Maurya and Shunga Art c16: Description of Plates
Maurya and Śuṅga Art c16
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Description of Plates
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Fig. 1. Basarh-Bakhira Column. Lion-crowned. Compared to other known Maurya columns this is heavy and shorter in proportion, clumsy in execution and coarse in feeling and appearance. Mark the square and unadorned plinth or abacus on which rests the lion with its rump and tail jutting out. Though a free and independent figure, the lion is not only rough and crude in execution, but has not yet evolved the form and appearance so as to make of itself an integrated whole with the abacus, capital and the shaft. Perhaps of pre-Asokan date. Photo : A. S. I.
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Fig. 2. Lauriya-Nandangarh Column. Lion-crowned. Mark the elegant proportion and classic dignity of the shaft, and the harmonisation of the shaft, capital and the abacus. The crowning lion finds it difficult to fit itself in the round abacus ; its rump and hind legs project beyond the abacus in an unbalanced manner. Compared to the Basarh-Bakhira lion the present example is more tense and tight without doubt, also more clear and precise ; but stylisation is on the increase and both form and treatment tend to be more conventional. C. 243 B. C. Bears an edict of the 27th year of Asoka's region. Photo : A. S. I.
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Fig. 3. Dhauli (Bhuvanesvar, Orissa). Elephant. Front view. Cut out of live-rock that bears the well-known Kalinga Edict. Fully modelled in the round, the elephant exhibits a flowing plasticity and linear rhythm that are unknown in the Mauryan lion figures. About life-size.
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Perhaps the earliest extant example of Asokan sculpture. Photo : Johnston & Hoffman.
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Fig. 4. Saṅkāśya. Standing elephant crowning the capital of an Aśoka column. It suggests a comparison with the Dhauli elephant, but is certainly on a lower level of artistic conception. Its plump form is, plastically speaking, compatatively static, and execution clumsy. The lower border framing the abacus appears to be a translation from wooden originals. C. 255 B. C. Photo : Bachhofer.
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Fig. 5. Sanchi (Bhopal State, C. I.). Four semi-lions seated back to back, crowning the capital of an Aśoka column. Architecturally, the Sanchi quadripartite conforms to the solution already achieved at Sarnath. Sculpturally too it belongs to the same conventional and stylised treatment; but the manes are treated with increased schematisation which is perhaps an indication of a date later than that of Sarnath. C. 235 B. C. Sanchi Museum. Photo : A. S. I.
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Fig. 6. Rampurva. Single lion 'recouchant' crowning the capital of the northern Aśoka column. C. 244 B. C. The column bears an Asokan edict dated in the 26th regnal year of the king. Photo : A. S. I.
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Fig. 7. Lauriya-Nandangarh. Single lion 'recouchant' crowning the capital of an Aśoka column. Compared to the Basarh-Bakhira lion the present example is more tense and tight, surface treatment is also more clear and precise, but stylisation is on the increase; both form and treatment tend to be more conventional. The Rampurva lion, though earlier by a year, shows decided advance in the clear and precise cutting of the stone, in general finish, in the feeling for form and in linear rhythm. Modelling is also more powerful and vigorous, The Rampurva example, artistically speaking, is even superior to the Sarnath quadripartite. The Lauriya-Nandangarh specimen is, comparatively speaking, thin and clumsy. C. 243 B. C. Photo : A. S. I.
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Fig. 8. Sarnath (Benares, U. P.), Lion quadripartite crowning the Asokan column. Of all Mauryan sculptures it is the most well-known. most highly spoken of and reproduced on most occasions ; but the entire conception and execution are conventional from beginning to end. Compositionally the accumulation of form is schematic. The extravagance of form saps the life out of the object it represents. The modelling has nothing in common with Medo-Achaemenian sculptures ; on the contrary its accents definitely belong to Hellenistic plastic tradition as practised by Graeco-Bactrian artists. The powerful but conventional feeling for volume and preference for stagnant compact forms also point to the same direction. C. 240 B. C. The column bears the famous Schism Edict of Asoka. Sarnath Museum. Photo : A. S. I.
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Fig. 9. Rampurva. Standing bull crowning the capital of the southern Asoka column. The animal stands with its full weight on earth in quiet and restrained dignity, and the idea has been rendered with remarkable clarity and perfect realism. The modelling is vigorous but not conventional; plastic and linear sense fully mature but not schematised ; a dynamic naturalism gives it potency and strength. In aesthetic vision and treatment it perhaps reflects the legacy of the art of the bulls of the prehistoric Indus Valley. C. 243 B. C. Indian Museum, Calcutta. Photo : A. S. I.
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Fig. 10. Sarnath (Benares, U. P.). Striding bull carved in high relief on the abacus of the Sarnath column of Aśoka. A comparison with the Rampurva bull is at once suggested. This bull is rendered with all the tension and accentuation of muscles, of veins and bones ; the execution is also clear and precise ; but the entire treatment is conventional, modelling coagulated and tension in movement over-emphasised. It belongs to the same aesthetic vision and treatment as those of the Sarnath quadripartite, and has hardly anything to do with the Rampurva bull or the bulls of the pre-historic Indus Valley. Photo : A. S. I.
