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LOOKING AGAIN AT
INDIAN ART
LOOKING AGAIN AT
INDIAN ART

VIDYA DEHEJIA

Publications Division
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
Government of India
February 1978 (Magha 1899)

Publications Division

Price: Rs. 40.00 • $ 12.00 • £ 6.00

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To my young cousins

Sridharan, Bharatan

and
Somanathan
 : : :

Contents

An Introduction ix

1 Early Experiments in Stone:

The Buddhist Stupa at Sanchi 1

2 Excavating into a Mountainside:

The Buddhist Caves of Ajanta 12

3 Rock-Excavation Continues
Hindu Caves at Elephanta and Ellora 25
4 Greek Influence on Buddhist Art 38

5 Mahabalipuram
A Riddle in Stone 46
6 Amoral or Immoral ?
The Erotic Sculptures of Khajuraho 61

7 Temples of Orissa 73

8 Mastery in Metal
Temple Bronzes of the South 86

9 Fretted Perfection in Stone:

Hoysala Temples of Karnataka 94

10 The Temple that is a Township:

Srirangam 106

11 The Terrifying Gods of Tibet and Nepal 116

12 Fatehpur Sikri:
A Ghost Town 125
13 Rajput Miniature Painting:
A Synthesis of Hindu and Muslim 139
Notes and Acknowledgements 149

Glossary 151

Index 155
 An Introduction

India a land with a rich cultural and artistic heritage, and one
is
with a religion that reaches back over 3000 years. Dotted all over this
extensive country are remains of our ancient civilisation of cities, —
temples and shrines of various kinds — all testifying to the glories of
the past. Nearly all monuments
the artistic of the pre-Muslim days
are of a religious nature or were made for a religious purpose-
Secular art must have existed, for ancient Indian literature tells us that
kings lived in magnificent palaces, decorated with wall-paintings and
sculptures. But all this has vanished. What has come down to us today
is the religious art in the form of temples and sculptures of stone and
images in metal —substances that have stood the test of time. We assume
that the palaces of the rulers were built of brick and were decorated
with wooden sculptures, all of which have perished in the hot humid
climate of this country.

At same time, it would be wrong to think that the religious monu-

the
ments and images of our ancient times were the work of men inspired
solely by religious fervour. Occasionally there must have been a crafts-
man inspired by religious emotion and a divine vision. But the bulk of
India’s ancient religious art came from the hands of secular craftsmen.
These were men to whom sculpture and architecture was a profession.
The craftsman was a member of a guild that would work for any patron,
whether he was Hindu, Buddhist or Jain. On one occasion the sculptor
might be asked to make an image of the Hindu god Vishnu, on another
that of the Buddha and on a third occasion that of a Jain tirthankara.
The craftsmen worked, of course, according to priestly instructions.
When they were told to carve images of gods on a particular section of
temple wall, they did so. When they were left to themselves to complete
the decoration of a particular wall or pillar, they filled it with the forms
they loved and knew best. It is because of this we see so many figures
of scantily-dressed women in provocative poses decorating various por-
tions of our ancient temples. Nevertheless we can say that all the
remains of our ancient art are of a religious nature, in the sense that
they form part of a religious structure, and that all the sculpture is to
be found decorating a religious shrine.
It is only after the coming of the Muslims that the idea of art for its
own sake first appears on any large scale. The Muslims built a large

number of religious structures, but they also built tombs, forts and
palaces of stone. In addition, they developed the art of painting to a
remarkable degree. Paintings to illustrate manuscripts had begun in pre-
Muslim days, but the Moghuls now provided a great stimulus to the
art, and many non-religious books were illustrated with such paintings.
Today, of course, modern sculpture and painting are purely art for its
—
own sake carved or painted because it has some special significance for
the artist, or because it gives pleasure to both the artist and the viewer.

Whatever part of the country we live in, we have one or more famous
artistic monuments in our vicinity. We usually take these for granted
and regard them as part of the scenery. It is our intention to look more
closely at these monuments. All of us have noticed. I’m sure, that
ancient Indian art has several unusual characteristics unusal and —
peculiar to our twentieth-century eyes. We may have looked at relief
carvings in stone belonging to the centuries b.c. such as those decorat-
ing the monuments at Sanchi, and we may have wondered how it is

that the artists were so completely unable to depict depth or any three-
dimensional effect. (Plate 4) Or, we may have looked at sculpted and
painted scenes from mythology and commented on the fact that the main
figure of a story is represented much larger than the surrounding figures,
and somewhat out of proportion with the rest of the scene. (Plates 11,
14, 21) Or, we may have looked at frightening figures of the Tibetan
gods and wondered how such images came into existence (Plates 57-59).

X
There are reasons for these and other peculiarities. Sometimes, the
answer lies in the religious environment in which the artists worked;
sometimes in the material that they handled; sometimes in their craft
tradition. Certainly, we can admire a work of art without a knowledge
of any of these circumstances. But to appreciate that art truly, it is

necessary to understand the circumstances of its origin. And it is with

this in mind that we shall be looking at ancient Indian art.

My choice of subjects for the chapters of this book has been governed
mainly by the importance of the particular art sites and objects in

themselves. At the same time, I have tried to choose monuments repre-

sentative of the art of different parts of the country so that each one
of you, wherever you live, might find one chapter at least that discusses
a site in your area, and with which you are perhaps familiar I owe a
debt of gratitude to all those scholars who have written previously on
the art and culture of our country, and from whom, over the years. I
have imbibed much knowledge. Those whose views I have incorporated
in any detail are accorded special recognition in the Notes and Acknow-

ledgements at the end of the book.

 1

Early Experiments in Stone :

The Buddhist Stupa at Sanchi

J^ANCHi IS A site dear to the heart of Buddhists the world over, for
they believe that enshrined there is a portion of the remains of the
Buddha himself. It is a site equally dear to art lovers as providing
examples of some of the earliest sculpture in stone to be found in India.
From the town of Bhopal a two-hour journey by road through scrub
forest dotted with occasional trees and an infrequent ‘flame of the
forest’ brings you to the hill of Sanchi. A gentle climb then leads to
the site of the stupa and the adjacent Buddhist monastery buildings.

A first glance, specially from a distance, likely to give you a feeling

of disappointment. In front of you is a semi-circular mound paved with
stones. There is a terrace running around it some 15 feet from the
ground level. At the very top of the mound is a small balcony-like
structure. And surrounding the mound is a stone railing with four gate-
ways. Is this, you may ask yourself, the famous Buddhist stupa of
Sanchi ? You will feel completely reassured as you get closer to the
stupa and are able to see the famous gateways that are covered, every
inch of them, with an astonishing variety of carvings. [Plates 1 and 2]
The stupa is the focal point of the extensive Buddhist monastery at
Sanchi. What is a stupa ? an earthen mound contain-
It is basically just

ing relics of the dead. Originally such mounds were built over the
remains of any important person. But soon, the stupa became a

1
The Sanchi Stupa. \
Plate 1 ]

specifically Buddhist monument. It contained relics of the Buddha

himself, or of one of his chief disciples, or sometimes it was even erec-

ted to mark a spot sacred in the history of Buddhism.

Today Buddhism is a religion associated mainly with Ceylon, with

South-east and the Far East, including Japan and Korea. But
Asia,
Buddhism arose in India and was once a most popular faith in this
country. The Buddha himself was a Hindu prince, son of king Suddho-
dhana and queen Maya of Kapilavastu on the borderland of Nepal. He
was born in b.c. 563. The story is told in Buddhist scriptures of his
divine conception. Queen Maya is said to have had a dream in which
she saw a white elephant entering her womb. The prince was born too
in an unusual manner. We are told that while queen Maya stood under

a sal tree, the prince leapt out of her right hip and immediately took seven
steps. The sages who came to the royal court predicted that the new-born

2
prince Siddhartha would either become a great emperor or renounce
the world and become a great saint. The king took elaborate precautions
to see that his son did not follow the latter course. He made sure that
he saw nothing of the harsher realities of life and confined him solely to
the beautiful palace grounds. He surrounded him with luxuries to make
sure that he would have no desire to renounce the world. He was married
to a beautiful young princess with whom he led a life of pleasure.

In course of time, however, prince Siddhartha began to feel a great

urge to see the city, and he finally persuaded his father to let him drive
out in the royal chariot. The king had the streets cleaned and decorated
and he issued orders that only the young and beautiful be allowed along
the route to be followed. But on this first ride, Siddhartha saw a feeble,
broken-down old man on the wayside. Siddhartha was astonished since
the realities of old age had been kept from his view. On three sub-
sequent rides into the city, Siddhartha saw first a sick, diseased man,
then a dead man being carried to the cemetery, and finally a calm and
self-possessed monk. Contemplating these realities of life, Siddhartha
decided to renounce the world he knew, and to go out in search of the
Ultimate Truth and of the meaning of this earthly life of ours.
Siddhartha first tried severe penanee and fasting, in the course of which
his body was reduced to mere skin and bone. After six years of such
penance he decided that this was not the way to discover the Truth.
Giving up this method, Siddhartha went to Bodh Gaya and sat down
under a bodhi tree, resolving not to leave that spot until he found the
ultimate meaning to this life on earth. It was after long meditation under
the bodhi tree that Siddhartha finally discovered the Truth he was
seeking. After that he was known as the Buddha, which means ‘The
Enlightened One’.
The Buddha delivered his first sermon at Sarnath. He told his listeners
to follow a Middle Path and to avoid both the pursuit of worldly
pleasures and the practice of useless penances. The Buddha put forth
the Four Holy Truths of his doctrine. These basically explained that
all life is suffering ; that the reason for the suffering is a desire for
rebirth ; that the end of suffering is through stopping that desire and ;

that the means to stop that desire is an eight-fold path of correct living.
The eight-fold path consists of right speech, right conduct, right liveli-
hood; then right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration; and, lastly,

3
right intentions and right views. After much striving in this direction
comes nirvana— a state of release from earthly life and a slate of salvation.
The remaining years of the Buddha’s life were spent in preaching and
in gaining more and more converts to his faith. The Buddha died in
B.c. 483 at the age of 80. On his death-bed he is said to have told his
favourite disciple Ananda to build a stupa over the remains of his body
after it had been burnt on the funeral pyre.
And so we are back to the stupa. At Sanchi, the stupa mound is thought
to contain relics of the Buddha himself. The relics usually consist of ashes,
bones or a tooth, and these are contained within a small vessel which was
inserted into the very centre of the mound. On the Buddha’s death,
his remains were divided into eight portions and a stupa was built
over each. Around b.c. 250 the emperor Ashoka, a great patron of
Buddhism, opened up these eight stupas and redivided the relics among
a very large number of stupas. His action was prompted mainly by
his desire to see Buddhism spread all over the country. It was Ashoka
who chose Sanchi as the site for one of his stupas. Ashoka’s chief
queen came from the nearby prosperous town of Vidisa and the em-
peror seems to have decided that this was reason enough to build a
stupa there.
By Buddhism had become a very popular religion in India. At
B.c. 50,

this time, some 400 years after the Buddha’s passing, the need seems
to have been felt to convert the small Sanchi stupa into a more impres-
sive monument. It was enlarged to nearly twice its size and covered
with stone slabs from the Sanchi hillside. In addition, a stone railing with
gateways was erected around it.
In B.c. 50 most houses, palaces and other structures were being built
of wood, thatch and bamboo. To construct railings and gateways from
stone was something quite new. One of the reasons for the use of stone
must have been a desire to preserve the monument for future genera-
tions of worshippers. The architects, faced with the challenge of build-
ing in stone, found a simple answer. They decided to imitate exactly
in stone the wooden structures they were used to building. The railing
by three horizontal bars,
consists of pillars nine feet high, connected
each two feet wide. Over this were placed immense rounded stones to
form the top of the railing. Although each of the parts is cut out of
stone, each is a copy of the wooden original on which it is based. The

4
 joints of the railing, in particular, are those used by carpenters and not
by stone masons.
The entrance gateways too on wood and bamboo struc-
are modelled
tures. Basically, they are of very simple patternand consist of two tall
square pillars connected by three horizontal, lightly-curved bars. The
total height is 34 feet, with a width of 20 feet at the broadest part.
The thickness of the whole is only two feet. The entire gateway is top-
heavy and the method of jointing, as in the case of the railings, is logical
for wooden construction, but irrational for stone. The gateways stand
without struts or any other support. When Sanchi was rediscovered in

the one of the four gateways was still erect in its original posi-
1860s,
tion. Considering the method of construction used, it is amazing that
even one gateway should have remained standing for some 1900 years.
The main attraction of the Sanchi stupa, however, is the relief sculpture
depicting the story of the Buddha, that covers every portion of the stone
gateways. When we must remember that these
looking at this sculpture,
are first experiments in There were several difficulties facing the
stone.
sculptor, of which the technical problem was the main one. He was
faced, for the first time, with having to carve figures out of hard and

North gateway of the Sanchi

Stupa. Note how every inch is
covered with sculptural deco-
ration. [Plate 2]
 brittle stone, instead of the softer materials to which he was used. These
were craftsmen trained in a tradition of wood-carving and ivory-carving.
They now had to transfer their art to unfamiliar stone. Part of the
archaic nature of the Sanchi carvings is due to this fact- The carving is

always extremely shallow and very flat with no depiction of depth and
with no attempt at creating a three-dimensional effect. The main charac-
ter of a story was placed in the centre of a panel with subsidiary figures

on either side, arranged basically in a symmetrical manner. The human

body is depicted frontally and is rigid, often with feet turned sideways in

the same direction. The profile was generally avoided.

