Art & Culture

UPSC CSE
(Prelims + Mains)
Module 1
Architecture & Sculptures
-Arti Chhawari

Module 1- Architecture and Sculptures Page 1

Indus Valley Civilisation

The Indus Valley Civilisation was a ___________Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of
South Asia, in its mature form from 2600 BCE to 1900 BCE. Many of the material remains
and artifacts like seals, pottery, sculpture, gold jewellery, terracotta figures and many more
helped Archaeologists to reconstruct the life of people living in this earliest urban
settlement.

Some Important
Harappan Sites Shortugai- House of precious
stones like _________

Harappa- ______to be excavated

Kalibangan- _______ field

Banawali- terracotta
model of ________
Mohenjodaro- sculptures
like _____king, ______girl

Sutkagendor- _______
Rakhigarhi-______
most site
excavated site in
India

Chanhudaro- ______industry

Dholavira- ____ level town

planning
Lothal- ______industry,
Surkotada- recently in news due to _____,_________
_______ remains

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  The Harappan cities divided into
two main parts - the raised area known
as the __________, and the_________ town.
 Networks of streets laid out in neat
patterns of straight lines and right
angles forming a _________pattern
 Some Salient features  Advanced drainage and sanitation
system. Drains were shielded by stone
TOWN PLANNING slabs.
 Use of standardized ________ and sun
________Town/ _________bricks (1:2:4)
Citadel  ____________ done to protect from floods
and foreign invasion.
 Special purpose buildings in citadel.
E.g., Granary and Great bath at
________________.
 Domestic Architecture/ houses- 1 or 2
storeyed, no windows ( maintained
privacy)
 Dockyard found at ______________.
 _________ found at Dholavira for rain
water harvesting.
______Town  Archaeologists come to the conclusion
that social division might have existed.

SCULPTURES
Stone Sculptures

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Metal Casting

Metal casting was practiced in wide scale in almost all major sites of the civilization and
majorly used metal was Bronze [Cu (procured from khetri mines, Rajasthan) + Tin(
from Afghanistan and Iran) ] ,The technique used for Bronze Casting
was _________________/ ____________ Perdue Technique.
______________technique:
First, wax figures were
Dancing Girl from Mohenjodaro made and then covered
with clay.
 4 inch copper figure with long hair
tied in a bun and Left arm covered
with bangles, cowrie shell
necklace around the neck ( fashion
conscious people ) The clay as allowed to dry
 Tribanga posture ( found in many and then the figure was
other later sculptures) heated to melt the wax.

Other metal sculptures: bronze Bull figure from _____________ and buffalo figure
from_______________, copper birds and dogs figure from__________.
This wax was drained out
through a hole in the clay.
After that, the hollow clay
Terracotta Sculptures was filled with the metal
of choice. After cooling the
metal, the clay was
Compared to stone and bronze statues terracotta representations removed revealing the
of human form are ___________. desired metal figurine.

Left to Right

1. Mother Goddess,
from_________

2. Bearded Man,
Why some figures got
from________
interpreted as
3. Horned deity, from deities?
________
Repetition of the
figure in exactly same
Bull figure from Kalibangan and plough position in different
from Banawali suggest _____________to be sites, suggests that
primary occupation in outskirts of urban these were deities or
areas had some religious
importance.

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Some figures of bearded males are depicted in terracotta with coiling hair, rigid postures,
similar arms to the sides of the body, and legs slightly apart.

 Terracotta-encased toys, including carts with wheels called__________, whistles, birds,

animals, rattles, gamesmen, and discs, were also popular.
 In 2500 BC the most fascinating terracotta figure was discovered during the
excavation in _______________. This toy has a moveable head, which belongs to the
same time, 2500 BC. This type of toy was made for entertaining children as the head
is moving with controlled movement of the string.

