Studies in Indian Art c13.s1.34.2

c13.s1.34.2

Continuing through Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the line of monuments extends to the Rang Mahal region near Suratgarh in Bikaner, and then crossing the Thar Parkar desert in the stūpa of Mirpur Khas in Sindh. The moulded brick and terracotta plaques and pilasters from the temples at Rang Mahal and in the vicinity which once were highlights in this region of the Dṛiṣhadvatī are some of the gems of Indian plastic art. There is amongst them a figure of the Chakra-Purusha of Vishṇu and another of Ahirbudhnya, a form of Rudra worshipped by the Pāśupatas. Thus it is evident that this region once came under the influence of the Pāñcharātra Bhāgavatas who were the strongest advocates of the view that religion must be made concrete through shrines, pillars or art monuments. A similar phenomenon was witnessed in the Fatehpur District of Uttar Pradesh where the banks of the Ganga are dotted by numerous Gupta temples in brick and terracotta like the magnificent fane at Bhitargaon in Kanpur District. The rich merchants who had amassed wealth by the riverine trade along the Ganga donated it to founding many religious establishments and art monuments in their territory. The western-most extension of this movement is embodied in the Great Stūpa (Maheśākhya Chaitya) at Mirpur which must have been the result of an enlargement of the earlier monument there.