A special feature to be noted in this early narrative sculpture is that

the human figure of the Buddha is never represented. His presence is

always indicated by a symbol of some sort —a throne, a hodlii tree, a

stupa, footprints, or a combination of these. Look at Plate 3 for
example. The upper panel depicts the scene of the Buddha, as prince
Siddhartha, leaving the palace in search of Truth. There are four depic-
tions of a horse with an umbrella held over it, but with no human
figure seated on it. The umbrella here indicates the presence of
the Buddha seated on horseback. At the end of the panel is a pair of
footprints to depict the Buddha who has dismounted from his horse.
The panel below shows a scene of the worship of the Buddha, and in the
centre is a throne and a bodhi tree to suggest the Buddha’s presence.
The idea behind this use of symbols seems to have been that the
Buddha, in attaining Enlightenment, had freed himself from all bonds,
including the bonds of the human body. It was hence regarded as
improper to represent him in the human form, from which he had
gained his freedom. In chapter four we shall see that the human figure
of Buddha was later introduced into art. This occurred with the
the
development of Buddhism from the orthodox Hinayana faith, taught
by the Buddha, to the more popularised Mahayana Buddhism, in which
the human figure of the Buddha replaced symbols. But in this early
phase, only symbols were used. A large number of carvings at Sanchi
represent episodes from the life of the Buddha, particularly the Birth,
Leaving Home, Enlightenment, the First Sermon and the Death. But the
forced absence of the human figure of the Buddha from the scenes of
his own biography inconvenienced the sculptors considerably. They had

6
at their disposal only a limited number of symbols to depict the central
figure of all their stories.

Many curious features in the sculptures of Sanchi are due to deliberate

convention. One such striking feature is the method of continuous
story-telling : within a single panel various incidents of a story are
depicted so that the figure of the main character is seen three or four
times, depending on the number of incidents depicted. Consider,
for example, the story told in the upper panel of Plate 3 of the
Buddha leaving home. To the extreme left is the royal palace. The horse
with the umbrella held over it indicates the person of the Buddha. The
horse with umbrella is repeated four times to indicate the Buddha’s
progress away from the palace. At the extreme end of the panel we
see a pair of footprints indicating that the Buddha has dismounted from
the horse. Below, we see the horse minus the umbrella, in other words,
without its rider, being led back to the palace. In this instance imme-
diately successive stages of the story are brought together. But often,
events widely separated in time are also presented together in the same
panel so that the time factor is altogether eliminated.

Details of East ^atewaif of the Saiiclu Stupa. [Plate 3]

Another convention is that figures are shown above each other on the
ground of a relief, rather than being placed one behind the other, as in
actuality they are. This is clearly evident in the lower panel of Plate 3
where we see three rows of figures, carved one above the other, but
intended to represent figures one behind the other.

The panel on Plate 4 depicts carving of an archaic nature. The composi-

tion is symmetrical, the carving is extremely shallow, and there is no
attempt to depict any three-dimensional effect. The story depicted is
that of theBuddha converting the unbelieving Kasyapa brothers by per-
forming the miracle of walking on water. In the upper part of the panel
we see the Kasyapa brothers rowing out in a boat to rescue the Buddha.
The Buddha, however, shows himself to be in no need of help by walk-
ing on the water. Since the Buddha was not to be shown in human
form, his presence on the water is indicated by a slab of stone. The
Kasyapas are converted by this rniracle. In the lower portion of the
relief we
see them standing on the river bank with hands joined
together, humbly worshipping the Buddha. The Buddha’s presence is
now indicated by the throne at the right hand corner of the panel.
The artist has depicted nature not as it actually is, but in its most
easily recognisable aspects. Trees are shown with greatly enlarged
leaves and fruit, and one tree has monkeys on it. Waves are depicted
by wavy lines, and the idea of water is emphasized by carving on this
a crocodile, swans and lotuses. Some of the lotuses are shown in side
view, while others are depicted as if one was looking down on them.
The artists seem to have found no discrepancy in this. Depth and
perspective are completely ignored.

All the panels are not carved in this archaic manner. Some aremore
advanced, as, for instance, the panel on Plate 5 showing the Buddha
returning to his home town of Kapilavastu after obtaining Enlightenment.
To help identify the town as the Buddha’s birthplace we have a depiction,
at the very top of the panel, of the divine conception of the Buddha.
We see queen Maya asleep on her couch, and her vision of an elephant
entering her womb. By contrast with the Kasyapa panel, we find here a
complex arrangement of figures, with a distinct three-dimensional effect.
The rider at the top of the panel
emerges from behind a building, and
the banner he holds sweeps out and interrupts the railing-band above.
The central portion again shows overlapping figures and the umbrella

8
held over the horse (indicating the Buddha’s presence) is carved quite
distinctly in front of the railing above. The elephant to the left is shown
emerging from behind the building, and its ear is carved clearly in front
of the structure. Depth is successfully shown, and it would appear that

the craftsmen responsible for carving this panel, which is on the same
gateway as the Kasyapa panel, had adjusted better to the medium of
hard stone.

It seems likely that the entire process of enlarging and decorating the

Sanchi stupa took a quarter of a century from approximately b.c. 50 to

B.c. 25. Possibly, the progress in carving from the Kasyapa panel to the

Kapilavastu panel is indicative of a time gap of some 20 years. It

Kasyapa panel on the East

gateway of the Sanchi
Stupa. Note the fiat depic-
tion with no attempt at
any three-dimensional effect.
\Plate 4]
The Kapilavastu panel on
the East gateway of the
Sanchi Stupa. Here depth
is better depleted. [Plate 51
appears that the decoration of the Sanchi sliipa was the result of common
collective effort 2000 years ago.

This we surmise from the large number of inscriptions carved on the

railings and gateways of the Sanchi stupa. They are engraved in the
early Indian script known as Brahmi. and all are records of donations.
The inscriptions are brief : they give the name of the donor, his
occupation, and the town to which he belonged. From them we find
that the decoration of the Sanchi stupa was made possible by contribu-
tions from the common man —the merchant, the trader, the householder
and the labourer. It was these people who donated the individual
pillars of the railing, the bars that connect these pillars, sections of the
top of the railing, and portions of the carvings on the gateways.
IPlates 4 and 51.

Sanchi is one well-preserved example of a stupa belonging to the first

century b.c. Explorations all over India are bringing to light more re-

mains of the ancient period —at Bodh Gaya, at Nagpur, at Amaravati in

Andhra Pradesh, Mathura and in Rajasthan. It appears that in the first

at
century b.c., was dotted with stupas decorated with sculptures
India
depicting the story of the Buddha. Stone was being used on a large
scale for the first time. And it seems too that all these monuments were
constructed and decorated, not through grants from the kings and the
nobles, but through the generosity of people like you and me-
 a

Excavating into a Mountainside

The Buddhist Caves of Ajanta

TTnii YEAR IS A.D. 480. We stand contemplating a beautiful ravine —

sweep of curved rock-surface surrounded by greenery, and with paths
leading down to the stream flowing across the valley. We are at the site
of a Buddhist rock-cut monastery, known by the name of Ajanta. Twenty
years ago, in a.d. 460, hardly anyone visited this quiet spot which had
only two Buddhist chapels and a few residential halls for a small group
of monks. The monastery in this form had been in existence for around
500 years. Today, in a.d. 480, the early rays of the sun filtering through
the morning mist reveal a scene humming with activity. Ajanta has
now grown into an extensive monastery. The numbers of the monks have
increased, and the morning air is filled with the sound of chants from
the chapels. Groups of artisans with pick and chisel, and painters
mixing colours, arc busily active, getting ready to start their day’s work.
The monastic caves at Ajanta are being adorned with sculptures, and
their walls covered with paintings illustrating the Buddhist legend.
Word has spread about the monastery at Ajanta and the magnificent
work that is being done to decorate its numerous caves. Ajanta lies in
the Vakataka empire, close to a major trade route cutting across the
country from east to west. Wealthy merchants and traders moving along
this route have begun to break journey at Ajanta. They contribute in
various ways towards the decoration and expansion of the monastery,
thus hoping to gain spiritual merit as well as success in their enterprise.

12
Nagapala and Suvarnadatta are merchants who have arrived at Ajanta
many long days of tedious travel. They are
late the night before, after
exchanging notes with each other.
Nagapala I have heard that since the emperor Harishena came
:

into power 15 years ago, grand plans have been

made for Ajanta.
Suvarnadatta : Yes. And it is all the more remarkable since the
emperor himself is not a Buddhist. But he is truly
magnanimous and he has approved and encouraged
the great art project at Ajanta.
Nagapala : I have heard too that the monastery is to be the
first to have its walls completely covered with
paintings.
Suvarnadatta : I believe that master painters from far distant places

have come to Ajanta to contribute their best work

to adorning the monastery. The painters are working
together with the sculptors to create the ultimate
effect.
Nagapala : I am told that the royal courtiers and nobles, and
even the ministers are making contributions for this
purpose. Do you think they will be interested in
donations from simple merchants like you and me?
Suvarnadatta ; Why not ? After all, money is money. We may not
be able to donate entire caves like those worthies,
but it is certainly my ambition to have a beautiful
scene painted, in my name, in one of the caves.
All around is a bustle of activity and the air resounds with the crack

of pick and hammer against hard rock. Nagapala and Suvarnadatta stop
to watch a set of new caves that have just been commenced. A rough
outline has been marked on the rock and the cutting has started. The
merchants note with interest that the excavation starts from the top,
proceeding downwards. Tt makes sense’, remarks Nagapala. ‘This way
there is no need for scaffolding until much later’. The merchants watch
a little longer as the stone cutters start blocking out a pillar. They ob-
serve one cutter taking elaborate measurements and from time to time
consulting a detailed plan. This must be the plan drawn up by the master
View of the rock scarp at Ajanta, showing four of the
thirty monastic caves at the site, [Plate 6, pp. 14 —15]
13
architect. ‘Do you notice’, says Suvarnadatta, ‘that the stone cutters and
sculptors work almost hand hand ? Look
in Here is a ! sculptor com-
pleting the decoration of a pillar on the verandah, while the inside is

!’
still just being blocked out
Nagapala and Suvarnadatta walk into some of the completed viharas,
the residential halls for the monks. At Ajanta all these halls are so
planned as to include a shrine at the The viharas are of
far end.
different sizes, they notice, but all are built on very similar lines.
There is a pillared verandah in front, from which three doors and two
windows lead into the main hall. The side walls of this hall have doors
opening into 15 to 20 small bare cells for the monks to live in. The
central area of the hall contains a colonnade of 20 pillars which creates a
large central square space with aisles all around. In the centre of the rear
wall doorway leading into a shrine chamber containing a large rock-
is a
cut image of the Buddha. The door jambs are adorned with floral carv-
ing, and most of them also have exquisitely sculptured female figures

alongside. The rock-cut Buddha image contained within each shrine is

of impressive proportions, and the calm, self-absorbed expression on
the face of the figures is most inspiring.
Floor Flan of a typical cihara at Ajanta. \ Plate 7]

O 5 10 15 JO jO 40 50 fllT
Nagapala and Suvarnadatta walk on to one of the chailijas (chapels) from
which the sound of chanting is just dying away. The entire facade of
this chaitya is beautifully decorated with sculptured images, and light
enters the interior through a magnificent horse-shoe-shaped window. On
either side of the little pillared porch leading to the interior are two
standing Buddha figures in a relaxed pose- Suvarnadatta notices that the
images appear to be facing him as he enters the chaitya. Their benign
expressions seem to create in him a feeling of calm, and of renewed
faith and reassurance. The interior has an inverted U-shaped end, with
decorated pillars that follow this apsidal shape of the chaitya.

The two merchants first walk around the pradakshina path created by
the pillars, and then into the central aisle to kneel in front of the stupa
at the far end. This is the age-old plan and pattern of worship of the
Buddhist chapel, over 500 years ago. But in the earlier
established
chaityas, the object of worship was a plain, undecorated stupa that re-
presented the Buddha. At that early stage the human figure of the
Buddha was never represented in painting and sculpture: his presence
was indicated instead by a symbol. Now Buddhism had evolved into a
more popular form known as Mahayana. The Buddha had been made
into God, and the human figure of the Buddha had been introduced into
art, mostly replacing the symbol. But, in the chaitya, the monastic
authorities evidently did not feel it justified to give up the established
form of the stupa as the object of worship. At the same time they wished
to introduce a figure of the Buddha. This they achieved by making the
stupa into an imposing structure with an ornamental niche in front within
which they sculpted a standing image of the Buddha.

The merchants leave the chapel and walk a little farther, stopping at a
cave where the walls are being prepared for painting. The stone masons
have left the walls of the cave rough and uneven since this provides a
good grip for the plaster laid on it. On one side, two men are busy
preparing the plaster which consists of mud to which sand, rice husk
and straw are being added. Two layers of this plaster are laid against
the wall, the first layer containing the coarser material, and the second
layer being ground smoother.

‘Do you paint directly on this?’, Nagapala asks one of the workmen- ‘We
shall apply a layer of limewash over the plaster to further smooth the

17
whispers his companion. ‘And look at the exquisite tilt of the head and
the sensitive gesture of the fingers. Isn’t it perfect?’

Suddenly there is a lot of excitement and commotion. Chariots and

horses are to be seen- Word passes round that two of the Emperor’s
trusted They have come to inspect the magnificent
nobles are here.
caves that have commissioned. The two nobles are dressed in
they
silken robes and are adorned with flowers and jewellery. They stroll down
towards their two caves that are located next to each other. The caves
are in the final stages of completion.

