A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c11.s3: Section III. Amarāvatī
A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c11.s3
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Section III. Amarāvatī
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The sculptures from the *stūpa* of Amarāvatī and its surrounding railing or screen of marble may claim the distinction of being the best known specimens of early Indian art. No visitor to the British Museum, however indifferent to Indian curiosities, can help seeing the spoils of the *stūpa* and railing displayed on the walls of the grand staircase, and everybody at all interested in Indian antiquities is more or less familiar with Fergusson's *Tree and Serpent Worship* and other works treating of the sculptures. Objects so comparatively hackneyed and familiar do not call for prolonged discussion or extensive illustration in this volume.
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The small town of Amarāvatī (16° 35′ N., 80° 24′ E.) on the south bank of the Krishnā (Kistna) river, in the Guntūr District, Madras, represents a more important ancient city called Dharanikota, a place of considerable note from at least 200 B. C. A richly decorated *stūpa*, known to have been in good repair and still venerated in the twelfth century, continued to exist to the south of the town up to the close of the eighteenth or the beginning of the nineteenth century, when it was utterly destroyed by a greedy local landholder, eager to obtain cheap building material and convinced that marble slabs, plain or carved, formed excellent food for a lime-kiln. About a century ago Colonel Mackenzie visited the place and had drawings made of numerous slabs, now no longer in existence. Various archaeological explorers have salved remnants of the sculptures, which are now mostly housed in either the British Museum or the Central Museum, Madras. Our knowledge of the extraordinary richness of the decoration of the *stūpa* and its railing is derived from the poor remnants thus rescued and Colonel Mackenzie's drawings, which have been published fully by Mr. Fergusson and Dr. Burgess.
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The *stūpa* in its earliest form was of high antiquity, dating, as inscriptions prove, from about 200 b.c., and some fragments of sculpture perhaps as old still survive. But the great mass of the sculpture is much later, and belongs to the Kushān period. The authority of the Kushān kings, however, did not extend as far south as Amarāvatī, which was then within the dominions of the powerful Āndhra dynasty of the Deccan. By the help of two inscriptions mentioning Āndhra kings, the testimony of Tāranāth the historian of Buddhism, and other evidence of various kinds, the construction of the great railing may be assigned to the half-century between 150 and 200 after Christ. The highly ornate slabs which cased the *stūpa* itself may be a little later. We are almost certainly safe in saying that all the sculptures of the railing and casing fall within the hundred years between a.d. 150 and 250. Until quite recently everybody believed that there used to be two railings, and all the printed descriptions give details of an 'outer' and an 'inner' railing. But Dr. Burgess now states that he and everybody else were mistaken, the fact being that no more than one railing, the so-called 'outer' one, ever existed. The slabs supposed to have belonged to an 'inner' railing really formed a casing applied to the body of the *stūpa*.¹
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¹ Fergusson, *Hist. of Ind. and E. Archit.*, 2nd ed. (1910), vol. i, p. 119.
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The railing, by far the most magnificent known example of such structures, was 192 feet in diameter, about 600 in circumference, and stood 13 or 14 feet high above the pavement. It was constructed of upright slabs connected by three cross-bars between each pair of uprights, which stood upon a plinth and supported a coping about 2 feet 9 inches in height. On the outer face each upright was adorned with a full disk in the centre and a half-disk at top and bottom, minor sculptures filling the interspaces (Fig. 102). Similar but ever-varying disks decorated the cross-bars, and the coping was ornamented with a long wavy flower-roll carried by men, numerous figures being inserted in the open spaces (Fig. 103). The plinth exhibited a frieze of animals and boys, often in comic or ludicrous attitudes. The decorations on the inner face were even more elaborate; the coping presenting a continued series of bas-reliefs, and the central disks being filled with delicate sculptures, treating every topic of Buddhist legend. Thus every part of the structure, with a surface of about 16,800 square feet (600 × 2 × 14), was covered with sculptured reliefs.
