A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c13.s1: Section II. North-Eastern India
A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c13.s1
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Section II. North-Eastern India
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The mediaeval sculpture of the north-eastern provinces naturally falls into two main territorial divisions, namely, (1) Bihār, both North and South, with certain adjoining districts of Bengal and the Agra Provinces, which collectively formed the dominions of the Pāla dynasty for more than four centuries from about A.D. 775 to 1193, the date of the Muhammadan conquest; and (2) Orissa, on the coast of the Bay of Bengal, which never was included in the Pāla realm.
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The Pāla kings having been devout Buddhists to the last, Buddhism continued to be the dominant religion in their territories long after it had become either extinct or moribund in most parts of India; and the Buddhist monasteries of Bihār, especially the wealthy foundation at Nālandā (modern Bargāon), were crowded with thousands of monks, who cultivated with success the arts required for the decoration of the sacred buildings. In consequence, a large proportion of the sculpture in Bihār and the neighbouring regions is Buddhist. The later Buddhism, as we have occasion to remark more than once, was of the Mahāyāna or 'Great Vehicle' kind, delighting in the use of images, and closely related to Hinduism. The Brahmanical faiths, of course, never died out, and their votaries contributed their share to the art production.
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During the first half of the seventh century, when the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang recorded his invaluable notes, the Buddhists of Orissa outnumbered the Brahmanical Hindus, but notwithstanding that fact, Buddhist sculpture is rare in the province, and the extant specimens, often of a high class, are mainly Brahmanical. From the point of view of the historian of art, as already observed, religious distinctions in the mediaeval period are unimportant, sculptors making use of the style of their own age and country, irrespective of the creed to the service of which their works were dedicated.
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In Bihār the Muslim onslaught at the close of the twelfth century overthrew Buddhism suddenly, and scattered all over India those few monks who survived the indiscriminate massacres committed by the iconoclast armies of Islam. The rich monasteries of Sārnāth near Benares soon shared the fate of the communities in Bihār, and layers of ashes in the ruins testify to this day the violence of the conquerors. Hindu art of all kinds, Buddhist included, was practically stamped out in the north-eastern provinces by the Muhammadan conquest. It lingered, however, in Orissa longer than in Bihār, and some of the best Orissan work dates from the thirteenth century. The conquest of Orissa was not completed until Akbar's time, in the sixteenth century, but it may be said that from the fourteenth century the history of art in all the north-eastern provinces is concerned only with Muslim forms.
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In quite recent days a slight revival of Hindu art may be discerned. Practically the history of Hindu sculpture in Bengal, Bihār, and Orissa closes with the thirteenth century. Room can be found for only a few examples to illustrate the schools of both Bihār and Orissa.
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The innumerable ancient sites in Magadha or South Bihār and the neighbouring districts, a region much of which is familiar to me, are full of well-executed images, mostly dating from the times of Pāla rule, between the eighth and twelfth centuries. The destruction due to Muhammadan hatred of images has been less complete than in the upper provinces. Mediaeval Buddhism in its Tantric forms approximated so closely to the Brahmanical Hinduism that even a skilled observer may sometimes hesitate to decide as to the religion for the service of which the image was destined—the Buddhist Tārā, for instance, is not easily distinguishable from the Hindu Lakshmī. Although the style of the sculptures is always dominated by the formalism of ritual prescription, artists of exceptional ability and skill could make their powers more or Plate XL. Sūrya, the Sun, driven in 7-horsed lotus-car by the legless Aruṇa, the Dawn; 5½ feet high; in black carboniferous shale or clay slate; excavated in Rājmahāl Hills, Santāl Parganas, Bengal, about 1840; probably of 12th cent.: No. 929, Ind. Sec., V. & A. Museum (dimensions are: group, 5½× 2¾ feet; central figure, 3 feet 10¼ inches in height). Publ. No. 1020, Pl. CXLIII, vol. xiii, *J. I. A. I.*
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Section of the Victoria and Albert Museum, which stands 5½ feet high, and is in nearly perfect preservation (Plate XL). The god is represented standing in a lotus-shaped chariot drawn by seven horses, and driven by the legless Aruna, the Dawn.
