to the pantheon. of the Buddhist, the Jain, and the Brahmanical mythologies exhibit a common ideal as they were executed in accordance with the common rules of the Silpasastra. In all schools of sculpture this common ideal aimed at a spiritual expression rather than to exhibit anatonomical expression and physical strength. But the human and animal figures of the male and female are realistic and mostly point to the locality wherefrom they originated. Thus the sculptors dressed their figures in the costumes which were in vogue at the places, where they carved them. The ornamentation was, however, heavier in medieval figures than in the earlier ones. Excluding nose rings which are not seen at all, other ornaments include head gears, ear-rings, necklaces, armlets, bracelets, finger-rings, waist bands, and anklets both for female and male figures. The female figures were also provided with Stanasutra cr jacket and bands to cover the bosoms, and various net ornaments for the feet. The contemporary manners and customs are illustrated in groups of sculptures representing marriage assemblies, political and social gatherings, funeral processions, feasts and festivals. Even the age of marriage is indicated by the immature bust and figure of the bride and bridegroom. The scene of Siva's mrriage carved on the inner wall of a cave in Ajanta shows Parvati as an immature girl. The domestic life is further illustrated by articles like pitchers, baskets, fans, umbrellas, lamp stads, caskets, bedsteads, seats, etc.. which have been described elsewhere in detail.

For the study of social conditions sculptures are thus the most reliable evidence. An orderly development of the Indian sculptures appears to have been, due to guidance afforded by the compilation of the Silpa-sastras. The standari Silpa- sastra is known as the Manasara, literally meaning the essence of measurement, which is a chief factor especially in sculpture. Manasira has given elaborate details regarding architectural and sculptural measures. So far as sculpture is concerned two sets of measurement are suggested. One set includes six kinds of linear measurement, viz, mana or the height of an image from the foot to the top of the head, pramana or breadth, parimana or the measure of circumference or width, lambamana or the measurement by the plumb-lines drawn perpendicularly through different parts of the body, unmana or the measurement of thickness or diameter and upamana or the nieasurement of interspace as between two ears, two eyes, two arms, two feet, etc. The second set known as Adimana or primary measurement of images comprises six comparative measures and three absolute measures. In the former case the height of an idol is determined in proportion to the breadth of the main temple, height of the adytum, length of the door, the height of the pedestal, the height of the vehicle on which the idol is placed, and the worshipper.to whose full height or up to the hairlimit on the forehead or eye-line an idol may reach or it may extend to the worshipper's nose-tip, chin, breast, heart, navel or sex-organ. The height of the vehicle or riding animal bears the same proportions with the idol. The absolute measure may be made in cubit, angula and tala. The cubit of 24 angula or finger breadth of about 3/4 inch, the cubit of 25, 26 and 27 angulas being used in measuring larger objects like a building or a tower. The angula measure is either manaugula or equal to 8 barleycorns; matrangula is the breadth of the middle finger of the worshipper or in age-maker, and dehalabdhangula is the measure equal to one of the equal parts into which the whole statue is divided for sculptural measurement. Talamana elaborates the bodily measurement; by this the face of the image itself is taken as the unit, and the height of the image is given certain cemplete multiples of this unit. The twelve tala measure in which the height of the image is twelve-times its own face is prescribed for fiends, eleven tala for supernatural

beings, ten tala for Brahmanical gods, Buddha images and Jina images, nine tala for goddesses and certain sages, eight tala for men, seven tila for women and demi-gods like Yakshas, etc., six tala for tigers, licns, etc, five tala for certain mythical beings, four tala for goblins, etc., three tala for Kinnaras, two tala for birds, fish, etc., and one tala for certain lower beings like rats, etc. A Roman Architect Vitruvius of B. C. 25 commenting on these body proportions says "In truth they are as necessary to the beauty of a building as to that of a well-formed human figure, which nature has so fashioned that the face from the chin to the top of the forehead or to the roots of the hair is a tenth part of the height of the whole body. From the chin to the crown of the head is an eighth part of the whole height, and from the nape of the neck to the crown of the head the same. From the upper part of the breast to the roots of the hair a sixth, to the crown of the head a fourth. A third part of the height of the face is equal to that from the chin to the under-side of the nostrils and thence to the middle of the eye brows the same; from the last to the roots of the hair, where the forehead ends, the remaining third part. The length of the foot is the sixth part of the height of the body, the fore arm a fourth part, the width of the breast a fourth part. Similarly have the other members their due propertions by attention to which the ancient painters and sculptors obtained so much reputation." The Manasara has eleborated 154 proportions in the ten tala system. Vitruvius has further referred to circular and square measures of a wellproportioned human figure. The navel is naturally placed in the centre of the human body and if in a man lying with his face upward, and his hands and feet extended from his navel as the centre a circle be described, it will touch his figger and toes. It is not alone by a circle that the human body is thus circumscribed, as may be seen by placing it within a square. For measuring from the feet to the crown of the head, and then across the arms fully extended, we find the latter measure equal to the former, so that the lines are at right angles to each other, enclosing the figure will form a square'. 'So the ancients have with great propriety determined that in all perfect works each part should be