Varahadeva (the Emperor’s chief minister)

: I have got the royal poet to draw up my family
tree in verse, and I’m going to have this inscribed
on the walls of my cave. Wouldn’t you like to do
the same?
Somadeva That is indeed a splendid idea. I also want to have
something written about the vast amount of money
I have spent on the decoration. How shall I put it?

I think I shall have it written in my cave that the

cost is so high that the poor cannot even imagine it.

Varahadeva That is a fine phrase. I am having my cave described

as resembling the palace of the lord of gods. And
the poet has added a fine touch. He suggested des-
cribing it as clothed in the brilliance of Indra’s crown.

It is early morning at Ajanta 15 years later: the year is a.d. 495. The
bustling activity of 15 years ago has been replaced by an uneasy silence,
broken by hurried conferences and whispered rumours. The emperor
Harishena is dead and his son has proved unable to maintain control
over the empire- The adjacent Asmaka rulers have been strengthening
their already well-equipped army, and the word is going round that
they are about to invade and take over the Vakataka empire. At Ajanta,
as elsewhere in Vakataka territory, there are rumours of defeat and
concern for the future. A sense almost of doom seems to be hanging
over the site. There are very few craftsmen around, and those that are
there seem to have lost interest in their handiwork. The inspired and
artistic paintings of 15 years ago are gone. In their place are repetitive
depictions of Buddha images, wall after wall being covered with these.

23
A.D. 500. Work at Ajanta has come to a standstill.Only the monks still

remain at the monastery. Often, after the morning ritual, they go

around the incomplete caves, gazing sadly at the unfinished paintings,
the half-plastered walls, and the half-carved doorways.

Work on the 30 Buddhist caves at Ajanta was over in a remarkably short

period,and the end of artistic activity there was both abrupt and final.

The caves were never worked on again.

A D. 1819. Two British officers stationed at Aurangabad are out on
their horses exploring the area. About 40 miles from Aurangabad they
come to a beautiful ravine —a sweep of curved rock-surface completely
overgrown with greenery, and with a clear stream flowing below. They
ride down to the stream to water their ponies. One of them, glancing
around, seems to discern a path leading upwards. Deciding to ex-
plore, he vanishes into the greenery. A while later, his companion
little

hears an excited shout, and the officer comes scrambling down the
slope calling out incoherently about caves with sculptures and paintings.
Ajanta is rediscovered.
 3

Rock-Excavation Continues :

Hindu Caves at Elephanta and Ellora

Around a.d. 500, withthe rapid rise to power of the Kalachuri

dynasty, we find the Hindus for the first time using stone as the
medium of their art. These monuments are not just of stone piled upon
stone, but rather stone hewn out of a mountainside. The desire for
permanence must have been one of the reasons for the change from
brick and wood and that too the solid, immovable rock of a
to stone,
mountainside. An one of the rock-cut caves expresses
inscription in
this feeling when the donor claims the construction of a structure that
will last a kalpa, or a cosmic era. The Kalachuri rulers were ardent
worshippers of Siva and one of their greatest monuments is the famous
cave on Elephanta island, just off Bombay.
Around a.d. 500, Vakataka empire suddenly crumbled, and the
the
hundreds of craftsmen who had worked on the decoration of the exten-
sive Buddhist monastery at Ajanta suddenly found themselves out of
work. These craftsmen had been specially trained in the art of creating
elaborate rock-cut structures out of a mountainside. In a period of poli-
tical instability even work on standard structural monuments such as
houses and palaces must have been difficult to find. Attracted by the
stabler economic and political situation of the Bombay region under
Kalachuri rule, some of the craftsmen from the Ajanta area migrated
towards the west coast. Many of these craftsmen must have been

25
Hindus, despite the fact that they had worked on the decoration of the
Buddhist monastery at Ajanta. Under Kalachuri patronage they easily
adjusted their architectural and sculptural forms to the requirements of
their own religion.

Throughout western India, the Buddhists had already established

numerous rock-cut monasteries with chaityas for worship as well as a
number of residential caves for the monks to live in. From b.c. 250 onwards
the Buddhists were constructing stupas and rock monasteries and adorn-
ing these with stone sculptures. The peak of Buddhist rock-cutting had
been reached in the caves at Ajanta with their magnificent sculpted
and painted decoration. It is a strange and somewhat unexpected fact
that the earliest major monuments of Hindu art date from as late as
A.D. 500, while the religion itself may be traced back to b.c. 1200. All art
in stone that has survived in India prior to a.d. 500 was devoted to

Buddhism. Monuments to the Hindu religion too must have been erected
throughout these centuries by devout Hindus. Presumably, these were
all in some perishable medium such as mud, brick, thatch and bamboo

so that none of them has survived to the present day. It seems to have
been only the Buddhists who very early adopted the permanent medium
of stone as the medium of their religious and artistic expression.

Both the Buddhist and Hindu rock-cut sites were monastic establish-
ments located in isolated places. But there is one feature that distin-
guishes the two. Residential halls for the monks form an essential part of
a Buddhist site, while this feature of providing rock-cut accommodation
is abandoned in Hindu cave sites. Thus, of the 30 caves at the Buddhist
monastery of Ajanta, only four are chapels exclusively for worship,
while the remaining caves are residential and contain small rock-cut
cells for the monks to live in. By contrast, all Hindu caves are for
worship only and none of them is intended to be residential. It would
seem that the Hindus built the rather mundane cells of their ascetics out
of mud, thatch and brick, in the vicinity of their rock-cut temples.

The cave temple on Elephanta island is cut from a chocolate-brown

fine-grained sandstone, a material that can be carved with precision and
detail. All the Buddhist caves constructed so far had a single entrance
in the front so that the interior remained rather dark. At Elephanta we
now have the introduction of a new plan and three great pillared

26
entrances allow light to flood into the pillared interior. The shrine,
which contains on all four sides so that
a Sivalinga, also has entrances
light enters the very interior of the sanctum. These four entrances are
flanked by huge sculpted doorkeepers. Although this type of rock-cutting
is referred to as rock it is more truly sculpture on a
architecture,
gigantic scale. Following a carefully drawn-up plan, vast quantities of
rock are scooped out of the mountainside to result in the basic lay-out
of the caves. We see pillars and arches and entrances, but none of these
involve any constructional principles. Although modelled on structural
buildings, the columns of the rock-cut caves do not actually support the
roof, nor do the arches carry any weight.

ELLEPHANTA ISLAND: PLAN OF MAIN CAVE

0 mahAocva ® NATAQAJA - ^IVA

(2) AROHANARJf^VARA - SIVA (g) ANQM AK A SURAVAOMAMURTi - s'l VA
(3) pAqvatI in attitude or mAna ^ s'iva shrink.
0 rAvana under kailAsa (g) kalvAnasunoaqamCirti sTiva

0 s'lVA AS lakulIs'a ^ oanoAohaqa- sWa

Floor Plan of Cave 1 at ElephatUa. Note the three separate entrances that allow light
to enter the interior from different directions^, [Plate 12]

27
The Hindus specialised in the sculptural decoration of their caves and
this they carried to great heights. The Elephanta cave contains ten enor-
mous and spectacular carvings of the legend of Siva. The panels are
placed in deep niches and are arranged around the main hall according
to a carefully-thought-out scheme.

Most awe-inspiring of all is a gigantic carving of a Saivite Trinity,

located at the end of the cave, opposite the north entrance to the temple.
[Plate 13] This triple conception presents Tatpurusha or the Supreme
form of Siva as the central of the three faces. To the left in profile is

the skull-crowned head of Aghora-Bhairava, or Siva in his form of

Close-up of Saivu Trinity in Cave 1 at Elephanta. [Plate H]

Destroyer. Balancing on the right is the face of Parvati, the beautiful
it

wife of Siva. The heads emerge from the rock within a box-like niche,
ten-and-a-half feet deep. The head and shoulders rise to a height of
almost 18 feet above a moulded base that is itself three feet high.
Like the doorways of the main shrine, the Trinity too is flanked by
guardians measuring 13 feet in height. The breadth of the shoulders
belongs to the central face. It is hemmed in by hands, one raised
(damaged), and the other resting on the base holding a fruit. The
sculptor has conceived and carved the whole so skilfully that the
shoulders also belong to the faces in profile. These shoulders are turned
against the side faces so that the hands rest on the backs of the
shoulders. The hand on the left, belonging to the wrathful face, has a
snake emerging from between the fingers. Skulls and serpents are to be
seen in the headdress and the earring too is a snake. The hand
on the right belonging to the blissful face holds a lotus flower. The
full lips of the faces are carved in accordance with the ancient ideal
of beauty which maintained that the lips should have the fullness of a
mango. The three gigantic heads convey perfectly the impassiveness and
serenity of the Supreme form of Siva, the scowling mood of the angry
Aghora-Bhairava, and the youth and peace of the face of Parvati.
The subsidiary sculptures in the cave are all dedicated to a significant
aspect of Siva. These sculptures are each on a magnificent scale, some
15 to and may be called subsidiary only by comparison
18 feet high,
with the Trinity. Among
the most outstanding panels is an exquisite
depiction of Siva as Ardhanari or Half-Woman. (Plate 14) The right half
of the figure represents Parvati and has its wide hip and full breast
emphasized. One of her hands holds up a mirror. The left side represents
Siva and is straight-bodied with one hand resting on the bull Nandi.
Surrounding the figure are various gods, each on their characteristic
animal mounts, and above them are to be seen flying gandharvas and
apsaras. Another masterly panel depicts the marriage of Siva and
Parvati. A third depicts Siva as Gangadhara, or He who upheld the
river Ganga. Yet another depicts Siva in an aggressive mood destroying
the demon Andhaka.

Unfortunately, all these panels are in a partially ruined condition due to

the ruthless desecration of the cave by the Portuguese in the sixteenth
century. It seems that the commander of the military garrison stationed on

29
Siva as Ardhanari, or Half-woman, from the Elephanta cave. The left half represents Siva
with one hand resting on his hull Nandi, and. the ri^ht half depicts Parvati. [Plate J4]

the island amused himself by having artillery practice down the corridors
of the hall. The result is that nearly all of the great sculptured panels
are thoroughly smashed from the waist down.

By about a.d. 550, excavating activity gradually declined in the Bombay

region and Kalachuri patronage shifted towards Ellora. Some of the

30
 —

same hereditary craftsmen who had come from the Ajanta region to-
wards the west coast a generation or two before, now appear to have
moved back to their original homeland. Starting around a.d. 550, we
find splendid Hindu caves being cut at Ellora. These are modelled in
many respects on the plan established at Elephanta, but certain adjust-
ments and improvements have been introduced to give them maturity.

One splendid example is the Dhumar Lena cave (cave 29) which, unlike
Elephanta, is no '
ilaterally symmetrical. [Plate 15] The focal point of
the temple is a i five central on each of its four
shrine with doorways
sides, flanked by gigantic doorkeepers and female attendants. The shrine
is contained within a group of halls, so arranged as to form a cross in

plan. Leading up to the shrine, and partly enclosing it, is the main hall
a gallery 150 feet long and 50 feet wide, with a row of five pillars on each
side. Flanking the main hall on each side are the side wings, which are
pillared courts, leading to the two side entrances. The entire width
across the temple between the side entrances measures the same as its
depth — —
150 feet and the effect is one of pillared arcades from all three
entrances converging on to the shrine. The pillars are of stupendous
proportions being five feet wide at the base and 15 feet high. Much
of the impressive architectural effect of the interior is due to the
system of lighting, which being admitted from three different directions,
enters into every part of the interior and casts intricate shadows through-
out. The various walls of the cave contain large sculptured scenes des-
cribing the legend of Siva. The Dhumar Lena impresses by its sheer
massiveness and also by the enormity of its sculptured panels.

Ellora reached the real peak of its glory, however, in its final phase of
excavation under the Rashtrakuta rulers in the eighth century. At this
time some truly Hindu caves were carved caves which,
magnificent —
according to contemporary inscription, struck wonder into even the gods.
The climax of this Rashtrakuta rock architecture is to be found in the
Kailasa temple at Ellora. [Plate 16] This structure was due to the patro-
nage of Krishna I of the Rashtrakuta dynasty who ruled from a.d. 757 to
A.D. 783, at a time when the dynasty was at the height of its power.

A view of the Kailasa temple is apt to leave one breathless with

first

astonishment; unfortunately, the camera is unable to capture the

grandeur in its entirety. The whole temple has been quarried out of the

31
 »'
«, .VM,
f|„r Pl«. ot ,l.c
more [Plate />l
nhiimtir Una is ch-arli/ logical.
 The Kaihm temple at Ellora, entirely quarried out of the rock of the hillside. \Plate 16]

hillside. The first stage of the work, although laborious, was simple. It

consisted in excavating out of the hillside four huge trenches at right

angles to form a rectangle 300 feet by 175 feet. This outlined the shape
of the courtyard and left standing in the middle a large mass of rock
over 200 feet long and 100 feet wide. From this mass the temple itself
was carved. Beginning from the top, the process of roughly hewing this
mass into shape now began. The stone masons seem to have been
followed immediately by the sculptors who completed each portion of
the carved detail as the work progressed downwards, thus avoiding the
need for scaffolding.

The process must have been most complex. Masses of rock had to be
left intact, not just for the various levels of the temple itself, but also

33
 Floor Plan of the Kailasa temple at Ellora. [Plate 17]

34
for various additional structures including the two free-standing pillars
on the floor of the courtyard as well as the large rock-cut animals. The
temple is certainly a stupendous piece of work. It has one main dis-
advantage: to some extent it is left at the bottom of a deep quarry.
The architects tried to compensate for this by placing the entire temple
on a tall base which is 25 feet high.