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FIG. 129. Mārīchī, goddess of Dawn; from Kurkihār; Lucknow Museum. (A. S. photo., No. 27; *Ann. Rep. A. S., India*, 1903-4, Pl. LXII, 4.)
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The artist, like the sculptor of Mārīchī, has concentrated his attention on the effigy of the god, reducing the chariot, horses, and charioteer to the position of minor accessories, in such a way that a casual spectator might fail to perceive their significance. The body of the principal figure is carefully modelled with considerable regard to realism, and the same commendation may be bestowed on the two female attendants with fly-whisks. The decorative framework is skilfully treated, and the whole composition produces an imposing and pleasing effect to which a small photo-graph cannot do full justice. The mechanical execution of the carving is perfect, and the design is more restrained than that of much Hindu sculpture of the same
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FIG. 130. Buddha; from near Rājgir; ? 12th cent. (*J. A. S. B.*, Part I, vol. lxiii (1894), Pl. II.)
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period. The material is a black carboniferous shale, or clay slate, well adapted to the sculptor's purpose, and the twelfth century may be assigned as an approximate date. The Rājmahāl Hills, where this remarkable work was excavated, lie to the south of Monghyr, and, although outside the limits of Bihār, were doubtless subject to the Pāla rulers of that province.
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One more illustration of the mediaeval art of Bihār may suffice—a beautifully modelled and exquisitely finished seated Buddha in black Monghyr stone found by Mr. Grierson near Rājgīr (Fig. 130). The standing figures are the Bodhisattvas Avalokiteśvara and Vajrapāṇi. The seated goddesses are the two forms of Tārā, the Green and the White. The composition as a whole is a compendium of the symbolism of Mahāyānist Buddhism. As a work of art its interest lies chiefly in the careful modelling of the principal figure. The script of the inscription, the usual ‘Buddhist creed’, indicates that the work is approximately contemporary with the Rājmahāl Sun-god.
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It may be well to mention the existence of other excellent specimens of the mediaeval Bihār style, without detailed description or illustration. (1) Mr. Marshall notes as the most beautiful of the later finds at Sārnāth, dating from the eleventh or twelfth century, a tiny figure of Avalokiteśvara, 3½ inches high, the carving of which, though somewhat stereotyped in character, is said to be executed with a delicacy and refinement which would do credit to a Chinese artist¹; (2) the large Buddha called Mātā Kunwar at the famous site near Kasiā, Gorakhpur District²; (3) a fine Vishnu at Devathala, Dinājpur District, Bengal³; and (4) sundry Buddhist sculptures from Kurkihār and Bishanpur, especially a remarkable relief of a Bodhisattva teaching, as described and illustrated by Dr. Stein⁴. The list might be largely extended from the collections in the Indian Museum, Calcutta, the Provincial Museum, Lucknow, and at other places.
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¹ *J. R. A. S.*, 1908, p. 1093, not reproduced.
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² Martin (Buchanan-Hamilton), *Eastern India*, ii, 357, with sketch.
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³ Cunningham, *A. S. Rep.*, vol. xv, Pl. XXVII.
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⁴ *Ind. Ant.*, xxx (1901), pp. 85, 90, 91, with photographic plates.
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The mediaeval sculptures of Orissa are chiefly associated with the Brahmanical temples of three localities—Bhuvanesvar, Koṇārak, and Purī—all in the Purī District, and ranging in date from perhaps the ninth century to the thirteenth. The peculiarities of the architecture have been noticed in Chapter II. The oldest sculptures, usually in sandstone, are at Bhuvanesvar; the best statues, mostly in chlorite, are at Koṇārak.
