Maurya and Shunga Art c14: XI. Barhut and Bodhgaya
Maurya and Śuṅga Art c14
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XI. Barhut and Bodhgaya
c14.2
Now that we have an understanding of the social components and of the more important formal qualities that are socially conditioned we may profitably proceed to bring out briefly the more important elements that characterise the art of Barhut and Bodhgaya, their common features and their differences.
c14.3
The general tone of the Śuṅga art of Barhut is very modest, sober, very much restrained ; they seem to be untouched by any dramatic moment or by any high tide even when such occasions present themselves. They speak briefly and almost in an embarrassed manner. There is an unmistakable solemnity in their appearance ; they are earnest, dignified and detached. A cross-section of the entire corpus of Jātaka stories would also reveal the same solemn repose and detachment of the characters, the same simple but dignified earnestness. This does not bespeak an ever serious and solemn attitude towards life, but is rather expressive of a simple and unsophisticated diction, a primitive means wherewith to express the multi-coloured views of the visible world. It is the unitone of the primitive single-string instrument. In Bodhgaya the manner and method of narration are the same, but the diction is more easy and elegant, a bit more facile, but at the same time little thinner and more superficial.
c14.4
The modesty and sobriety of diction are however no bar to clarity of expression which is one important characteristic of this art. The stories are told with scrupulous exhaustiveness; no single detail is left out. Clearly, the artist's intention is that no one should miss any thing even though not previously conversant with the stories. In Bodhgaya, however, they are abbreviated; stories are more summarily told. Descriptive labels also disappear, so that it seems that the narratives were by now well-known. Evidently there was no more any need of labelling them or portraying every single detail. In order to realise the perfect understandability of the narratives the artists of Barhut took to what is known as the method of continuous narration which is the same in all early art employed for religious propagation. In the reliefs of Barhut and also later one would find scenes in which the main stages of a given story localised in the same spot are portrayed in one and the same relief with the hero of the story repeatedly shown. The incidents may have taken place at various intervals but the artist visualises them in one unit so far as time is concerned. The fact that they took place in the same place justifies their presentation in one composition. Time is thus eliminated altogether, or various points of time may thus be said to coalesce in one visual unit. Sometime, successive stages of a story are divided into several panels; in such scenes the continuity of the narration is interrupted no doubt, but the sequence of the story can clearly be followed from panel to panel and the breaking up of the connectedness of time seems to be intentional.
c14.5
This exhaustive clarity of vision and expression is in no small measure helped by the clearness of the outlines of the figures and their contours, The cutting of the outline of the figures into the stone is almost perpendicular, with the result that a thin shadow separates the respective forms from the background as well as one form from the other, but in Barhut the shadows are not yet connected by any rhythmical display, nor is there any uniformity of the darkness of the background. In Bodhgaya, however, the cutting is at a slight angle with the ground of the relief so that there is more scope for modelling the figures which seem to emerge from the uniform dark background.
c14.6
The Barhut artist seems to delight in the handling of the human figure; the joy of a new discovery seems to urge them on to interpret human figures in as many positions and attitudes as they could visually perceive of. In Barhut the attempt is yet full of effort; the single parts of the body are shown clearly and distinctly in a most exhaustive manner and they are not always even linked integrally into a rhythmical whole. In Bodhgaya the single parts reach an integration; clarity and exhaustiveness remain, but the body moves more freely and it becomes a living entity. The surface of the body, the contour of the figures become charged with life which is to say that the surface is modelled in detail and in a subtle manner so that the intention is not just to define the body but to suggest that it is warm blood and soft flesh as well. This is clearly evident, plus a sensuousness, in that almost coquettishly elegant figure of the woman being helped to climb a tree. Indeed, technically as well as from the point of view of visual perception Bodhgaya is a step forward from Barhut. Reliefs are less crowded, all non-essentials being left out. The medley of forms of the Ajātaśatru pillar of Barhut has given place to order, brevity and clearness, and the figures have all been brought out clearly and exhaustively. The conflict between the surface and the three dimensional extension has dissolved to a considerable extent, and the direction is now more towards the depth; figures are now shown in fuller roundity and parallel to the ground. The heaviness of form still persists but it has already shed its static weight and masked stolidity.