The scheme of the Kailasa resolves itself into four parts: the body of
the temple itself; the entrance gateway; an intermediary shrine for Siva’s

bull Nandi; and the pillared caves cut into the walls of the surround-
ing quarry. The lofty substantial base on which the temple is carved
has, at first sight, the appearance of a ground storey. The deeply carved
panels of this base are one of the most striking features of the temple.
They and elephants that appear to be effortlessly sup-
consist of lions
porting the temple on their backs. The temple proper consists of a
shrine preceded by a spacious pillared hall, with further pillared halls
extending as wings to the east and west, giving the temple a roughly
cross-like plan.

Around the sanctum are carved five subsidiary shrines. Over the whole
rises the stately shrine tower in three levels, reaching up to a total height
of 95 feet. Each of the five subsidiary shrines repeats this theme on a
reduced scale. The various architectural elements have all been assemb-
led in an orderly and artistic manner to form a unified whole. The
Nandi shrine reaches up to a height of 50 feet and is a pavilion 20 feet
square. It too stands on a high decorated base in order to bring it to a
level with the rest of the temple to which it is connected with a bridge.
On the opposite side the Nandi shrine is joined by another bridge to
the main entrance which is a double-storied gatehouse. The exterior
walls of all these structures are decorated in a similar manner, with
niches enclosing statues of various gods. On each side of the Nandi
shrine is a somewhat sturdy free-standing pillar, 51 feet high- The
walls the Kailasa temple are entirely covered with scenes from
of
Saiva mythology and from the Ramayana. One of the most dra-
matic of a number of scenes, all carved on a monumental scale, is
to be seen in Plate 18: it depicts Ravana attempting to shake Mount
Kailasa. What we see here is a new type of relief composition in which
some of the figures are carved completely in the round, and in which
the whole action takes place within a deep box. Space and light and

35
shade have been skilfully used in the composition. This is an illustration
of an episode from the Ramayana in which Ravana tries to uproot Mount
Kailasa to use it as a kind of magic weapon in his war against Rama.
Many-headed Ravana is depicted with multiple arms spread out like the
spokes of a wheel, and their arrangement gives an indication of the
enormous pressure he is exerting against Siva’s mountain home. In the
upper part of the composition we see Siva seated in an elegant pose.
His outstretched foot, barely touching the ground, imprisons Ravana
below the mountain. Parvati, somewhat alarmed, clutches Siva’s arm
as she feels the mountain quake, and a frightened maid is seen in the
background.
There are a vast number of sculptured panels, depicting every major
legend from the mythology of Siva and from the Ramayana, but they
are, of course, too numerous to describe in any detail. The panel
discussed above gives a good idea of the size and the effectiveness of
these compositions.

It appears that originally certain portions of the temple were painted,

since a few traces of this painting are still to be seen. A further indica-
tion of its obtained from the fact that when the
painted condition is

Muslims conquered the area at the beginning of the sixteenth century,

they described the Kailasa as Rang Mahal or Coloured Palace.

The Kailasa temple at Ellora is one of the last examples, and probably
the greatest, of the rock-cut architecture of India. With
achievement this
the sculptors seem to have felt that the highest peak had been reached.
A contemporary inscription tells us that the Hindu gods rode in their
celestial cars over the temple and were struck with wonder by it.
Another inscription tells us that the architect of the Kailasa, on seeing
the finished temple, was himself astounded and exclaimed ‘Was it indeed
I who built this?’ By the tenth century a.d. the rock-cut movement
ceased in India. Temples were no longer hewn out of solid rock, but
were now erected solely by piling up stone upon stone. Thus ended a
phase of rock architecture started by the Buddhists in b.c. 250 and
developed to magnificent proportions by the Hindus between the sixth
and tenth centuries a.d.

^Havana attempting to shake Mount Kailasa, from the Kailasa temple at Ellora. Notice the
deep cutting resulting in a great play of light and shade. [Plate /^]

37
4

Greek Influence on Buddhist Art

A.T ATIME when the study of Indian art was in its infancy, and when
all art was judged by European standards, the Greek-inspired art of

north-west India was thought to be the finest school of Indian art, a

school that produced works of grace and realism. Pieces such as the
Buddha of Plate 19 were hailed as being among the finest works of art
in India. But with rising nationalist feeling, the pendulum swung to the

other extreme. The Greek-inspired sculpture began to be described, in

scornful terms, as an imitation of an imitation, and the Buddha figures
were labelled sapless products. Neither judgement is very fair. Although
somewhat insipid and effeminate, the Greek-inspired Buddha is also
smiling, handsome and dignified.

This Greek-inspired art of north-west India is known as the Gandharan

school of art. It gets its name from the area known as Gandhara that
comprises parts of Baluchistan, northern Pakistan and north-west India.
Greek influence area dates from the invasion of Alexander the
in this
Great Alexander was unable to penetrate any distance into
in b.c. 327.
India because his army mutinied when it reached the river Beas, refus-
ing to proceed any further. Alexander was compelled to retreat at this
stage and was forced to abandon his dream of conquering India. The
provinces of north-western India that had submitted to him, he left in the
hands of various Indian governors. He divided his conquests in the rest
of Asia into several provinces which he placed in the hands of
Greek governors.

38
 Head of Buddha from the Gandharan region showing the in-
fluence of Greek art on the Buddhist art of India. \Plate 79 ]

Alexander died soon after and was succeeded in theAsian part of his
empire by Seleucus. The provinces of Parthia and Bactria (north-west
Baluchistan) remained two important provinces of the empire of Seleucus
until around b c 250, when they revolted and established their indepen-
. .

dence. The two kingdoms then continued to flourish under several

independent Greek rulers. Excavations at various sites in Bactria reveal
that these Greek kingdoms tended and nurtured Greek culture. We
have tangible evidence of this in the form of Greek architectural and
ornamental details, of Greek sculpture and Greek inscriptions. In
Pakistan and north-west India too we have evidence of the continued rule

39
of Indo-Greek kingdoms, with the ruler Menander being one of the most
important and famous of Indo-Greek kings.

The story of Indo-Greek art the Kushans invading this

starts with
Greek-occupied area, and it around the Kushan realisation of
revolves
the value of the Greek traditions they found in the regions they con-
quered. The Kushans were originally part of the nomadic tribes called
the Yuehchi, who were pushed out of the Chinese province of Kansu
in the second century b.c. They came to the Greek province of Bactria

where they settled in b.c. 130 and became the ruling power after defeat-
ing the local Greek dynasty. The Kushans soon became closely
integrated with the local people. Here they came across Greek civilisa-
tion. They learned to appreciate its value and, as the ruling power, they
continued to cultivate these Greek traditions. By about b.c. 90 the
Kushans moved into Pakistan and north-west India and defeated the
already weak Indo-Greek kingdoms of the area. Here too they continued
to build on the same Greek foundations. By the time the third Kushan
ruler Kanishka came to the throne, the Kushan empire extended from
Bactria to Mathura.

In India came into contact with the powerful Buddhist

the Kushans
religion. The Hinayana Buddhism taught by the Buddha had, by this
stage, given way to a more lenient, more popular faith in which the
Buddha had been made into a god. The Buddha never claimed to be
anything more than a human being who had found a path to salvation.
But the masses who had been converted to Buddhism found that they
needed an object on which to fix their devotion. And what better than
to worship their founder as a divine being ? The Buddhist world in India
was ready for this innovation.
The invading Kushan rulers found themselves confronted with a demand
for this new element —
the divine figure of the Buddha. The Kushans had
the answer. Drawing on the lingering Greek traditions of Bactria, which
they had learned to appreciate and preserve, they began to produce
Buddha figures modelled on the style of the young and handsome Greek
Apollo. Being an intelligent people with an international outlook, they
recruited craftsmen from Greek Bactria, from the Persian territories and
perhaps even from the Roman provinces of western Asia. Trade flouris-
hed in the Kushan empire and luxury goods including pieces of art from

40
Seated Buddha from the Gandharan region. [Plate 20]
 a

Alexandria and Egypt, from China and India, poured into the Kushan
warehouses. In such an atmosphere did the Greek-inspired art of
Gandhara come into being.
The typical Gandharan head of the Buddha has adolescent features and
wavy hair. IPlate 201 In this it strongly resembles the Greek Apollo.
However, Indian tradition maintained that any proper likeness of the
Buddha had to incorporate certain major signs of superhuman perfec-
tion that distinguished the body of the Buddha from those of ordinary
mortals. These signs of physical and spiritual perfection include the
mound on the top of the skull known as the usnisa, the tuft of
hair between the eyebrows which was called the tirna, and also
the long ear-lobes. To those used to the perfection of the Greek Apollo,
the mound on the skull was something strange. The usnisa was, there-
fore, disguised under the wavy, curly hair and made to look like a rather
elegant hair-do. The fact that the urna was actually a tuft of hair
between the eyebrows was not emphasized. It was depicted in such a
manner that it could be taken to be a tika applied to the forehead.
The body proportions of the Gandharan Buddha have a ratio of five
heads to the total height, exactly as in late Roman sculpture. The
images are usually dressed in a robe which has deep, ridged folds —
robe exactly similar to the Roman toga. The Gandharan Buddhas are
beautiful images but their beauty is largely a physical one. We would
look in vain for an expression revealing calm, deep meditation.

Apart from the free-standing Buddha images, there is a large amount of

narrative relief sculpture on slabs of stone. These slabs were generally
placed against the surface of the many stupas that were constructed
in the monasteries of the Gandharan region. In the early school of
Buddhist art represented by the Sanchi carvings, it was usual to depict
the Buddha’s presence by an emblem of some sort. The introduction of
the Buddha images in Gandharan sculpture enlarged the scope of the
sculptor. He was now able to depict a number of scenes, such as episodes
from the Buddha’s childhood and youth, all of which was not possible
earlier, when the figure of the Buddha was not depicted.

It is perhaps in connection with scenes of the death of the Buddha that

the greatest differences are to be seen in the Gandharan as compared to
the earlier schools of Buddhist art. When the Buddha was represented

42
 Gandharan relief depicting the Death of the Buddha. [Plate 2/1

by a symbol only, the death of the Master was shown by a stupa. Now
the figure of the Buddha on a couch occupies the centre of the
lying
panel from which emerge rows of figures. Sorrow is writ large on the
faces and in the actions of the mourners. The Malla chieftains the —
chiefs of the area in which the Buddha died—are shown behind the
Buddha’s couch, and are depicted as unrestrained in their grief. The
monks on either side of the Buddha’s couch are shown more resigned.
The artist has tried to make it appear as if the recumbent dead figure
of the Buddha was in a posture of sleep and was lying relaxed on its
side. However, the manner in which the lower edge* of the robe has

been shown stiff and rigid makes it appear like a standing image placed
on its side. [Plate 21]

43
 —

The mingling of east and west in composite art

Gandhara resulted in a
that can rarely be mistaken for a western product, but which nearly
always includes recognizable western features. The imitation of western
drapery is one of these factors, and the smooth rounded features of
many of the faces another such. Consider the figure of queen Maya in
is

Plate 22. The robe she is wearing, her rounded features, her hair style
all are un-Indian. The scene shows the birth of the Buddha with the in-

fant Buddha leaping out of his mother’s side as she stands under a sal
tree. Other western features in Gandharan art include various ornamental
details, such as cupids, which are sometimes startlingly western.

A vast quantity of Gandharan sculpture has been recovered. Unfor-

tunately, however, more than half these carvings are examples of
Gandharan relief depicting the birth of the Buddha. Note the un-
Indian appearance of the whole, specially of queen Maya herself. \ Plate 22]
 a

completely uninspired work. One of the most important reasons for the
constant repetition of subjects and for the unevenness of the workman-
ship was the rapidly growing demand for this style of sculpture —
demand which followed the expansion of Buddhism under the patronage
of the Kushans. An ever-increasing number of stupas and chapels came
into being, and sculptured slabs and free-standing Buddha images were
required to decorate these. When quantity becomes more important than
quality, art of any kind, and particularly religious art, is bound to become

repetitive and mechanical.

Over what period of time did Gandharan art flourish? The Greek-inspired
Buddha image appears to have been introduced late in the first century
A.D. We know that it had definitely come in during the reign of the
third Kushan emperor Kanishka. Kanishka’s coins have his own portrait
on one side, and on the other, a figure of the standing Buddha with
the word ‘Buddha’ written beside it in Greek letters. The exact date of
Kanishka is not certain but it seems likely that he started to reign either
in A.D. 78 or a.d. 144 or somewhere in between. We can say with some

certainty that the Greek style of Buddhist sculpture came into being in
the first century a.d. and then continued to flourish until the fifth
century a.d. This terminal date is given by the savage invasions of the
White Huns who broke in from central Asia in the latter half of the
fifth tell us that the Hun king Mihirakula
century. Chinese chronicles
exterminated the royal family of Gandhara, massacred more than 90,000
of the population, and destroyed 1600 Buddhist monasteries. Gandharan
art may have lingered on in a few odd corners, but for the most part
it was blotted out by this holocaust.
5

Mahabalipuram : A Riddle in Stone

t^iTUATED SOME 40 miles south of Madras city, Mahabalipuram is

today a tiny coastal village with a population of a few hundreds. In the

far-off days of the Pallava rulers, however, it appears to have been a
major port, bustling with the activity of sailors who came from far and
near to load and unload their cargoes. The monuments at Mahabali-
puram stand on a deserted site along the seashore that is dotted with
swaying casuarina trees. The drifting sands and the solitude seem to
whisper of a glorious past, while the coconut vendors plying a brisk
trade bring us back to today and to the riddle posed by the lonely,
weathering monuments.
The problem of the date and authorship of the varied group of monu-
ments at Mahabalipuram is an unresolved one, which is still being dis-
cussed by scholars of art. There are roughly 35 monuments, large and
small, scattered around the present-day village of Mahabalipuram. The
monuments are of different types and may be divided into four cate-
gories.

we have the sculptured scenes cut into the cliff face, the most
Firstly,
important among which is the hundred-foot by fifty-foot depiction of
Arjuna’s penance. Secondly, we have the rock-cut caves, one of the
important ones being the Mahishamardini cave. Thirdly, we have the
Detail of Arjtma's penance, Mahabalipuram, with the natural cleft
in the centre of the —
rock treated as the river Ganga. {Plate 2i)
46
Details of Arjuna's penance, Mahabalipuram, sh owing Siva appearing hejoro Arjuna who is
performing penance. Siva’s lower left hand is in the varada mudra, the gesture of grantitw
a ivish. \ Plate 27]

monoliths —small shrines cut out of sini>le boulders of rock. Best known
of these is a group known as the Pancha Pandava rathas. The last

category is that of the structural temple, the most important being the
Shore Temple. These various categories of monuments are scattered
around Mahabalipuram with no apparent plan in their placing. Added to
this is the fact that at least one half of
them are unfinished. The monu-
ments of Mahabalipuram certainly present an exciting challenge to those
inclined to examine them at some length.