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The temples and shrines at Bhuvanesvar, said to be five or six hundred in number, are usually richly decorated, and so offer a wide field for selection, limited to some extent by the fact that many of the sculptures are grossly obscene, constituting, it is said, a complete set of illustrations of the Sanskrit *Kāmaśāstra*, or erotic treatises.⁵ The few decent examples for which space is available are selected for their purely aesthetic merits.
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⁵ Such sculptures are supposed to be a protection against evil spirits, and so serve the purpose of lightning conductors.
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The sculptures, both decorative and statuary, are well represented in the Indian Museum, Calcutta, by a series of 128 casts taken in 1869, under the supervision of the Principal of the Calcutta School of Art at the time. ‘The Orissa carver of those days,’ Dr. Anderson observes, ‘went direct to nature for his designs, and the results of his labours in combining groups of animals with foliage show that he must have been a keen observer. They are extremely pleasing pieces of art, not only on account of the beauty of their execution, but by reason of their truthfulness to nature.'¹
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¹ *Catal. Archaeol., Coll. I. M.*, Part II, p. 221.
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In justification of this criticism a few examples from Rājendralāla Mitra's work may be given, beginning with a scroll on the Parasurāmesvara temple, one of the oldest, possibly dating from the eighth or ninth century (Fig. 131).
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Another scroll, including birds, &c., is from the small Rājarānī temple of later date (Fig. 132).
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FIG. 131. Scroll on Paraśurāmeśvara temple, Bhuvanesvar. (*Antiquities of Orissa*, No. 13, Pl. VII.)
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FIG. 132. Scroll with birds, &c., Rājarānī temple, Bhuvanesvar. (Ibid., No. 18.)
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A frieze of antelopes from the Muktesvara temple, perhaps of the ninth century, illustrates the successful realistic treatment of animal forms (Fig. 133).
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The Great Temple is supposed to date from the tenth century. Some of the minor accessory figures on it are pleasing, the sculptor having more liberty for the exercise of his fancy and taste in treating them than he had when modelling the canonical images of the gods. Two specimens are given of such minor figures, one from the Great Temple, and the other from the Baitāl Dēwal, an edifice in the Dravidian style of about the same period (Figs. 134, 135).
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The chlorite Bhagavatī, 7 feet high, on the tower of the Great Temple (Fig. 136), is an excellent example of the numerous elaborate and carefully carved statues of deities modelled according to strict rule. Such images are exhibitions of the skill of the stone-cutter rather than of creative sculpture.
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FIG. 133. Antelope frieze, Mukteśvara temple, Bhuvanesvar. (*Antiquities of Orissa*, No. 55, Pl. XXVII.)
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FIG. 134. Panel on tower of Great Temple, Bhuvanesvar. (Ibid., No. 46, Pl. XXVI.)
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At the famous temple of Jagannāth, Purī, built about A. D. 1100, a well-executed group representing a Hindu mother with her baby (Fig. 137) offers a welcome change on gods and goddesses. Human sentiment is painfully rare in Indian mediaeval sculpture. This group seems to me to be of great merit.
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The unfinished temple at Konārak, dedicated to the Sun, and erected between A. D. 1240 and 1280, was designed to simulate a gigantic solar car drawn by horses. Eight great wheels, each 9 feet 8 inches in diameter, accordingly are carved above the plinth, and remarkable statues of seven horses stand outside. The wheels, the most perfect of which is shown in Fig. 138, are carved with wonderful patience and admirable skill.
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FIG. 135. Dancing girl on Baitāl Dēwal, Bhuvanesvar. (Ibid., No. 59, Pl. XVIII.)
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FIG. 136. Bhagavatī, Great Temple, Bhuvanesvar. (Ibid., No. 63, Pl. XIX.)
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Fig. 137. Mother and child; temple of Jagannāth, Purī. (Photo. 383, *I. M. List.*)
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Fig. 138. A wheel, Konārak. (A. S. photo., No. 155.)