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Fig. 11. Barhut (Nagod State, Baghelkhand). Medallion of a Rail-pillar. A dancing couple of Kinnaras. A rhythmically flowing linear movement unites these two figures into an integrated composition in which angles and straight lines dominate, and imparts to the scene the rhythm of dance that permeates not only the limbs and hangings of garments but the contours of the body as well. Their mask-like faces concèal the rhythm that is within. C. 150 B. C. Photo ; A. S. I.
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Fig. 12. Barhut (Nagod State, Baghelkhand). Rail-medallion. Dream of Māyādevī. Mark the elephant whose size is conditioned by its importance in the story itself. Mark also the tilted bed. The artist places the understanding of the story above every thing else. Aesthetically this piece belongs to a class different from No. 11. Here the elements are isolated, they exist by themselves ; no linear rhythm binds them into an integrated whole. C, 150 B. C. Indian Museum. Photo : A. S. I.
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Fig. 13. Barhut (Nagod State, Baghelkhand). Prasenajit Railpillar. From bottom : (1) employment of nymphs by Māra to tempt the Buddha ; (2) scene of defeat and exasperation of Māra ; (3) scene of Enlightenment of the Buddha. In scene No. 1 a slowly gliding curve passes over the bodies of the seated figures that constitute the music party. It sways each individual figure and bends it to the tune of the curve, but it does not stop there. It flows uninterruptedly along the swaying hands of the four dancers, through the movements of their bodies including that of the young one at the bottom. The entire composition is held by this slow but ceaselessly flowing linear rhythm that imparts life to the scene portrayed. This is one trend in Barhut. C. 150 B. C. Indian Museum. Photo : A. S. I.
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Fig. 14. Barhut (Nagod State, Baghelkhand). Ajātaśatru Rail-pillar. From bottom : (1) Great Miracle at Sravasti at the foot of the Gandamba tree ; (2) Buddha's descent from Tushita heaven by a ladder ; (3) Preaching of Abhidharma in Tushita heaven. It can be seen at once that these scenes are all completely devoid of any free and flowing linear rhythm ; the figures are hard and isolated and the compositions are regulated in a schematic manner by vertical and horizontal lines. It is only an agitated display of light and darkness that disturb the otherwise static character of the scenes. This is the other trend in Barhut. C. 150 B. C. Indian Musuem. Photo : A. S. I.
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Fig. 15. Barhut (Nagod State, Baghelkhand). Rail-post, Gāṅgeya Yaksha.
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Fig. 16. Barhut (Nagod State, Baghelkhand). Rail-post, Chakra-vāka Nāgarāja.
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Fig. 17. Barhut (Nagod State, Baghelkhand). Rail-post (from Batanmara). Alakaṃanda Yakṣiṇī.
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Fig. 18. Barhut (Nagod State. Baghelkhand). Rail-post. Sirimā Devatā.
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Fig. 19. Barhut (Nagod State, Baghelkhand). Rail-post. Kuvera Yaksha.
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Fig. 20. Barhut (Nagod State, Baghelkhand). Rail-post Sūchiloma Yaksha.
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Fig. 21. Barhut (Nagod State, Baghelkhand). Rail-post, Sudarśanā Yakṣiṇī.
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Fig. 22. Barhut (Nagod State, Baghelkhand). Rail-post. Chūlakokā Devatā.
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Figs. 17, 19, 21 & 22 belong to trend No. 1 of Barhut, being examples of the flowing and rhythmical linear movement. Treated in relation to surface, they nevertheless consist essentially of swaying and gliding curves of rhythmical lines. Even the jewelled or unadorned draperies swaying vertically are more or linearised in pattern, and that linear rhythm is imparted to the details of the trees, the vāhanas and the modelling of the body itself.
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Figs. 15, 16, 18 & 20 belong to trend No. 2 of Barhut. No linear rhythm enlivens these figures; features isolated, compact and conglomeroted are flattened in terms of surface, and give them and appearance of static and mechanical rigidity. In direct contrast to the flat treatment of the chest and abdomen of the male figures is the compact roundity of the breast volume of fig. 18 which illustrates the conflict between the flatness of the surface and the third dimensional extensiveness, C. 150. B. C. Photo : Bachhofer.
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Figs. 23 & 24. Patna Two Yakshas standing. These are almost identical in form and appearance, conception and treatment, dress and ornament ; both have each on the scarf of their shoulder a line of Brāhmī inscription that has palaeographically been dated round about the beginning of the Christian era. The heaviness, the almost archaic stolidity and weighty appearance, the conflict between fully rounded and modelled volume as seen in the arms, breasts and abdomen on the one hand and flat surface at the back on the other seem to suggest that they have a close affinity with the huge, heavy and ‘primitive’ Bodhisattvas of the Mathura school. On the other hand so far as general shape and appearance of the upper part of the body and the quality and character of the modelling are concerned, a kinship with the art of the bigger figure reliefs on the eastern gate of the Great Stūpa at Sanchi seems to be admissible. Life-size. Beginning of the first century A. D. Patna Museum. Photo A. S. I.