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The slabs forming the casing of the lower part of the *stūpa*, 162½ feet in diameter, were carved more richly even than the inner face of the railing, if that be possible. Apparently there were twelve in each quadrant, the principal object depicted on each slab being a highly decorated *stūpa* with its railing, the rest of the surface being covered with an infinite variety of sculptures. Study of Plate XXXIII, reproducing the best preserved of such slabs, will dispense with the necessity for detailed description, and at the same time give a good notion of what the appearance of the Amarāvatī *stūpa* must have been in the days of its glory. When fresh and perfect the structure must have produced an effect unrivalled in the world. However much severe taste may condemn the characteristic Indian lavishness of decoration which scorned to leave an inch of plain surface, the vast expanse of sculpture in white marble gleaming in the brilliant sunshine of India by day, or the light of myriads of lamps fixed on the surface of the dome by night, cannot have failed to exhibit a scene of unequalled splendour.
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While abstaining from minute description of Plate XXXIII, which serves as a synopsis of the sculptures generally, I may invite the attention of the reader to a few points. In the relief picture the sculptured decoration is carried high up the dome, but the extant slabs seem to have been attached only to the lower part of the Amarāvatī
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FIG. 101. Slab with representation of a *stūpa*, from votive *stūpa*, Amarāvatī. (A. S., Madras, photo.)
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*stūpa*. It is possible that higher bands of decoration may have existed and been wholly destroyed. The railing in the relief has four cross-bars, and not only three as in the real monument. The 'moonstone' at the entrance agrees in form, though not in design, with the Ceylonese examples. The lions and some of the architectural forms are survivals of the Assyrio-Persian patterns of the Asokan age. The meaning of the five *stelae* or pilasters on the face of the *stūpa* is not known. The worshippers in the central scene adoring the chair occupied only by an object which may be a turban, might have appeared in a Sānchī or Bharhut relief, where images of Buddha are unknown; but here, at the top of the picture, we also find Buddha seated in the conventional *yogī* attitude. The flying figures are not quite successful, having too much the appearance of resting upon solid support. The frieze at the top of the slab contains nearly fifty figures, and the general effect, like that of nearly all the reliefs, is marred by excessive elaboration. But the skill of the artist in design and drawing, and his technical powers of execution, are beyond dispute.
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FIG. 102. Basal medallion on pillar of rail, with plinth. (I. O., photo.)
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FIG. 103. Undulating roll motive on coping of rail, Amarāvatī. (Photo. 774, I. O. *List*.)
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Buddhists consider the multiplication of *stūpas* in any material to be a work of high merit, and accordingly the ancient Indian worshippers were in the habit of erecting in the precincts of sacred spots multitudes of minor *stūpas*, ranging in size from considerable masonry buildings to tiny models. The drum of such a votive *stūpa*, eleven feet in diameter, was disclosed at Amarāvatī by recent supplementary excavations, and a panel of its decoration is reproduced in Fig. 101. It will be observed that sundry details differ from those on the larger slab from the great *stūpa* and that the carving is slightly less crowded. The standing man and woman at the base are natural and well executed. The lions, as usual at Amarāvatī, are stiffly and conventionally designed. The whole composition, regarded as a display of skilled craftsmanship rather than as fine art, deserves high praise.¹
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¹ *Ann. Rep. A. S., India*, 1905–6, Pl. LI, LII.
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FIG. 104. Pilaster, Amarāvatī. (Photo. of Madras A. S.)
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The infinite variety of the patterns used in the medallions and bars may be realized by study either of actual examples or of the relief pictures. Fig. 102 is an excellent and well-preserved example of a charming decorative design based on the lotus-flower motive. The beauty and delicacy of the floral devices in the border and plinth deserve special notice and admiration. They will repay minute examination with a magnifying glass.
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Fig. 103 gives a characteristic specimen of the Amarāvatī treatment of the wavy garland or roll motive. The Hellenistic nude Erotes have developed into full-grown Indian men in waistcloths, and the imbricated Roman roll of Gandhāra is replaced by a much thicker roll of tinsel covered with elaborate patterns.
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The pilaster shown in Fig. 104 is another of the recent discoveries. It exhibits the old worship of symbols combined with the seated image of Buddha, as in the slab already described. Buddha, who has both shoulders covered, is seated in the *yogī* posture, which, as we have seen (*ante*, Fig. 93), was already adopted at Mathurā at about the same date, probably not later than the middle of the second century after Christ. The four-petalled flower often occurs in Gandhāran art, and in Khotan, and is still a traditional pattern in Western Tibet. The horse's head is good. I cannot identify the legend.
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The treatment of floral and animal decorative motives has been illustrated above by photographs on a small scale. Three specimens may be added from Mr. Rea's drawings on a larger scale, which have not been published except in his book (Figs. 105-7).