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Two of the detached colossal horses are shown in Fig. 139, and one of them on a larger scale in Fig. 140. It is the best preserved. Another, placed outside the southern façade, is described by Mr. Havell as 'one of the grandest examples of
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[Figure: FIG. 139. Two horses; Koṇārak. (Photo. 355, I. M. *List*.)]
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[Figure: FIG. 140. A colossal horse; Koṇārak. (A. S. photo., No. 158.)]
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Indian sculpture extant'. While the force and vigour of these remarkable works are undeniable, few critics will be able to accept fully Mr. Havell's judgement that
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'here Indian sculptors have shown that they can express with as much fire and passion as the greatest European art the pride of victory and the glory of triumphant warfare; for not even the Homeric grandeur of the Elgin marbles surpasses the magnificent movement and modelling of this Indian Achilles, and the superbly monumental horse in its massive strength and vigour is not unworthy of comparison with Verrocchio's famous masterpiece at Venice'.
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Such language will be considered extravagant by most people.¹
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¹ Mr. Havell freely admits the defects of the statues in 'equine anatomy'. Verrocchio died in A.D. 1488. His masterpiece is the equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni. Mr. Fry so far agrees with Mr. Havell as to describe the horse published by that author as 'a superb colossal figure', possessing 'in the highest degree the qualities of great monumental design' (*Quart. Rev.*, 1910, p. 236).
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The elephant colossi are much more satisfactory to my taste than the horses. One, shown in Fig. 141, renders with mastery the character of the creature.
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[Figure: FIG. 141. Colossal elephant, Koṇārak. (Photo. 351, I. M. *List*.)]
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The recent explorations carried out under Mr. Marshall's direction have revealed many finely executed chlorite statues in addition to those previously known. Two of the most noticeable of these discoveries are here reproduced. The image of Vishnu standing, equipped with all his canonical attributes, and attended by earthly and heavenly worshippers (Fig. 142), may be fairly credited with no small degree of beauty, notwithstanding the hieratic style and the four arms. The flying figures are good, and the carving is perfect.
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The effigy of Bāla-Krishṇa, the god as a boy in a swing, on the contrary, is ugly (Fig. 143), and chiefly of interest as a *tour de force* in stone-cutting. Nobody but a Hindu would think of making such chains in stone. The trefoil arch may be noted.
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FIG. 142. Vishṇu; Konārak. (*J. R. A. S.*, 1907, Pl. VIII, 1.)
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FIG. 143. Bāla-Krishṇa; Konārak. (Ibid., Fig. 2.)
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Orissan art practically ceases with Konārak, for want of encouragement. A small tract by Mr. Havell proves that the artist families have never died out altogether, nor have they wholly lost their ancient skill. The author holds, and gives reasons for holding, that 'there are carvers still to be found, whose work, in spite of all the discouraging conditions which surround them, is hardly inferior in artistic perception and technical skill to that of their predecessors'. He considers the men of Orissa to be superior to the north-western workers in sandstone, because they have 'not hampered themselves by the limitations of a wood-carver's technique, but have fully realized the technical possibilities of their material for producing bold effects of light and shade suitable for architectural work'. I have no doubt that some of the living Orissan stone-carvers possess artistic feeling and could produce sculpture of considerable merit, if they received adequate patronage. At present their abilities are usually frittered away on pretty trifles in soapstone.¹
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¹ ^1 E. B. Havell, *Stone Carving in Bengal*, thin quarto, 16 pp., 5 plates (Bengal Secretariat Dépôt, Calcutta, 1906).
Linked texts (9)
- Viṣṇu — Sanskrit
- Vajrapāṇi (General) — Sanskrit
- Kāmaśāstra — Sanskrit
- Sārnāth
- Nālandā
- Konarak (Black Pagoda)
- Bhuvanesvar
- Mukteswara Temple
- Pur