some aliquot part of the whole'. This direction appears to have been followed in all master pieces of Indian sculptures. 'Like every other canon of artistic proportion', says Vincent Smith, 'these methods are no more capable of producing works of art in unskilled hands than are any other aids or method. These sastras are the common property of Hindu artisans, whether of northern or southern India'. Mr. Hadaway, a modern practising artist of great repute, recongnizes the great importance of the rules of proportion followed by the Indian artists when he says that 'the Hindu imagemaker or sculptor has a most elaborate and beautiful system of proportions, which he uses constantly, combining these with those observation and study of natural detail. It is in fact a series of anatomical rules and * formulae, of infinitely more practical use than any European system which I know of, for the Indian one treats of the actual proportion and of the surface form rather than the more scientific attachment of muscles and the articulations of bones'. Manasira las prescribed nine materials for making images which consist of gold, silver, copper, stone, stucco, terracotta, gravel or grit, wood and glass (abhasa) which may be transparent, half transparent or partially transparent. The process of casting of the metallic images are fully described. 'If an image is to be made of metal, it must first be made of wax, and then coated with earth. Gold and other metals are purified and cast into the mould and a complete image is thus obtained by capable workmen.' To this direction of the Vishnu samhita Manasara adds that if any of the minor limbs be lost through this process the image should be furnished with it again after having been heated, but if the head or the middle of the body be damaged the whole image should be changed.' These authorities show that the art of casting metal images in wax moulds had been known in India from very early times and Mr. Rao emphasises the point in his 'Elements of Hindu Iconography' when he says that 'in regard to bronze image it is believed by some that India could not have known the cire perdue method of making metal images earlier than about 10 th century A. D. and that India must have therefore borrowed it from Europe but that this art was known in India much earlier can be shown in more ways than one'. The images are stated to be carved as stationary

or movable, in erect, seated, or recumbent posture, and in the equipoise. three-flexioned, or excessive poise. Then follows a masterly classification of all varieties of images belonging to Brahmanical, Buddhistic and Jain pantheon. Of the Bra'imanical images Brahma, Vishnu, Siva together with their respective consorts and animal vehicles are elaborately illustrated with minute details of proportionate measures, postures and poses, an ornamentation for the various limbs. Symbollic representation of Siva and his consort in the form of Linga or phallus and Yoni or pedestal is referred to with a very large variety prevalent in different parts of the country. Goddesses as independent images are classified as Sarasvati Sivitri, Lakshmi, Nahi, Manonmani (love goddess), Durga, and seven Mothers, who are treated as dependent and comprise Brahmini Rudrant as consorts of Brahma and Siva respectively, Vaishnavi and Varihi as consorts of Vishnu. The Jain deities include the twenty four Tirthankaras carved in purely human shape but completely nude having no robe or ornament excepting a Srivatsa symbol marked in gold on the chest. They have no consorts but they are attended by Narada, and other sages and Yakshas, Vidyadharas, Siddhas, Nagendras, Lokapalas, etc, and have besides the animal vehicles and particular trees or plants as their symbols. The images of Buddha are associated with ficus religiosa representing the Bodhi tree and furnished with ushnisha or protuberance; for the rest the appearnce of the Buddha is purely human. Boddhi-sattvas which became rare from the 4 th century, about when the Manasara was published, are not mentioned at all. The usual human images are described under the sages comprising Agastya, Kvapa, Bhrigu, Vasishtha, Bhargava, Visvamitra, and Bharadvaja. They are, however, robed in sagely garments and attributes but bear the completely hunian proportion of seven, eight and nine tala. The devotees or worshippers of the Salokya, Samipya, Sarupya, and Siyujya groups are also described fully.' 1 Salokyas want to reside in the same world where the supre. me god is, Samipyas want to be beside the god, Sirupyas want to have the same features as the god, and Siyujyas want to lose their identity and become united with the god.

By way of describing the vehicles of chief deities a full sculptural description is given of the Goose, the Garuda bird, the Bull and the Lion together with iconographic details. The thrones and crowns prescribed for the images of gods and goddesses, and kings of nine ranks and of their queens are fully described. Thrones for the divine occupants include the well known Padmasana, Padma- kesara, Padma-bhadra, Padmabandha, Pida-baniha, Sribandha, Sribhadra, Srivisila, Srimukha, Bhadrisana and Simhisana. These indicate different designs and the number of gems inset in them. Similarly the royal thrones are described under four categories compris. ing Prathama or primary, Vira or heroic, Mangala or auspicious, and Vijaya or victorious. The various head-dresses suggested for the gods, goddesses, kings and queens include jata, mauli, kirita, karanda, sirastrana, kuntala, kesa-bandha, dhammilla, a'aka, chuda, and patta which has three varieties, viz. patra or leaf, pushpa or flower, and ratna or jewel pattern.³ Most of these can be verified from the existing sculptures and paintings. The bodily ornaments referred to elsewhere also include, in addition to the crown, chudimani or crest jewel, sirovibhushana or any head ornament. kundala or ear-ring, tatanka or ear band, makara-bhushana or ear-pendent, kankana or bracelet, keyura and kataka for upper armlet, valaya for arm-root and fore arm, manibandhana-kalapa or net ornamen: for the back of the palm, kinkini or little bells for anklet and bracelet, finger rings, strings of pearls, garlands and necklaces of various kinds, chord or chain round the female bosoms, chain round the chest, girdle round the waist, chain round the loins, belt, bodice or cuirass, anklet, bracelet, and the net ornament worn on the feet. All these may be verified from the Elora sculptures and Ajanta paintings. Sculptures like architectural objects were a 1 For illustrations see the writer's Encyclopedia of Hindu architecture where patterns are reconstructed after the description of Manasara which may be seen on images in the South Indian temples referred to above. 30

fascinating subject to the Indian mind. It has been thus thoroughly analysəd in technical and general literature and extensively illustrated from the beginning of idol worship Both sculpture and architecture ars manly arts and boldly executed in gigantic forms and made such a remarkably unique progress in India.