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Fig. 25. Bodhgaya (Gaya, Bihar). Indra as Brāhmaṇa Śānti. Top : Gaja-lakṣmī. Mark the free and easy gait of the figure which though spread out in space reveals a clearer understanding of the human figure. The modelling tends to be softer and more sensitive than Barhut, and the linear movement more free and flowing. C. 50 B. C. Photo : Bachhofer.
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Fig. 26. Parkham (Mathura, U. P.), Yaksha standing. Inscribed. The lightly bent knees and the comparatively thin legs have some kinship with those of the Maṇibhadra Yaksha statue from Pawaya, near Gwalior, while the frank and unconditional frontality, attaching little or no importance to the back, reminds one of ‘primitive’ Bodhisattvas of the Mathura school. Doubtless here too, we have a clear expression of the weighty and imposing earthiness that traditional Indian imagination connects with its Yakshas and Yakshiṇīs. It is one of the first and earliest of Mathura primitives and forms the initial chapter of the Mathura school of sculpture. C. 50 B. C.—50 A. D. More than life-size. Mathura Museum. Photo : A. S. I.
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Fig. 27. Lomaśa Ṛishi Cave (Gaya, Bihar). Portion of facade showing translation into stone of wooden construction. Mark the elephants modelled almost in the round and in full plasticity; the flowing linear rhythm is also equally in evidence. A parallelism with the elephant of Dhauli is at once suggested. Since the facade is an exact translation from wood into stone, it may be presumed that the art represented by these animals and that of Dhauli was long in practice in wood, and perhaps also in clay. C. 275 B. C. Photo : A. S. I.
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Fig. 28. Lohanipur (Patna, Bihar). Torso of a naked Jaina Tīrthaṅkara. In its tight and stiff modelling, in the fully rounded arms and thighs and in its general earthy heaviness of form it has a kinship with the Patna Yakshas; but the lifeless inertia and the flat surface treatment of the back, the primitive and archaic outlook and appearance, heavy and little bit unbalanced proportion that characterise the statue seem to link it with the Parkham Yaksha. C. 50 B. C.—50 A. D. Little less than life-size. Photo : Patna Museum.
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Fig. 29. Bodhgaya (Gaya, Bihar). Rail-post. Man helping young girl climb a tree. Inspite of the flowing linear movement that is apparent, and the dynamic character of the theme, the figure itself lacks the emotional touch. Technically in advance of Barhut, it has yet a heaviness of form which is heightened by ‘the manner in which the forms are spread out in space.’ An urban sophistication and a conscious coquettish elegance are much too evident, but more significant aesthetically is the advanced conception of the human figure. This has been possible due to a clearer appreciation of the three dimensional value and of organic and intergrated understanding of human figuration. C. 50 B. C. Photo : Bachhofer.
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Fig. 30. Didarganj (Patna, Bihar). Standing Yakshiṇī bearing chaurī. Front view. One witnesses here perhaps an earliest urban, conscious and sophisticated female type and form immortailised in later Indian art and literature. Plastically fully round, it is bound by no law of frontality and has no primitivity whatsoever about it. Mark the sensitiveness of flesh as revealed in what remains of the modelling of the abdomen, the chin and the region round the eyes. Chronologically it seems to stand somewhere between the Bodhgaya woman climbing the tree and the daintier and more lively and sphisticated Yakshiṇīs of the Mathura reliefs of the second century A. D. Life-size. C. 50 A. D. Patna Museum. Photo : Bachhofer.
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Fig. 31. Bodhgaya (Gaya, Bihar). Rail-post. In panelled arrangement of scenes it follows the Barhut tradition which is but translation and adaptation of contemporary paṭachitra tradition. But the figures move more freely and easily with an intimacy and familiarity unknown in Barhut. A clearer and more organic vision of the human figure is also unmistakable as also an increased appreciation of three dimensional value. C. 50 B. C. Photo : A. S. I.
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Fig. 32. Besnagar. Yakshiṇī standing. Free round figure. The earthy heaviness of form of early Indian art persists ; but the modelling, the linear rhythm, and the feeling for human form are far in advance of Barhut. The figure also reveals a clearer understanding of the human form. C. 50 B. C. Indian Museum. Photo : A. S. I.
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Fig. 33. Barhut (Nagod State, Baghelkhand ) Inner view of a quadrant coping. From left : hanging jack (?) fruits ; hermit laments over the death of his pet deer and the Bodhisattva remonstrates with him—a representation presumably of the ‘Miga-potaka-jātaka’ (Fasüsboll, 372 ; Hultzsch and Barua) ; griffin running. A most characteristic formal quality of Śunga art is its flowing linear rhythm that binds all isolated objects in one continuous stream of life as it were. Look at any coping stone and you will find a huge stout lotus-stalk flowing in rhythmical waves from form to form, not only binding each isolated item in one whole but permeating each isolated object itself, including the limbs of human beings, the animals and the trees with the same flowing linear rhythm C. 150 B. C. Photo : A. S. I. (See Page 111)