It is accepted by all that the monuments of Mahabalipuram are the

result of artisans working under the patronage of the Pallava rulers of
south India. I must give you a brief idea of the history of the period.
The first major Pallava ruler was Mahendra who ruled between a.d. 580
and A.D. 630, and under whom the Pallava kingdom, with its capital
at Kancheepuram, extended as far south as Tiruchchirapalli. He was
succeeded by Narasimha I Mamallawho ruled from a.d. 630 to a.d. 668.
50
Mamalla fought several wars with the Chalukya rulers to the north-west
and at one time captured and occupied the Chalukyan capital of Badami.
He also sent a naval expedition to Ceylon. Mamalla fought also with
various other rulers of south India, whom
he defeated. His very
all of
name, Mamalla, Mahamalla, the Great Wrestler, the Great Warrior, is
indicative of the main preoccupation of his reign. Mamallapuram, the
correct name of Mahabalipuram, was obtained from the name of the
ruler Mamalla, who was responsible for developing the site into a major
port. It was from Mahabalipuram that his expedition to Ceylon
embarked.
The next major was Paramesvara who ruled from roughly a.d. 670
ruler
to A.D. 700. He too fought several battles with the Chalukyan rulers.
Paramesvara was followed by the great ruler Narasimha II Rajasimha,
during whose reign Pallava territory remained in peace, free from wars
with the Chalukyas. Notable Pallava monuments were erected during
Rajasimha’s reign, particularly structural temples which contain inscrip
tions assigning authorship to Rajasimha. Rajasimha ruled until a.d. 728.
His only son died before him and there was no direct heir to the
throne. A dynastic revolution followed and finally a new line of Pallava

rulers came to power.

The on the development of Mahabalipuram suggests

traditional view
that work at Mahabalipuram started in the reign of Mahendra and con-
tinued through the reigns of Mamalla and Paramesvara intp the reign
of Rajasimha. This theory supported by many art scholars but it
is

leaves us with certain unsolved problems. One such important problem

is this: If Mahabalipuram is the result of artists working from a.d. 580

to A.D. 728 —
a period of nearly 150 years -then why is so much of it
left incomplete?

Recently a new theory on the development of

Mahabalipuram has been
put forward. According to this view the monuments
of Mahabalipuram
belong to the reign of Rajasimha and were all constructed between
A.D. 700 and a.d. 728. The earlier rulers, Mamalla and Paramesvara,
were too involved in their military campaigns to have had time to
construct any monuments. Rajasimha’s reign was free from wars and the
ruler involved himself wholeheartedly in the monuments of Mahabali-
puram. The reason why so much of Mahabalipuram is left incomplete is
that after Rajasimha’s death there was confusion and anarchy with no one

51
left to succeed him. There was a dynastic upheaval and finally, after

much came
unrest, another dynastic line so Mahabali-
to the throne. And
puram remained untouched, the monuments being left in the incomplete
condition in which they were when Rajasimha died. In my opinion this
theory that all of Mahabalipuram was built in the reign of Rajasimha is
the more convincing one.

Turning to the monuments themselves, let us look first at the sculp-

tured scenes cut into the cliff face. Most important of these is the
scene of Plate 24 which measures roughly 100 feet by 50 feet. The
figures, including the elephants, are all life-size, and so you can imagine
the impressive scale of the entire scene. The story depicted is generally
identified as Arjuna’s penance. The entire rock is divided into two halves
by a vertical fissure and this natural crevice has been treated as a river
— the river Ganga. To enforce the idea that the fissure represents the
river, the sculptors have filled it with nagas and naginis snake-beings
often associated with water. These nagas are depicted in half-human and
half-snake form, but at the very bottom of the fissure is depicted one
naga in completely snake form. Swans and peacocks, geese and baboons
and an elephant herd represent scenes associated with a river side.

An interesting detail on the river bank, just beside the first elephant, is the
depiction of the ascetic cat IPlate 23 1. Legendtells us of the false penance

of the cat Dadhikarna on the banks of the Ganga in order to entice in-
nocent mice into his reach. In the fable, the cat is described as standing
with one eye closed, with arms raised, with half his feet touching the earth,
and turned towards the sun. This is exactly how the cat is depicted here.
On the bank of the river, opposite the elephants, is another scene that
may be expected on a river side. Four men are engaged in prayers after
having bathed in the river. Behind them is an elevated ground where
there is a shrine with four ascetics in front. The lowlands are inhabited
by antelopes, turtles, peacocks and monkeys.

Above this is depicted a wooded hillside with caves and dens for wild
animals, and with roaming deer, monkeys and hunters. The main figure
here is that of Arjuna, standing on one leg, emaciated and with hair
and beard grown long. [Plate 251 Siva, pleased with his penance, appears
before him. Siva’s hand is in the varada mudra, the gesture of granting
a wish. Siva is here granting to Arjuna the miraculous weapon for which

52
Arjuna is doing penance. This whole story of Arjuna’s penance is con-
tained in the Mahabharata. Arjuna, as you will recall, is the third of
the five Pandava brothers, the heroes of the Mahabharata. You will re-

member how the Kuru kingdom was divided between the Pandavas on
the one hand, and the 100 sons of Dhritarashtra on the other; how the
Pandavas were tricked out of their portion of the kingdom; and how
finally a great war was fought to resolve the issue. It was for this war
Unfinished Arjuna's penance, Mahahalipnram. Note the close sinnlarity with the main depic’
tion of Arjuna's penance seen in Plate 24. Here too the cleft in the rock has been treated as
a river. [Plate 26]
that Arjuna did penance in order to obtain Siva’s miraculous weapon,
the pasupatastra- The story of Arjuna’s penance is better known, how-
ever, from the poem known as the Kiratarjuniyam, written by the great
poet Bharavi who around a.d. 600. It seems most likely that the
lived
rock carving at Mahabalipuram was directly inspired by this great poem.
You will notice that just beside Arjuna and Siva are depicted deer,
monkeys and rabbits, sitting unconcernedly among the lions. The Kirat-
arjuniyam tells us that when Siva appeared in the forest, the animals
forgot their natural enmity and moved side by side. The dwarfish atten-
dant figures are Siva’s ganas.

Below this scene is almost one

the unfinished portion of the relief
quarter of the entire scene. [Plate 24] This portion shows us the method
of carving. The facade of the rock was deeply marked into a number
of cubes, two feet square, arranged in rows and forming a sort of grid,
almost as we might today make use of graph paper. The stone is granite,
the hardest of all rocks. The right half of the relief, above the elephant
herd, depicts various superhuman beholders and applauders of this great
appearance of Siva before Arjuna.
An intriguing and exciting feature is the fact that a furlong to the south
of this relief is a quite unfinished and much inferior carving depicting
the same story. (Plate 26] This rock too has a natural cleft in it that
splits the rock into two and intended to be a river. The eastern half
is

is carved in very rough relief with a duplicate representation of the

Arjuna and Siva scene. The unfinished figures of Siva and Arjuna may be
seen to the upper Near the cleft is a depiction of elephants. Is this
left.

an earlier trial model on which the main one is based? Or, is this a
later degenerate copy? Each of us can form our own conclusions, since
art scholars themselves are not agreed on the matter.

It has been suggested by some scholars that Mahabalipuram was a great

royal workshop where artists were trained
the art of sculpture and
in
architecture. It is pointed out that the large sculptured relief of Arjuna’s
penance is isolated from other monuments and does not seem ever to
have served any specific religious purpose.
The theme is a varied and expansive one. The choice of such a theme
may have been due to the desire of a master sculptor to give his pupils
a wide variety of subjects to work on. A student of sculpture was here

54
given an opportunity of carving animals both naturalistically and for-
mally. The entire right of the relief, depicting beholders of Siva’s
appearance, is covered with repetitive flying semi-divine figures. This
theme may have had a purpose in the sense that the young artists were
given the same subject for comparative study. The second unfinished
relief strengthens this idea of a studio workshop. Perhaps, it was the work

of newly apprenticed students.

Another interesting sculptured rock-face is the Krishna mandapa, fairly

close to the Arjuna penance cliff. This too was once an open sculptured
cliff face but at a later date a structural hall was built in front to

enclose it. Various scenes from the Krishna legend are depicted here.
There are a few other isolated rock sculptures too, but none of these
other scenes is on the large scale of Arjuna’s penance.

Turning to the rock-cut caves at Mahabalipuram, we find several

unfinished caves that clearly reveal the method of excavation. The sur-
face of the rock was divided into square grids and deep grooves were

Panel from Mahishamardini cave, Mahabalipuram, depicting many-armed Durga seated on her
lion, confronting the buffalo-demon. [Plate 27]

55
 '

chiselled along the outlines of the squares. The cubes thus formed were
removed and hollows thus scooped out. The general process of excava-
tion resulted in the exterior being completed before the interior.

There are a number of caves at Mahabalipuram of which we shall

consider only one that contains magnificent sculptured scenes within.

This is the Mahishamardini cave that gets its name from the striking
relief sculpture along one of its side walls. (Plate 27) This shows young
slender Durga seated on her lion and fighting the buffalo-demon. The
demon is human form with just the head of a buffalo. The
shown in

scene represents a moment in the war when Durga has not yet won, but
the retreating stance of the demon and of his warriors clearly indicates
the final outcome of the battle. On the opposite side wall of the cave
is a depiction of Vishnu sleeping on his serpent. Vishnu’s couch is

formed by the coils of the serpent and its head is spread out behind
Vishnu’s crown. The caves at Mahabalipuram are all small in size and

Pancha Pandava rathas, Maliahalipunmi. From left to n^ht Draupudi rathn, Arjunu ralha,
Bfiima ratha, Dharmaraja rutfia, cut from a suikIc boulder of rock. To the right is the Nakula-
Sahadeva ratha cut from a separate rock. {Plate 2 ('?]

.
iff

I
rkiwf % '4 i:
Am*
Tin 'IPW*

1
very simple in plan. A pillared frontage opens on to a small rectangular
hall at the back of which there is a shrine chamber.

From the caves we turn to the monoliths at Mahabalipuram which are

small temples cut out of single boulders of rock. The best known of
these is a group known as the Pancha Pandava rathas, situated
somewhat away from the main group of monuments at Mahabalipuram-
IPlate 281 Four of the five rathas have been cut from a single whale-
back boulder. The fifth is from an isolated boulder, as are also the
large animal figures. The term ratha is a misnomer as these little shrines
have nothing to do with chariots, but the name is here to stay. The five
are named after the five Pandavas and their common wife with whom
the monuments have no connection.

These monoliths exhibit four completely different styles of architecture

and they are in the nature of shrines. Except for the Draupadi ratha,
none of them is complete and they clearly never served a functional
purpose. The Draupadi ratha depicts the common man’s hut. The Arjuna
and Dharmaraja rathas represent what became the typical south Indian
temple, but here in its very initial stages. The Bhima ratha is an ex-
ample of a structure with a cylindrical form of roof that later became the
basis of the typical south Indian temple gateway known as the gopura. The
Nakula-Sahadeva ratha is an example of a U-shaped structure. This type
was known as gajaprista or elephant-backed, and carved immediately
beside this ratha is an elephant which drives home the point of similarity.
For those inclined to consider Mahabalipuram as a royal sculpture
workshop, these five rathas provide further support. They feel that it
would be most curious that such different forms should be sculpted at
one place if they were not intended for experimentation. The U-shaped
gajaprista form is most persuasive in this connection. It is suggested
that the apprentices were first made to carve out the elephant, and the
curvature of its back was set out as the model for the shape of the
shrine. The fact that these shrines were never completed and hence
never in use, adds further to this argument. The rathas have been refer-
red to as a ‘riddle of the sands’ and such indeed they are.

There are a few other rathas, besides this famous group. Right in the
middle of the village of Mahabalipuram is the Ganesa ratha. This is in
a relatively complete state and is a development of the cylindrical-

57
The Pidari rathas at Mahahalipuram, Their highly unfinished state i^ives an idea of how the
rat haswere carved from isolated boulders of rock. [Plate 29]

roofed variety, akin to the Bhima ratha. On the other side of the village
are a few unfinished rathas, abandoned in a fairly preliminary stage of
excavation. There are the two Pidari rathas IPlate 29] and the Valaiyan-
kuttai ratha. These, Arjuna and Dharmaraja rathas, are the
like the
type of structure that formed the basis for the development of the
southern temple. The unfinished condition of these rathas gives one a
clear idea of how they were carved from single boulders of rock.

