Indian Sculpture c5.s3.t1.18

c5.s3.t1.18

In the empire of the Guptas in Āryāvarta,⁹² craftsmen of high spiritual knowledge worked in Sārnāth, but also in Mathurā, in Garhwā, in Udayagiri (Gwālior), and other places, side by side at times with craftsmen who, while carrying on the old traditions, just succeeded in bringing them up to date. Central India keeps pace with the course taken in Sārnāth, yet, while its measure is the same, the experience is on a different level, altogether nearer to the earth and to the past. The east as well as the west now begin partly to acquire and partly to consolidate features that were destined in the future to turn to a considerable extent into local, i.e. ethnical, characteristics. The Dekkhan, however, makes the body of the rock the cradle of portentous qualities.