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.
