Indian Sculpture c5.s1.t5: Local Idioms and Collective Method of Work
Indian Sculpture c5.s1.t5
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Local Idioms and Collective Method of Work
c5.s1.t5.1
A tradition, brought about by a widespread and intricate fusion of people on one soil in common, prevails throughout the early classical phase. Nevertheless the contributions of local idiosyncrasies are clearly discernible; besides these provincial differences, even on one and the same monument various trends are noticeable. Craftsmen from one part of the country gave their services to great tasks in other parts of the country (Sāñcī, etc.).³⁷ This collective method of working is as much responsible for differences of levels and trends in one and the same monument as it is essential for the formation of a lingua franca of artistic conventions.
c5.s1.t5.2
Conspicuous as local idioms are, those of (1) Madhyadeśa,³⁸ with monuments at Bhārhut, Sāñcī, Bodhgayā, Mathurā, etc.; (2) Kaliṅga, i.e. Orissā; (3) South India, with sculptures from Veṅgī³⁹ and Guḍimallam; and (4) Bhājā, in the Western Ghāṭs. Madhyadeśa then was leading. Its influence is patent in Kaliṅga and to a lesser extent in Veṅgī sculptures. Bhājā stands apart. It derives its peculiar quality from similar origins to those of the bulk of work in Sāñcī, stūpa I, and part of Bhārhut reliefs (Ajātaśatru pillar, etc.), but is nearer to the sources than either.
c5.s1.t5.3
The reliefs on railings and gateways of stūpas⁴⁰ mostly narrate stories of the life and previous incarnations of the Buddha; others contain mainly vegetative devices. They are arranged in oblong, square, round and half-round panels, according to the exigencies of architectonic decoration. Yakṣas and Yakṣīs, Nāgarājas and Devatās occupy prominent positions. In large size, and frequently accompanied by their tree and vāhana—the vehicle in the shape of an animal—or by both (cf. the human figure, tree and animal on Indus valley seals), and in bolder relief than that of the other compositions, they cling to, or project from, the entire surfaces of railing posts without frames (Bhārhut, Figs. 26, 27); or else, fully carved ‘in the round,’ they act as brackets (Sāñcī).⁴¹ The bold and frameless relief of some of these large figures is a compromise between full and three dimensional extension (Mauryan Yakṣas, Figs. 2, 24) and the flat post. On the Sāñcī gates another type of large-sized figures in the round, namely horsemen⁴² or riders on elephants, are placed between the small upright of the toraṇas. Both of these types, or else the notions underlying them, are pre-Buddhistic.⁴³