SEALS

Usually made of steatite, and occasionally of agate, chert, copper, faience and terracotta,
gold and ivory with beautiful figures of animals, such as unicorn bull, rhinoceros, tiger,
elephant, bison, goat, buffalo, etc. Realistic rendering of these animals in various moods.
Purpose: mainly used in ____________activities. Seals were also used as _____________ (as holes
found on it)

Most remarkable seal is one depicted with figure in

centre and animals around. identified as ___________ by
some whereas some identify it as female deity or Script found on seals.
_________ Shiva.
Indus valley script is a
• This seal depicts human ____________ script with
figure seated _________legged. 375-400 symbols. It is
written in
• elephant and tiger = right side of seated figure b_____________on style and
not yet deciphered.
• On left: rhinoceros and buffalo. Symbols of this script
mainly found on
• +2 antelopes below seat. seals,copper tools, rim
of jars, bine rods etc.
• Seals such as these = between 2500 and 1500 Large letters of IVC
BCE + considerable numbers in sites such as script written using
Mohenjo-Daro. white stone on wood
was found in
• They threw light on the flora, fauna, social and _D_____________a_.
religious beliefs of those times, with the motifs,
etched on the seals.

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POTTERY

Indus valley pottery consists of wheel made as well as handmade pots.

Plain pottery- made of red clay. Eg.

Perforated pots
IVC pottery Painted pottery- black on red pottery,
polychrome pottery
Pots for decoration purpose- miniature
pots

 Plain pottery includes wares made from red clay, or red clay and red or grey slip,
with rows of screw-like knobs, and wares made from red clay or red clay and red
slip.
 Plain pottery is more common than painted ware. Most of the pottery had geometric
shapes and animals which were painted in the black glossy paint on the black
painted ware with a fine red coloured slip-on coating.
 The polychrome pottery was having small, geometric patterns vasas in red, black,
and green colour, but they are not much found in white or yellow colour. It is rare,
too, to find incised ware, and on the offering stands the incised decoration was
limited to the dishes and the bases of the pans.

BEADS AND JEWELLERY

The Harappan men and women used large variety of ornaments made up of materials
ranging from precious metals and gemstones to bone and baked clay.

 Jewellery includes : Necklaces, fillets, armlets and finger rings worn

by both men and women. . [ remember the jewelleries on the priest
king sculpture]
 Necklaces of gold and semiprecious metal stones, copper bracelets
and beads, gold earrings and head ornaments found in Mohenjodaro
and Lothal, bead industries at __________________and Lothal.
 Beads were of various shapes disc-shaped, cylindrical, spherical,
barrel-shaped, and segmented.
 Among the materials used for making beads were carnelian, Dead body buried with
amethyst, quartz, steatite, jasper, crystal, turquoise, lapis lazuli, etc. A ornaments at _______,
great deal of technical skill was employed in the manufacture of these Haryana
beads, which were also made of metals such as copper, bronze, and
gold, and shell, faience, and terracotta or burnt clay.

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CLOTHING, COSMETICS AND MEDICINE

• Spindles and spindle whorls in houses discovered è spinning of

cotton and wool was very common. Both rich and poor
practised spinning: finds of whorls made of expensive
faience as also of cheap pottery and shell.

• Men and women wore 2 separate pieces of attire similar

to ________ and ____________.

• Shawl covered left shoulder passing below right

shoulder. [priest king]

• People were conscious of ___________.

Different hairstyles were in vogue[hairstyle of dancing
girl and priest king] .___________ was used as cosmetic and
face-paint, lipstick and ________________ (eyeliner).

Findings like that of mortar and pestle suggests that some medicines
were also known to these people. Mortars and pestles were also used
for grinding other food grains.

Conclusion

The sites of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro have now been found in West Pakistan. There have
been approximately one hundred excavations of sites of the Indus Valley culture in India,
and some of those projects have revealed that the culture was spread over a wide area.
Being an important landmark in the prehistory of the Indian subcontinent, the Harappan
civilisation offers an excellent example to the modern world in ways of expertise in town
planning, water management and harvesting systems, and an unparalleled drainage
mechanism. The Indus writing system, so far, could not be translated because of the texts
being too short. Indus Script could also not be compared to a known writing system
because no bilingual inscriptions have been found. The Indus Script is also said to have
been used as an administrative tool at the time because ancient writing was generally
related to elites recording and controlling transactions. The Indus Valley's artists and
craftsmen were outstanding at a variety of skills; casting metal, carving stone, making
pottery, and carving terracotta images that featured simplified motifs of animals, plants,
and birds, which made the civilization rich.

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