The Development of Hindu Iconography c13.75

Language: English

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The last, though not the least, important factor contributing to the development of Indian religious art was certainly the systematic patronage which was given by the ruling powers of early and mediaeval India. The growth and development of these sectarian religions were largely due to the activities of the ancient sovereigns; the religion of Buddha could certainly not have been as great as it came to be in later times, had there been no Aśoka to espouse its cause and try his level best for its propagation in India, as well as outside India. The Brahmanical sectaries too found their champions not only in the persons of indigenous rulers, but also in those of foreign ones who held sway over different parts of India. The great Kushan emperor Wema Kadphises was an ardent devotee of Śiva and in the spirit of a true sectary only used the figure and rarely the emblem of the god of his choice as his coin device; it will not at all be presumptuous to suppose that many Śaiva shrines were erected in the different parts of his empire under his imperial patronage. His successors were probably eclectic in spirit, and they patronised equally the various religious cults flourishing in their dominions.¹ The imperial Guptas were devout Bhāgavatas and it is certain that extensive patronage was given by them to this particular cult, but it is also proved by archaeological data that other sectaries, both orthodox and heterodox, from the Brahmanical point of view, flourished side by side.

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The imperial Pālas of Bengal were Paramasaugatas and the Senas were worshippers of Sadāśiva. Many such other instances can be shown in which the royalties extensively patronised one or other of the cults and those that were not professed by them did also prevail in their kingdoms. The temples and religious structures which were built by them or by rich and influential citizens in their realms had to be decorated with numbers of subsidiary figures and other forms. Images were also necessary for the primary purpose of enshrinement in the main sanctum. Not only were the shrines of these gods built, but also funerary structures in honour of their departed ancestors were erected by the royalties and rich magnates, and shrines with images of gods and goddesses were invariable adjuncts to them. Then again, monastic establishments, associated with one or other of the Brahmanical sectaries, would contain different devagṛhas and daivatas (temples and images). Lastly, Gurvvāyatanas were erected by various sectarian clericals, which also contained shrines and images of gods. One of the earliest Gurvvāyatanas that we know of is the one referred to in the stone pillar inscription of the time of Chandragupta II (year 61 of the Gupta Era), which records the establishment of two images (Sivaliṅgas), called Kapileśvara and Upamiteśvara, in such a shrine, by the Pāśupata Ācārya Uditācārya, after the names of his gurus.

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The base of the inscribed pilaster contains a three-eyed and two-armed human figure holding a club in the right hand and an unidentified object in the left hand shown akimbo (cf. the early Śiva figures on Ujjayinī coins), correctly identified by D. R. Bhandarkar as Lakulīśa, the founder or systematiser of the Pāśupata sect.¹ All these different religious and funerary structures contained numbers of divine images and emblems and served as a great incentive to the development of icono-plastic art in India. These temple-building and image-making activities received a rude check in the hands of many of the Muslim rulers of India after her invasion by the Muhammadans. The relative prevalence of these activities in the different parts of India shows the truth of the above remark. The part which was last to be affected by the Islamic conquest retained in a remarkable manner these active manifestations of the religious instinct of its people to a late period, and this explains why in the extreme south of India magnificent temples and innumerable images of substantial proportions were being made when such activities had already been much restricted in the north. Muslim rulers could not, on account of their creed, patronise them as the Hindu kings and emperors did before, and thus their Hindu subjects had to satisfy their pious needs with much smaller images and emblems in stone and bronze for worship in private chapels of their individual households.