And so finally we turn to the structural temple at Mahahalipuram, the

famous Shore Temple. IPlate 301 An inscription on the temple leaves
no doubt that it was built by Rajasimha. The structure consists of two
shrines placed back to back. The larger tower faces east and towards
the sea, while the smaller one faces west. Fifteen years ago, the waves
were beating directly onto the temple and spraying the courtyard in-
side, with the result that it is in a sadly ruined condition. Today the
temple is somewhat protected by a semi-circular wall that keeps the
sea at a safe distance. The towers of the Shore Temple are clearly a
The Shore Temple at Mahahalipuram. Note the tall, elegant towers that indicate a distinct
development on the form of the Arjuna and Dharmaraja rathas of Plate 28. [Plate 30] —

58
development from the Dharmaraja ratha. In principle the two are similar
with a square lower storey and a pyramidal tower in diminishing levels.

But while the Dharmaraja ratha has a somewhat squat and heavy
appearance, the Shore Temple presents a tall, elegant appearance, with
a feeling of lightness and an upward soaring quality.

And so we are back once more to the problem of who was responsible
for the monuments of Mahabalipuram. Could it perhaps have been the
ruler Rajasimha as has been suggested in some of the latest researches?
Rajasimha assumed over 300 titles in his various inscriptions. Of these
the most popular and most frequently used was Atyantakama or ‘He of
Unlimited Fancies.’ Other frequent titles are Utsahanitya and Nityotsaha
or ‘He who is Ever Enthusiastic’. He called himself Kalasamudrah or
‘Ocean of Arts’. Rajasimha’s titles indicate the likelihood of his having
been responsible for the very different types of monuments that we
have just seen to comprise the site of Mahabalipuram. If we are to
assume that Mahabalipuram was built through the reigns of four rulers,

over a period of 150 years, then we are certainly left to wonder why
so many of the monuments are left incomplete.

In bygone centuries there was busy trade between the Pallava country,
the island of Ceylon and the islands of Sumatra and Java. The most
obvious evidence of cultural influence monuments of
is to be seen in the
the Dieng plateau in Java. The monuments there are known as Chandis,
and they too are named after the Pandava heroes. They appear to have
been directly inspired by the rathas of Mahabalipuram. Those who
advance the theory that Mahabalipuram was a royal workshop suggest
that the Javanese themselves crossed over to Mahabalipuram to be
schooled in its sculpture and architecture workshop.

As you stand today and watch the sun setting behind the hill at

Mahabalipuram, and see the drifting sands piling up relentlessly along

the unfinished, deserted monuments, it requires quite an effort of the
imagination to see Mahabalipuram as the major port it once was. And
yet, it was from here that elements of Indian culture were transplanted
across the seas in South-east Asia.
 6

Amoral or Immoral ?

The Erotic Sculptures of Khajuraho

At khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh are a group of some 30 temples,

scattered over a site measuring one square mile in area. They stand
isolated amid fields and jungle and have been deserted for several
centuries now. No regular ritual is held within their halls, but the
majority of the temples are still well preserved. The Khajuraho temples
were built under the patronage of the Chandela rulers, all within the
relatively short period of 100 years from a.d. 950 to a.d. 1050. These
temples are the only artistic monuments of the Chandelas who were
generally noted only for their utilitarian structural undertakings such
as dams and canals. The shrines at Khajuraho are dedicated to Siva and
Vishnu and also to the Jain faith. The building of a number of temples
on one site is not too unusual in India, but the fact that so many
temples were built in so short a period would seem to imply some special
ideal. Whatever the objective, it stimulated the art of building and
sculpture to a remarkable degree.

The erotic carvings on the walls of the Khajuraho temples have been
given exclusive attention in a number of recent publications. To put
these sculptures in better perspective, I would like to discuss briefly the
architecture of these shrines. So striking indeed is the architectural form
of these temples that they would merit study for this’ aspect alone, even
if the erotic sculptures had been absent.

61
I he Kami Anna Mahadco temple at Kha}uraho. Note the high basement, the elegant balconied
openings to the interior compartments, and the graceful grouping of roofs. [Plate 31]

The Khajuraho temples are built of a fine-grained sandstone that varies

in colour from cream to pink. None of the temples is of any great size.
The Kandariya Mahadeo, the largest of them, measures 109 feet in
length, is 60 feet wide, and reaches up to 88 feet in height. [Plate 311
Each temple is built on a high solid masonry terrace. In the case of the
Kandariya Mahadeo this terrace is 28 feet high, giving the temple a
total height above the ground of 116 feet.

All the other Khajuraho temples are of smaller dimensions. They rely
for their appearance on their elegant proportions, their graceful con-
tours, and their rich surface treatment. In plan they are very simple
and basically consist of three main compartments : an entrance portico,
an assembly hall and the sanctum. In the more developed examples
there is a processional passage around the sanctum, as well as a side
chamber on either side.

Vertically, the Khajuraho temples consist of three sections: a very high

basement storey decorated with a series of mouldings; the walls and

u2
 ;

openings of the interior compartments; and finally, a graceful grouping

of roofs culminating in the tall tower above the shrine. It is the central
portion of this elevation that contains several parallel panels of sculp-
ture that follow the projections and recesses of the walls and are carried
around the entire building. These panels are interrupted by a set of
balconied openings that introduce light and air to the interior.

One most immediately striking features of these temples is the

of the
roof. Each of the interior compartments is distinguished by a separate
roof. The smallest and lowest is that of the portico. Next in height
comes that of the central hall. And these two sweep up to the tall shape
of the tower above the shrine. Scholars have spoken enthusiastically of
this rising ‘crescendo of curves’.

There is a single entrance into each temple and this is approached by

a tall flight of steps that rises steeply due to the great height of the
basement storey. In the Kandariya Mahadeo, these steps rise to over 20
feet to reach the floor of the entrance hall. The doorway has, above it,
a decorative archway that is so finely carved as to look more like lacy
hanging drapery than like chiselled stone.
One of the most striking features of the interior is the decorated ceiling
of the main hall. The design is usually a geometric one, an arrangement
of intersecting circles. When one looks up at the ceiling, the entire
surface appears like a swirling pattern of circles and semi-circles. In
section these circles are a series of shell-shapes, with a long richly-
carved pendant hanging from the centre of each shell. Every stone of
these ceilingswas carved separately and fitted together temporarily on
the ground. When
the whole was complete, the stones were hoisted up
on to the roof and dropped into position so that they interlocked. The
designs are complex and a great deal of skill and patience must have
been required to produce the finished product. And finally, the entire
work is visible only with the aid of artificial illumination because the
ceiling is in almost complete darkness. What explanation can one offer for
this? The best one can do is to quote the words of the poet Longfellow
In the elder days of Art»
Builders wrought with greatest care
Each minute and unseen part,
For the Gods see everywhere.

Wall from the Devi Jagadamba temple at Khajuraho, showing the grouping of sculptured
typical of the Khajuraho temples. [Plate 32, pp. 64 65] — figures

63
It is, however, the sculptures of Khajuraho that provide the real

attraction of the site. [Plate ^21 In each temple we are confronted with
a never-ending procession of human forms, carved with exquisite refine-
ment. These figures are carved inrelief and in dimensions about
high
half life-size. On the Kandariya Mahadeo temple there are 630 such

Apsaras from the irulh of tho V ishvatialha tcuipfc a! kliuimaho. [Plalc

 Apsara in twisted pose
from the Parsvanatha
temple at Khajuraho.
7 he positiomn^ of the
IS one that is im-
possible to aehiere in
luinality. [Plate ^4\

human figures. Each of the temples has, m pronortion to its size, a

similarly high number of carvings.

Outstanding among the figures are the many images of apsaras, the
heavenly damsels. [Plate 3^1 Individually these maidens possess a great
vitality and a provocative warmth and fullness. The figures are tall and
slim and the legs sometimes much elongated. The apsaras are long-
eyed, long-eyebrowed and long-eyelashed, and they display an endless
variety in hair styles. We see crowns and ribbons, buns and flowing curls,
and flowers, pins and jewels in their hair. They are broad-hipped, they
have large shapely breasts, and they generally seem to display a languid
eroticism. The apsaras stand in various poses: correcting their hairdo,
applying makeup, adjusting their anklets, removing thorns from their feet.

67
The figures are carved almost completely in the round with only a small
section of stone attaching them to the wall of the temple. The poses are
generally exaggerated. Consider, for example, the apsara of Plate 34 from
the Parsvanatha temple, a figure that occupies a corner position. The
easy obvious solution would have been to place a figure standing there
and looking out. But instead, the artists have placed the apsara with
one leg fiat against one wall, the buttocks parallel to the spectator, but
with waist and shoulders turned parallel to the other wall. The figure is
spirally twisted and in actual fact it is impossible to contort the body
into such a position. Yet the posture appears easy and natural for the
artist was a master. Occasionally the twist of the female figure is so
exaggerated that you can see the buttocks from behind, and at the same
time the upper part of the body is turned around so that the breasts
are equally visible.

The men on the walls of the Khajuraho temples are handsome, sturdy
and broad-shouldered. Some have a pointed beard, but most are clean-
shaven. Many of them have hairdos almost as elaborate as that of the
women. [Plate 32]

In addition to these figures, there are numerous representations of erotic

art that illustrate the sexual act in all the varieties described in the
Kamasutra. These scenes can be divided into two categories.

The first category is well represented by carvings such as the entwined

couple of Plate 35 from the walls of the Devi Jagadamba temple. The
couple is carved with extraordinary skill and feeling, and with remark-
able mastery over the tlexibility of the human figure, male and female-
It is one to be detached completely from the eroticism of
difficult for
it Yet it is certainly not pornography. One feels, rather, that it is an
all.

appeal by the artist to share his enthusiasm for the beauty of love and
sex. In this category of erotic scenes it is possible to talk of the ‘Union of
Cosmic Principles’, or, in other words, it is possible to consider these
erotic scenes as a symbolic representation of the union of the human
soul with God.

From was used in religious literature.

the earliest times sexual imagery
In Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, belonging to the centuries b.c.,
the
the author u.ses such a comparison to try and explain the nature
of the union of the human soul with God. To illustrate the doctrine that

68
 Entwined couple from the Devi Jagadamha temple at Khajtiraho. [Plate jS|

Brahman (God) and Atman (the human soul) are one and the same
thing, the text says: ‘In the embrace of his beloved, a man forgets the
whole world- everything both within and without; in the very same
way, he who embraces the Atman knows neither within nor without’.
The ancient authors were trying to explain that Enlightenment is the
realisation that Atman and Brahman are not two separate entities, but
are one integral unit. They found the use of sexual symbolism the most
graphic means of illustrating this fact.

The second category of erotic art at Khajuraho features scenes of

group sex and these are connected with the Kaula and Kapalika cults
of Saivism. The Kaula cult was at the height of its popularity during the

69
 !

tenth century a.d. at the time when the Khajuraho temples were built.
The best known Kaula teacher flourished at this same time, Kula is the
ultimate aim of the sect, and we are told that Kula is the unity of Siva
and Shakti (the feminine force), Kula is further defined as ‘the state in
which the mind and sight are united, the sense organs lose their indivi-
duality... and the sight merges with the object to be visualised’. We
are told that the path for the Kaula devotee is one of controlled
enjoyment of the senses. The sculptures at Khajuraho depict rather that
the path was one of uncontrolled enjoyment of the senses

The ritual practices of the cult instructed that its followers should partake
of the pancha-makaras, the Five Ms. These are mada ('wine), matsya (fish),

mamsa (meat), mudra (parched and maithuna (sexual intercourse).

grain),
We are told that the use of the Five Ms, under certain prescribed condi-
tions of discipline, could be made without secrecy, in appropriate places
and times. Such rites, we are told, were intended to help progress towards
the attainment of Kula, or complete freedom. However, the mercilessly
drawn pictures of contemporary writers reveal an extremely debased form
of worship, with promiscuous orgies lasting all night after sumptuous
food and wine.

The were similar to those of the Kaulas,

practices of the Kapalika sect
except that they were associated with human sacrifice, and there was
an even greater erotic emphasis in their ritual. These ascetics, if they
may be described as such, constantly lived with female companions
known as Kapalavanitas. They drank a great deal of liquor from skull
caps (kapalas). A number of scenes at Khajuraho actually depict the
Kaula and Kapalika ascetics partaking of sexual orgies. The Kapalikas
are particularly easy to recognise in the sculptures since they always
carry a club over their shoulder.

What are these sculptures depicting the rites of the Kaula and Kapalika
sects doing on the walls of the Khajuraho temples? The temples them-
selves _a^e the result of royal patronage would appear thus that
and it

royalty also patronised the Kaulas and Kapalikas. The explanation of

royal patronage may be found in the fact that the doctrines of these
sects provide a seemingly satisfactory explanation of group sexual acti-

vity. They argued that salvation is obtained only by those who can rise

above the temptations of the senses. The height of sensual pleasure

70
was equated with wild orgies. But to realise whether one has risen
above such temptations, one must partake of such experiences in their
totality and still remain impervious to them. There is a plausible logic

in this form of reasoning, and this afforded a kind of theological ap-

proval of the most debased practices. Such cults were likely to attract
royal and aristocratic patronage wherever rulers and their courtiers were
inclined to over-indulgence. It would appear that such was the case with
the Chandela court.

After the brief period of Chandela patronage, the Khajuraho temples

have remained deserted for centuries. The Kaula and Kapalika sects
appear to have lost their hold in the area and worship in the temples
was abandoned.