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A few separate images have been found at Amarāvatī. Two large marble statues, 6 feet 4 inches in height, discovered during the recent supplemental excavations, are illustrated in Fig. 108. The opaque drapery is treated in a formalized style, quite different from the smooth transparent robes of the Gupta period, to be discussed in the next chapter, but to a certain extent resembling Gandhāra work, and
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[Figure: FIG. 105. Lotus forms. (Rea, *S. Ind. Buddhist Antiq.*, Pl. XLII, 2.)]
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[Figure: FIG. 106. Lotus and *makara*. (Ibid., Pl. XLIII, 1.)]
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[Figure: FIG. 107. A pond. (Ibid., Pl. XLVII, 1.)]
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the paintings on the columns in Cave X, Ajaṇṭā. These images may date from the third or fourth century.
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Fergusson's opinion that the sculptures of the Amarāvatī school mark 'the culmination of the art of sculpture in India', which was generally accepted until recently by English writers, including myself, does not now command such ready assent. I will not presume to say which work marks the 'culminating point', but it is certainly safe to affirm that the pre-eminence claimed for the Amarāvatī reliefs may be effectively challenged by compositions of later date, at least in some respects. All critics, however, can agree with Mr. Havell that the marbles of Amarāvatī offer 'delightful studies of animal life, combined with extremely beautiful conventionalized ornament', and that 'the most varied and difficult movements of the human figure are drawn and modelled with great freedom and skill'. The obvious overcrowding of the compositions unfortunately is a defect common in Indian art. Historically, the sculptures are interesting as an academic development of the style of Sāñchī and Bharhut, with a stronger tinge of Hellenistic influence, perhaps coming by sea from Alexandria and through the ports rather than from Gandhāra. Considering the geographical and political separation of the Kushān and Āndhra empires, I think the presumption is that the sculptors of Amarāvatī had not direct knowledge of the Gandhāra school, although it is possible that they may have had it. Hiuen Tsang, the Chinese pilgrim, in the seventh century, did not really describe the *stūpa* as being 'ornamented with all the magnificence of the palaces of Bactria (Tahia)', as Fergusson and Burgess suppose him to have done. A slight slip of the pen in the Chinese text used by Julien introduced the word mistranslated as 'Bactria'. The pilgrim really praised two monasteries in the Deccan as 'having all the artistic elegance of a great mansion and all the beauty of natural scenery'. The assumption made by Dr. Burgess and other authors that the account of *two monasteries* given by Hiuen Tsang should be applied to the *stūpa* of Amarāvatī is far from being established. Thus disappears the basis for Fergusson's argument that the school of Amarāvatī should be considered the offspring of the marriage of the art of the North—that is to say, Bactria as represented by Gandhāra—with that of interior India as represented by Sāñchī and Bharhut.¹ Mr. Havell may be right in believing that origin-
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¹ Fergusson, *Hist. Ind. and E. Arch.*, reprint of 1899, p. 103; new ed. by Burgess (1910), vol. i, p. 123. 'Instead of the *ta-hsia*, a "great mansion", here, the B text, used by Julien, has *ta hsia*, which is a Chinese name for the country called Bactria. But this is evidently a slip of the pen, and the proper reading is that of the other texts which means a “great mansion”' (Watters, *On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India* (1905), vol. ii, p. 218). This material correction and Mr. Watters's comments on the current 'identification' of the pilgrim's *monasteries* with the Amarāvatī *stūpa* have been overlooked in the revision of Fergusson's book. 'It is hard,' Mr. Watters observes, 'to understand how any one could propose to identify a large monastery among hills and streams, and having spacious chambers and great corridors, with a building which is only a remarkable tope situated on a plain.' The error concurred in by Julien, Fergusson, and Dr. Burgess will not readily disappear from books on Indian art and antiquities.
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[Figure: FIG. 108. Marble Buddhas. (Photo., A. S., Madras; *see Ann. Rep. A. S., India*, Pl. LI, 3.)]
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ally the effect of the Amarāvatī marbles was heightened by colour, and in holding that technically they should be regarded as 'painted rilievos' rather than as true sculpture. But whether they were painted or not, they must have formed, when perfect, one of the most splendid exhibitions of artistic skill known in the history of the world.
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FIG. 109. Sculptured and inscribed pedestal, 2½ feet high, in front of Jain shrine at Dānavulapāḍ, Cuddapah District. (Photo. 535, A. S.)