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A History of Agriculture in India v1.c35.s3: A Renaissance in Art, Literature and Science

A History of Agriculture in India v1.c35.s3

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English

A Renaissance in Art, Literature and Science

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If the degree of development of a culture is judged by the aesthetic level of the people, we can safely say that the Hindu culture reached its hey-day in the Gupta age. It is rightly called the Golden Age of India. The art of sculpture and Sanskrit literature reached high level of development. During the Gupta period, the Buddha image reached its perfection at Mathura and Sarnath, and people could see and feel the Divine in human form. The elegant Greek drapery was combined with the spiritual calm of India and a unique synthesis of the West and East was achieved. It also indicates that it was a period of tolerance and of coexistence between Buddhism and Hinduism.

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The Laws of Manu, and the tales of *Panchatantra* were written in this period. During this period, a number of outstanding men flourished who added lustre to the annals of India. Varahamihira, the astronomer, lived at about the close of this period. Aryabhata (b. A.D. 476), the mathematician and author of the *Aryabhatiya*, flourished in this age. He explained the true causes of eclipses of the sun and the moon, and could calculate them precisely. He was the first to discover that the earth rotates on its axis and moves round the sun. The decimal place-value notation and zero was in use in India by the fifth century of the Christian Era.

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Of the poets and authors of this period, Dandin, Subandhu, Banabhatta and Kalidasa deserve particular mention. Kalidasa in his *Ritusamhara*, ‘The Pageant of the Seasons’, gives charming descriptions of indigenous beautiful trees of India which flower from month to month. In his description of spring, he describes the mango-tree bent with clusters of coppery-red leaves, and their branches covered with light-yellow fragrant blossoms shaken by the March breezes, which kindle the flame of love in the hearts of women. He describes the *asoka*-trees, with their graceful drooping young leaves hanging, like tassels of silk, covered with coral-red blossoms which make the hearts of young women *sasoka* (sorrowful). He describes the jungles of *dhak* (*kimsuka*) resembling a blazing fire, making the earth appear like a newly-wedded bride, with red garments. He aptly compares the scarlet flowers of *dhak* with the bright-red beaks of parrots! In his description of women’s toilet, he mentions that they paint their bodies with the fragrant paste of white sandal and cover their breasts with garlands of white jasmines, and perfume their hair with *champak* blossoms. In the rainy season, they decorate their heads with garlands of *kadamba*, *kesara*, *kakubha* and *ketak* flowers.

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The murals in the Ajanta caves, the quintessence of the Buddhist art, which date from 200 B.C. to A.D. 600 (Caves XVI and XVII are attributed to the last quarter of the fifth century of the Christian Era), not only show the high level of the art of painting and sculpture attained in that period but also give us a glimpse of the life of the common people in those times.

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Some of these paintings show wreaths of flowers in the hair of women. They wore garlands round their necks and bracelets of flowers round their arms. In fact, flowers formed an integral part of their toilet.

Cites (4)