The question posed in the title was whether the erotic sculptures of
Khajuraho are amoral, by which is meant a total unconcern with
morality, or immoral, implying that they are contrary to morality. The
people who propagated these cults seem to have been truly amoral and
were apparently quite unconcerned with conventional morality or ethics.
In addition, they had their own explanation for their rites and rituals,
and they took pains to impress upon their followers that they should

not be put off or influenced by general opinion. On the other hand, it

is from comments by contemporary writers that society in general

clear
did find the behaviour of these sects immoral and contrary to morality.
Whatever may be one’s opinion regarding the amorality or immorality
of these sects, it must be admitted that the erotic sculptures on the walls
of the Khajuraho temples are truly artistic, a delight to the eye, and a
testimony to the excellence of the sculptors’ art around a.d. 1000.
 7

Temples of Orissa

JlL VERY YEAR IN the month of June-July, thousands of devotees assemble

at Puri in Orissa to witness the famous car festival of the Jagannath
temple. At this festival, the highly-venerated wooden images from the
temple are taken out in procession in a huge wooden chariot specially
constructed yearly for the occasion. In earlier days, devotees are said
to have thrown themselves under the wheels of this gigantic chariot.
This practice attracted much attention in the days of British India,
enough for the English dictionary to define ‘Juggernaut’ as an institu-
tion or notion to which people blindly sacrifice themselves.

The Jagannath temple records tell us that the temple was built by the
order of king Anangabhima of the Ganga dynasty, and that it was
completed in a.d. 1197 after 12 years of construction. The temple
chronicles tell us of three major sets of repairs in the course of which
the temple was plastered and whitewashed and many of the sculptures
painted. Besides these, any number of minor and partial repairs are
recorded. In the last century, applications of cement were made to the
shrine tower due to the crumbling away of the stone from the salt-laden
sea air. We are left with little idea of the one-time beauty of the
sculptures but despite all the repairs, the temple presents a striking
architectural grouping.

The shrine tower at Puri is a tall structure, of elegant proportions, that

reaches up to 192 feet. [Plate 36] The back and the two sides of the
tower contain large niches intended to house subsidiary deities. Since

73
the temple is dedicated to Vishnu, these deities represent three incarna-
tions of Vishnu. These subsidiary-deity niches have small porches in

front of them and are independent shrines in their own right. The main
hall in front is a massive structure with a pyramidal roof. The receding
levels of the roof are in two sections, being interrupted by a broad terrace.
Standing along this terrace, we find a number of sculptures of musician
maidens, carved entirely in the round. It is a great pity that photography
is so strictly forbidden at the Jagannath temple. The only camera view
possible is the one of Plate 36, taken from a clock tower across the
road from the temple. The walls of the main hall are divided into a
lower and an upper sculptural level. The lower sculptural level contains
figures of lions stamping down on elephants, while the upper sculptural
level comprises erotic figures, about life-size and in the most exotic poses.
In front of the main hall is the banquet hall which is a low structure with

The Jagunyuith temple at Puri in Orissa. From left to n^ht :the tall shrine tower, the main
hall with a pyramidal roof, the banquet hall {low structure), and the dance hall [Plate 36]
perfectly bare walls. The dance hall beyond this completes the four
components of the developed Odissi temple. The walls of this hall are
profusely carved. The pyramidal roof, like that of the main hall, consists
of receding levels, but this is here in three sections with the interven-
tion of two terraces. On these terraces too stand a number of musician
figures, sculpted in the round.

These four structures are surrounded by a high wall with an entranceway

leading through. There is then a further massive outer wall (visible in
the very front of Plate 36), which is 21 feet high and is built of plain
blocks of stone. These walls completely shut out the view of all but
the very top of the temple from road level. They were not part of the
original plan in which the temple, built on a mound, was surrounded by
a low wall so that the entire structure was visible from the ground. The
present high walls date only from the last century.

The Jagannath temple gives us a good idea of the architectural com-

ponents of the developed Odissi temple. To get an idea of the heights to
which the Odissi sculptors had developed their art, we have, however, to
turn to the Lingaraj temple at nearby Bhubaneswar, some 30 miles in-
land. The Lingaraj temple was built 100 years earlier than the Jagannath
shrine at Puri. In its very elegant proportions and in the richness of its

surface treatment, itone of the most refined examples of temple

is

architecture in India. The

later and more famous jagannath temple was
actually modelled on the Lingaraj and set out, if possible, to excel it in
every way. The ruler responsible for the Puri shrine felt all the more
strongly this urge to excel because at that time, the Jagannath temple
was one of the few Vishnu shrines to be built in a predominantly
Saiva area.

The Lingaraj temple was built sometime in the eleventh century and
when first constructed, it consisted of only the shrine tower and main
hall. At a somewhat later date were added the banquet hall and the

dance hall. The Lingaraj was then enclosed in a spacious courtyard with
a massive wall around. Within this courtyard, numerous smaller shrines
were added, their total number being around 100. Some eight of these
shrines may be seen in Plate 37.

Much of the effect of the Lingaraj is due to the graceful proportions of

the shrine tower as well as to its striking surface treatment. Vertically,

75
The Lin^araj temple at Bhubaneswar, from left to right: the dance hall: banquet hall; main
hall;and shrine tower. In the foreground are some eight small snnnes added at a later dale
within the Lingaraj compound. [Plate J7]

the tower roof is divided into a central rib, an intermediary rib on

either side and two corner ribs- The central rib is adorned with the
‘bho’ motif which is rather like a coat of arms. It consists of an elabo-
rate archway topped with a lion-head, with a dwarfish figure leaning
against the arch on either side. There is the figure of a lion both above
and below it. The intermediary ribs are decorated with a series of minia-
ture replicas of the tower itself, placed one above the other. Crowning
the tower is an enormous flat cushion-like structure, and above this is

a kalasa (vase) topped by the trident of Siva.

The decorative treatment of the walls of both the shrine and the main
hall is one of the most outstanding features of the Lingaraj. As at Puri

there are two sculptural levels. The lower sculptural level contains a

76
Alasa kanya from the Lingaraj temple at Bhubaneswar, The group of maidens decorating
the walls of the Lingaraj are exquisite examples of the Odissi sculptors* skill. [Plate 38]
series of niches housing various deities. These niches are separated by
carvings of lions crouching on elephants. At Puri, it is these creatures
alone that decorate this lower level.
The upper sculptural level also contains niches of deities, but here the
niches are separated by figures of alasa kanijas, maidens at leisure.
[Plate 381 They are in various postures, all relaxed and graceful. Some
adjust their anklets, others their hairdo, some are in various poses of
dance, yet others stand elegantly at ease.
It is likely that each person finds a favourite among these beautiful
maidens, and shows the one I find most appealing. This
Plate 38
one hand resting on her hip and
graceful girl stands under a tree, with
the other held up. She has the most elaborate ‘bun’ hairdo which may
be seen above her shoulder to one side. Her face is exquisite with a
pointed chin, gentle, smiling eyes, beautifully arched brows, straight
nose and a gently upturned mouth. These maidens comprise one of the
most exquisite groups of sculptures to be seen anywhere in India.

and 25 miles from Puri is the famous

Thirtyfive miles from the Lingaraj
Sun Temple at Konarak. [Plate 391 Today it stands as a great mass of
ruined masonry along the sandy coastline, with the scattered palms and
the casuarina trees swaying in the breeze to lend an air of melancholy
picturesqueness to the deserted site. Much has been written in praise of
Konarak, but few writers have pointed out that the Konarak temple is
modelled, architecturally and sculpturally, on the Jagannath shrine at
Puri. It is, however, comparatively vast in size, being twice as large
as the Jagannath temple. All that remains intact of this once magnificent
temple to the Sun god, Surya, is the massive main hall with its imposing
pyramidal roof reaching up to a height of over 100 feet.

The Konarak temple was by king Narasimhadeva who ruled between

built
A.D. 1238 and a.d. 1264. The form of the hall is that of the typical Odissi
temple hall already established in the Lingaraj and further developed at
Puri. Exactly as in the case of the main hall at Puri, the lower
sculptural level contains lion-like animals stamping down on elephants,
and the upper sculptural level contains erotic figures, roughly life-size.
There is hardly a single pose in these erotic groups at Konarak that does
not have a predecessor at Puri.
In almost every way, the Konarak hall is an exact, though larger, copy
of the one at Puri. The pyramidal roof is composed of receding levels and

78
The Sun Temple at Konarak. To the left are the remains of the shrine tower,
and to the
right is the ppramidal-roofed mam hall. Note the gigantie ivheels carved against the sides
of the tall base. The entire temple was conceived of as the chariot of Surpa, to whom the
whole is dedicated. [Plate 39]

as in the case of the dance hall at Puri, the roof here is in three sections

and is crowned with a large cushion-like structure. As with the Puri main

hall, the terraces between the levels of the roof contain figures of female
musicians sculpted in the round, and of striking elegance.

What makes Konarak so unusual and outstanding is that the entire

temple was conceived of as a chariot— the chariot of the Sun god, Surya,
to whom the temple is dedicated. Surya is always depicted in sculptures
as standing in his chariot which is drawn by seven horses. Here the entire

temple is elevated on a basement against the sides of which are carved 24

enormous wheels. This temple-chariot is shown as being drawn by seven
horses, three on one side and four on the other. Each wheel measures

79
some 12 feet in height. Every portion of it is carved -the hub, the outer
circle of the wheel, and all the 16 spokes.

We have no evidence as to the cause of the complete collapse of the

shrine tower. Nor do we have any indication of when this happened.
However, the temple is enthusiastically described by the chronicler of
the Moghul emperor Akbar who ruled from a.d. 1556 to a.d. 1605. At
that time it was obviously unharmed. By 1825 it seems to have been
reduced to almost complete ruins. A visitor to the site at that date tells
us that only a small section of the tower was still standing up to a height
of 120 feet. Within the shrine chamber is to be seen only the carved
pedestal of a once gigantic Surya image, now no longer in evidence. The
three subsidiary-deity niches, which are partly intact, contain impressive
images of Surya. Actual conservation of the Konarak temple started
only in the present century. The main effort was applied to the hall which
was in danger of imminent collapse. It was decided that the best way to
stabilise it was to fill in the interior permanently and to seal the door-

ways. The final was achieved through a hole drilled in the

filling-in

roof. What little remained of the lowermost portions of the shrine tower
was stabilised-

There is considerable disparity in the quality of the carvings at Konarak.

Some of the carving, such as that which entirely covers the high base-
ment, seems to have been left in the hands of relatively inferior crafts-
men. Other sculptures such as the images of Surya seem to have been
done by master craftsmen. The artists in charge of the sculpting of the
large erotic groups of the upper sculptural level were certainly among
the most highly accomplished artists in the country. The musician
maidens on the terrace of the hall roof are also magnificent sculptures.
[Plate 40] In its original condition, Konarak must indeed have been a
most remarkable monument.
To get a correct perspective of temple art in Orissa and of its ultimate
excellence in the Linagaraj and at Konarak, it is necessary to look back

to the seventh century and to the beginnings of the Odissi temple at

Bhubaneswar. The tiny Parasuramesvar shrine, with its clumsy tower and
its flat-roofed hall is a good example of the early Odissi temple. [Plate 41]

Musician maiden from the upper levels of the roof at

Konarak. These over life-size figure, are carved so as to
convey the gentleness and grace of the maidens. [Plate 40]

80
The Parastiramesx^ar temple at Bhubaneswar is one of the of the Odissi temples.
earliest To
the left is the flat-roofed main hall, with the shnne tower to the right. [Plate 41]

The shrine tower is rather squat and reaches up to a height of

only 34 Shallow niches for the subsidiary

feet. deities exist on three

sides of the tower. It is this feature that later evolved into deep box-like
niches with a small hall in front, and thus into subsidiary shrines in
their own right. The assembly hall of the Parasuramesvar is a flat-roofed,

rectangular structure, with sloping eaves and a double roof. The hall has
three door-ways opening into it, windows on each face.
as well as grill

These two structures completed the components of the early Odissi

temple.

The evolution from seventh century example to that masterpiece

this
of the eleventh century, the Lingaraj temple, may be traced in the various
shrines in the temple-town of Bhubaneswar. The hall acquires a pyramidal
roof in receding levels, and then gradually both the shrine tower and

82
the hall attain larger proportions. There is an improvement in the
quantity and the quality of the sculptural decoration.

The Odissi temples are mostly built of sandstone. The use of laterite is

generally restricted to the unseen portions of the plinth and to compound

walls. In later temples, important sculptures such as the subsidiary deities
were carved from the fine stone chlorite. The Konarak temple is built
not of sandstone, but of a very poor quality and most easily weathered
stone called khondalite. This material contains felspar which in many
places has altered its texture. It decomposed
also contains garnet that has
and become a spongy mass. No cementing mortar of any type was used
in the construction of the Odissi temples. Large blocks of stone were
prepared finely and laid dry, evenly and horizontally one upon the other.
They were and kept
fitted together so that the joints are hardly visible,
in positionmainly by their weight and balance. Iron clamps and dowels,
and a system of interlocking flanges were also used.

One wonders how the builders managed to lift such heavy blocks of
stone to such great heights, unequipped as they were with any modern
mechanical devices. One method used in Orissa was to make an inclined
plane of earth. In the case of the Lingaraj temple this plane was con-
structed towards the west where the stone quarry is located some four
miles away. Several mounds along the way are, in fact, remains of this
one-time ramp, and the bottom of the plane can be discovered to this
day by casual digging. Such a method of construction also involved
burying the structures in mud as they progressed in height. This meant
that onlyone component of the temple could be constructed at a time,

and that the shrine tower had to be complete before the hall could
be begun.

