Gupta Art
The age of Guptas is often described as a classical age in the sphere of cultural developments.J.C Harle points to the remarkable degree of uniformity in temples, stone sculpture and terracotta art all over the Gupta empire. From the point of view of the history of art, he suggests that the period can be divided into 3 phases: early Gupta, the Gupta period proper and the late Gupta period.
Hermann Goetz period has described the early Gupta as a successful combination of earthiness and daintiness, strength and elegance, the sublime and grotesque. These features were fused into graceful and harmonious style in the Gupta period proper. In the late Gupta period, the representation of the human body became more slender and the poses of the figures more stylized. According to Harle, the brief period between the early and late Gupta periods produced some of the world’s finest art, characterized by unique elegance and an ability to effectively express high spiritual states.
An analysis of the artistic developments of this period has to take into account the patronage of dynasties such as the Guptas and Vakatakas.But it is important to note that other elite groups were also involved in the networks of patronage. The developments in architecture and sculpture in this period reflect the increasing popularity of theistic cults.
The period c.300-600 CE represents an important stage in the history of Indian temple architecture. Only a few small examples of temple architecture have survived from this period. But in the Gupta period, temples have attracted attention.
The early temples were small. The square garbha-griha literally the womb house housed the image of the deity. There was a small portico and the roof, which was usually flat. Temples tended to be plain but the doorways were intricately and profusely carved. The temples were now built on a raised plinth and had a shikara. When temples began to receive grants of land for their maintenance, this became a major source of finance for the temple. Worship in such temples were generally of Puranic deities such as Vishnu, Shiva, Parvati etc.
The Dashavatara temple at Deogarh was among the earliest temples dedicated to the incarnation of Vishnu. The Dashavatara temple had a curvilinear shikara and had four porches. The sculptural decoration on the main doorway includes various kinds of motifs like that of birds, svastikas, dwarfish figures etc.
Another temple was the Bhitargaon temple, which was made of terracotta and brick. Its outer walls were decorated with terracotta panels depicting mythological scenes. This temple provided one of the earliest examples of the true arch in India.
The many Buddhist stupas, chaityas and viharas built during this period include those at Charsada, Jaulin and Taxila in Gandhara.Several fine Buddhist sculptures of the Gupta period were found at Sarnath.
The cave architecture of this period is almost entirely Buddhist. However there were few exceptions. For instance, the Brahmanical cave at Udayagiri, which has an inscription belonging to the reign of Chandragupta II.This shrine is partly rock cut and partly stone built. It had a pillared portico in the front, a carved doorway and pillars with purna-ghata capitals.
The most prominent examples of the rock-cut architecture of this period was found at Ajanta and Bagh.There are 28 caves at Ajanta, out of which 23 belong to the Vakataka period. The magnificence of the Ajanta caves suggests that they might have housed a prominent monastic community, which attracted lavish patronage from the elites of the Vakataka kingdom. Spink describes Cave 1 as the most sumptuous rock cut vihara ever made in India and attributes its patronage to Harishena.
Cave 19 consists of a rectangular hall. The hall was divided into central section and two sides connects by a number of richly carved pillars that go down the entire length of hall and around the stupa within which a standing Buddha is carved on high relief. The roof is vaulted and ribbed. The cave had an elaborately carved façade with Buddha figures, attendants and various ornamental devices. The upper part of the interior had sculpted panels representing Buddhas.Cave 26 had more elaborate and detailed sculptural decoration. It enshrined a huge stupa with a seated Buddha carved in high relief and adorned with richer ornamentation. The main Buddha figure on this stupa sits with legs hanging down from his seat. The inner walls of the cave have many carvings including a long Buddha in a reclining pose representing the parinibbana, surrounded by figures in mourning.
Ajanta viharas also displayed a profusion of sculptural ornamentation. They consisted of a colonnaded porch and three entrance doors leading into a hall. The introduction of a shrine room into the vihara was an innovation of this period. Fluted columns made their first appearance for the first time. The sculptures at Ajanta had beautiful murals on the ceilings, doorframes and pillars. Originally most of the caves had paintings. The technique of painting is known as ‘fresco secco’. Apart from narrative scenes connected with the Buddha, bodhisattvas and Jatakas, the Ajanta caves depicted yakshas, gandharas and apsaras. In addition to religious scenes, there were many scenes of everyday lives in cities and villages. Kramrisch observed that the Ajanta paintings were marked by ‘multiple perspective ‘. The human figures depicted are slender, well proportioned and elegant. There was an intricate range of sophisticated costumes, jewellery and hairstyles.
Bagh is located northwest of Ajanta. The caves were more simple and plain. The end of the hall usually had a chaitya instead of a Buddha image. Some caves had additional columns in the interior of the central hall to support the roof. The Bagh caves also had paintings, which have disappeared now.
Much of the sculpture was inspired by themes drawn from Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina traditions. The iconographic conventions of religious sculpture became more elaborated and fixed. The sculpture of this period was rich in ornamental designs such as the foliated scroll.
The Vishnu images were very varied. Some of them combined both the anthropomorphic and theriomorphic forms of the Varaha avatara. Another form showed the God in a human form surrounded with several radiating heads. The images of Shiva depict him in a combination of the linga and the anthropomorphic form. The Buddha images displayed a greater variety of mudras than before and one could see that Buddha’s body was clothed in transparent drapery.
In central India, at Udayagiri all the caves except for one of the Jaina cave, depicted Hindu deities. Most of the sculptures were carved outside the caves. A particularly powerful relief showed Vishnu in his boar incarnation rescuing the earth from the waters.
Mathura continued to be a major center of sculpture. There were seated tirthankaras including a headless one. The figures were usually carved against the background of a carved throne or were flanked by attendants carrying flywhisks (chamaras). A dated stone image of a seated tirthankara belonging to 432-433CE was found at Mathura. The Mathura artisans also produced many magnificent standing Buddha figures. Many Vishnu images and mukhalingas have also been found at here.
The Buddha images from eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar stood out from those of earlier centuries. Several art historians as among the greatest works of art produced considered the Sarnath Buddha of this period. The seated Buddha showed him in the meditative padmasana pose. His hands were in the dharmachakra mudra, the mudra of teaching. The halo around his head was beautifully ornamented. Beneath the throne was a chakra flanked with monks with hands folded in veneration. The Buddha images from Sarnath were different in several ways from those of Mathura. The robes had no folds. The Bodhisattva images and narrative reliefs depicted scenes from Buddha’s life, whereas in the Mathura images Buddha held up a portion of the robe in his left hand and probably his right hand was missing.
Among the stone a sculpture, a large figure of a horse was found at Khairigarh.It bore a Sanskrit inscription. It had been suggested that this horse represented the sacrificial horse in one of the ashvamedha sacrifices performed by Samudragupta.
The terracotta art of this period included small figurines and plaques, which were found at places like Kaushambi, Rajghat, Bhita and Mathura. It was a popular medium for images which was accessible to people. Both deities and human figures were depicted. Several modeled terracotta reliefs were found at the Buddhist stupa in Gujarat. The seated images were placed in niches all around the lower parts of the stupa. Terracotta figures were found in great abundance, particularly in the Ganges Plain and eastern India. Many were mould made and were therefore mass-produced. Some of the figures were used in religious ritual but many were of a more general nature and used as toys or decorative pieces. Some of the larger forms were images of deities among which are the striking representations of the river goddesses Ganga and Yamuna.
Thus, the Gupta period also known as the Golden age was marked by brilliance in all spheres. The development of complex religious pantheons and a further institutionalization of religious establishments were reflected in sculpture and architecture.