Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c5.19

c5.19

CULTURAL LIFE — A second feature of Indian art is the place taken by the cultural life of the people including both royalty and common man. Indian art offers a commentary to its literature in depecting the material life of the people in a rich and vivid form. It is possible to reconstruct a whole history of Indian costumes and hair-styles from sculptures, paintings and clay figurines; especially the last, which, owing to their special democratic nature, present a rich typological cross-section of the society. The great Stūpas of Bharhut and Sanchi, of Amarāvatī and Nāgārjunikoṇḍā, stand out as monuments on which the Life of the community is faithfully depicted in its manifold aspects. It should be recognised that Indian art has moved close to its literature and to the actual life of the society through the ages. Its value as a record of the culture of the people is being now recognised.