Ancient Indian Colonization in South-East Asia c11.2

c11.2

Next to religion and society, we find the greatest influence of Indian culture in the domain of art. Except megaliths, crude images, and primitive ornamental designs such as are commonly found in neolithic culture, we have no evidence of the development of art in these regions before the arrival of the Hindus. But the Hindu colonists brought with them not only traditions and technique of developed Indian art, but also probably actual specimens of Indian sculpture. Some of the earlier sculptures in Siam and Malay Peninsula bear so striking a resemblance to Indian prototypes that many scholars have held that they were either brought from Indian or made by Hindu craftsmen who were fresh arrivals from India. For not only the motifs and the general details but even the very technique was purely Indian, and there was hardly anything to distinguish them from Indian products. But this state of things did not continue long. Gradually local styles developed in different regions with special characteristics of their own, each of which, in its final form, showed considerable divergence from the Indian models. In many cases they equalled the best Indian examples, and in some cases, specially in architecture, they excelled, both in refinement and in massive grandeur, anything that has yet come to light in India. But whatever may be the quality or character of the colonial art in different regions, the fact remains that influence of Indian styles may be traced in all stages of its development.