The and the sculptures were planned so that the shrine tower
structures
and the hall could meet more or less accurately. But the juncture was
rarely exact. Inexact joints, resulting in carvings being covered up in
the joining process are to be seen in most of the Bhubaneswar temples,
from the early Parasuramesvar to the later Lingaraj and on to Konarak.
From the unfinished carvings on some of the temples, it appears that
the designs were carved at the site after the building of the temple was
over. A remarkable characteristic of the Odissi temples is the stark

83
bareness of the interior, which provides a striking contrast with the
profusely ornamented walls of the exterior.

Orissa is one of the rare regions of India in which artistic development

seems to have been largely independent of historical circumstances. From

about the middle of the sixth century to the end of the thirteenth century,
we can trace a continuous and relatively uninterrupted development of
the temple style, despite the fact that this period of some 800 years saw
at least five major dynasties ruling in the area. Elsewhere in India, art
seems to have flourished largely under royal patronage, and the develop-
ment of an art centre was closely linked with the rise and fall of a
dynasty. By contrast, it would appear that in Orissa, art and architecture
was very much under the control of a professional class of architects,
and thus not too dependent on political fortune.

A. «
 :

Mastery Metal in
Temple Bronzes of the South

JI!/NSHRINed within the darkness of the innermost shrine of the south

Indian temples are bronze images of the god to whom the temple is
dedicated and of his consort. Only the officiating priests are allowed
inside the shrine, while the worshipper stands at the doorway contem-
plating the images by the flickering light of oil lamps. Many of these
magnificent bronze images, some three to five feet in height, date back
to around a.d. 1000. Unfortunately, one is unable to appreciate fully
the beauty of these images since Hindu convention and the necessities
of prescribed ritual have ordained that the bronzes be clothed and
suitably decorated with flowers and jewellery, even though the artists
have invariably moulded the images so as to reveal clearly bronze
drapery and ornamentation. For the temple authorities, as well as for the
worshippers, the bronzes, quite understandably, do not exist as works of
art. To them the images are solely a symbol of the god and they exist
entirely as objects of worship. The temple priests are somewhat perturbed
at the suggestion that they might unclothe a sari-draped or dhoti-clad
image to reveal proportioned form beneath. For an artistic appre-
a finely
ciation of south Indian bronzes, one is forced to turn to those few
museums and art galleries that have been able to acquire collections.
The Chola dynasty of south India ruled from a.d. 850 to a.d. 1250. The
age of the Cholas constitutes the most creative phase of south Indian

86
history and is one during which Tamil culture reached a peak. This is
equally so in the field of literature, as in that of temple-building and
bronze-casting. The method of casting the metal images is known as the
cire perdue or ‘lost wax’ process. The image is first modelled in wax.
This is then covered completely with clay, excepting for a small outlet

for the wax. When this clay-enclosed wax image is fired in the oven, the
wax melts, and the result is a hollow clay mould of the image. Molten
metal is then poured into this clay mould. When the metal cools, the clay
mould is broken open to remove the metal image. After this, the finishing
touches are applied and the image is polished. This ancient method is the
one followed even today in south India for making metal images.

Probably the most popular image in south India is Siva as Nataraja, or

Lord of Dance. [Plate 42] in his heavenly abode on Mount Kailasa, Siva
dances and he is said to have invented no less than 108 dances, some
calm and gentle, others fierce and terrible. Plate 42 shows us a master-
piece of the Chola period, an image just under four feel in height that
expresses magnificently the rhythmic movement of the dance. Siva
stands on his right leg which is placed upon a dwarf monster. His left

leg is lifted up and held across the right leg. One left hand follows the
movement of the left leg. The other holds a bowl of fire. One right hand
is in the abhaya jnudra, the gesture of reassurance, wdiile the other
holds a drum.

Siva wears a cobra wound round him like a scarf. He wears abundant
jewellery —anklets, toerings, armlets, bracelets, necklaces and earrings.
His crown adorned with snakes, skull and a crescent moon. His locks
is

of hair splay out on either side with the movement of the dance. Sur-
rounding the image there would have been a halo made up of flames.
This is completely broken, but a part of it may be seen on either side of
the pedestal. The world famous sculptor Rodin considered this Nataraja
image to be the most perfect representation in the world of rhythmic
movement. Certainly the grace and elegance of the figure, with its long
flowing limbs and perfect physical proportions, is one to attract attention.
Siva is Lord of Dance, but the Dance has a deeper inner meaning as well.

This Chola age bronze Nataraja from the Tanjavur Art

Gallery is a perfect embodiment of the rhythmic
movement of Siva’s dance. \Plate 42, pp. SH\

87
His rhythmic activity is the source of all movement in the universe.
It is by dance that he creates the world, maintains it, and finally also

destroys it.

Here is how a sacred text puts it :

In the night of Brahma, Nature is inert and cannot dance till Siva

wills it. Hefrom his rapture, and dancing, sends through

rises
inert matter pulsing waves of awakening sound, and lo matter !

also dances, appearing as a glory around him. Dancing, he sus-

tains its manifold phenomena. In the fullness of time, still

dancing, he destroys all forms and names by fire and gives new
rest. This is poetry: but none the less, the truest science.

The Nataraja image continues to be one of the most popular images and
is still being made today. Modern images, unfortunately, are sadly lacking

in the spirit, energy and grace of the Chola bronzes.

From the Tanjavur Art Gallerycomes the elegant bronze group of Plate
43, depicting the marriage of Siva and Parvati. Such pieces are known as
Kahjana sundara murti. The figure of Siva stands just under three feet
high, Siva holds in his two upper hands the deer and battleaxe. One front
hand is in the abhaija mudra, the gesture of reassurance, and with the
other, he takes Parvati’s hand in marriage. Siva is slim and broad-
shouldered, Parvati is full-breasted, broad-hipped and slender-waisted.
The back view of this piece matches the front view in magnificence of
execution. The group is a real masterpiece. It belongs to around a.d. 975,
and hence to the early Chola period.

Another popular Chola theme is that of Siva as Vrishahhavahanamurti,

or Siva with his vehicle, the bull. In the group seen in Plate 44, the bull
is missing, but was originally placed in such a way that Siva’s right arm
rested on it. The images of Siva and Parvati are posed in a most elegant
manner. The figure of Siva measures three-and-a-half feet in height, and
the images, according to the inscription, date back to a.d. 1011.

Most large temples possess a number of bronzes, some of which are

placed in the main shrine, and others in the various subsidiary shrines.
The entire idea of bronze images came into being during the late Pallava
period, due to an increase in temple ritual and also due to a new way
of visualising the deity of a temple. Prior to a.d. 800, the god of a temple

89
was visualised in a purely spiritual capacity. In this capacity the god
remained within the darkness of the shrine where he passively received
the homage of the devout. At this stage, the main image of the temple,
whether it was a figure of Vishnu or a Sivalinga, was an immovable one.
During the late Pallava period, and even more so in Chola times, the
god was conceived in another aspect also, in which he assumed powers
akin to those of an earthly emperor. In this aspect he was led out to
take part in various festivals and assemblies which were only partially
of a religious nature. It was for this requirement that the bronze images
of the gods were introduced. These metal images were known as utsava
vigrahas, or festival images. In pre-Chola days, such images existed, but
they were usually small ones to be carried in procession only within
the temple precincts.

The tradition of large metal figures was introduced by Rajaraja Chola

around a.d. 1000, when there arose a demand for a processional image
to be seen by vast congregations. Each temple had one or more wooden
chariots in which the large bronzes were placed after being dressed in
silks, jewellery and flowers, and they were then led in procession through

the town on important festival days. There are some three or four major
festivals in the year, as well as a number of lesser ones. The inscriptions
of Rajaraja on the Tanjavur temple tell us that the emperor presented
several metal images to the temple,
and they also speak of the magnificent
products of the Chola metal sculptor, some of which we have been
examining.

The smaller temples have only three or four utsava vigrahas and these
are usually kept in the main shrine itself. One would find that most Siva
temples would possess a Kahjana sundara murti group, which would be
taken from the shrine on the occasion of the celebration of the marriage
of the god. They would, at the same time, invariably possess an image
of Nataraja, —
and perhaps a Somaskanda group Siva and Parvati with
their infant son Skanda. A Vishnu temple would invariably have an

Bronze Vrishabhavahanamurti dated a.d. 1011,

from the Tanjavur Art Gallery. The bull Nandi
is missing from the group but would have been
placed so that Siva's arm rested on it. Note
the extraordinary grace of the image of Siva.
[Plate 44, pp, 91]

92
image of Vishnu with his two consorts, Bhudevi and Sridevi. Usually
they would also possess a Rama, Sita,Lakshmana and Hanuman group.
The really large temples such as those at Madurai and Srirangam possess
quite a large collection of bronze images. Of these, some are kept in the
main shrine, some in subsidiary shrines, and the rest in a room specially
designed to house the festival bronzes.
9

Fretted Perfection in Stone :

Hoysala Temples of Karnataka

If you visit Karnataka (erstwhile Mysore state), I am sure you will find
it difficult to resist the temptation to acquire a carved ivory image of a
Hindu deity or a finely chiselled sandalwood piece. The ivory and sandal-
wood carvers of Karnataka are noted for the extreme delicacy of their
handicraft- This skill is an ancient heritage. It was apparent 900 years ago
in the work of the stone carvers of the Hoysala period, who built the

temples at Belur, Halebid and Somnathpur.

Separated from each other by ten miles, the villages of Belur and Halebid
are in theHasan district of Karnataka state and were once known by the
ancient names of Velapura and Dvarasamudra. For three centuries from
A.D. 1050 to A.D. 1300, they were the capitals of the Hoysala kings who

ruled over the Mysore area. Seen from a distance, neither the Chenna
Kesava temple at Belur nor the Hoysalesvara at Halebid conveys its full

expressiveness because they lack the towers above their shrines. It is un-
likely that these sikharas were left incomplete, and it is to be assumed that
they somehow weathered and fell away, leaving only the lower portion
intact. Though the architectural effect of these two temples is disappoint-
ing, a closer view more than compensates for this defect since it reveals
the temples in their entire sculptured beauty. It is difficult to convey in
words the impact upon the senses of the flawless technique of the

94
sculpture that covers literally every inch of the temple surface. This
elaborate and detailed carving is a unique feature of the Hoysala temples.
The cream-coloured stone used in their construction is a close-textured
stone, very tractable to the chisel, soft to work upon when first quarried,
but becoming hard with exposure to air. [Plates 49 and 50]
Some 30 kilometres from Mysore city is the temple of Somnathpur,
which isbuilt on a much smaller scale than those at Belur and Halebid.
[Plate 45] We are considering it here primarily because it presents us
with a satisfying architectural impression, since the towers above its
shrines are intact. It is of very modest dimensions, 87 feet long and 82
feet wide, so that the entire temple is visible as soon as you enter the
courtyard that surrounds it. It is a small but typical example of the
Hoysala style, and presents in a compact fashion, all the architectural
features to be seen also at Belur and Halebid.

The plan is in the shape of a cross and consists of a central pillared hall

with a shrine attached to three of its sides. Above each of the shrines
is a tower, only about 30 feet high, but well-balanced and finely propor-

tioned. These towers consist basically of a scheme of horizontal lines and

mouldings, resulting in a succession of tiers that diminish as they rise to
terminate in a parasol-shaped structure. The motifs that make up the

The temple of Somnathpur near Mysore

cityis a typical, though small, example of
the Hoysala temple. \ Plate 45, pp 96-97]

^ Typical Hoysala pillar from the Belur

temple, made by a mechanical process in
which the block of stone is mounted on
a wheel and turned against a chiseL
[Plate 46]
shrine tower consist of a grouping of miniature shrines and niches. From
the outside, the Hoysala temple reveals a star-like contour. This is em-
phasized because the entire structure stands on a very wide raised plat-
form, the outlines of which run parallel to the shape of the building,
following the points of its star-like shape.

Characteristic of Hoysala temples is the particular form of the pillars,

all

resulting from the mechanical process by which they were produced. The
pillar is cut from a single block of stone and it became the practice to
decorate these blocks by turning them on a large lathe. The stone was
first roughly shaped to the required proportions, and then mounted in

an upright position on a wheel, by means of which the block was rotated

against a chisel. The entire pillar was converted by this process into a
series of rounded horizontal mouldings resembling rings. As an extra
ornamentation to these pillars, a sloping bracket stone was often attached
on to the capitals. These brackets were carved from single slabs and
fashioned into images contained within leafy haloes. [Plates 47 and 48]
The best idea of a pillared temple interior is obtained by examining the
main hall in the Belur temple. Except for the four pillars in the central
bay, each of the closely set pillars is of a different type. It appears that
the design and construction of each pillar was entrusted to one head
and his assistants, who combined as a team to produce their finest
artist
work. Each pillar thus became an individual masterpiece of invention
and execution. One of the columns has been so contrived by the
sculptor that it can be rotated at will.

A special feature of the Belur temple is the 38 bracket figures known

as ‘madanakai’ brackets, decorating the the pillars. These
capitals of
feminine figures are finely carved in wonderfully animated poses. A
number of these images have inscribed on them the names of the
sculptors, indicating that each artist had contributed one selected
specimen of his handiwork to the entire scheme. Plate 47 shows us a
maiden looking into a mirror, with attendants on either side and a finely
worked leafy canopy behind her. Notice the attention that has been
bestowed on the finest detail of her hairstyle, clothing and abundant
jewellery. It requires an effort to remind oneself that this is not some
soft material like ivory, but is, in fact, hard stone.
<-Bracket figure from the Belur temple. Note the intricate detail of the
carving, particularly of the hairdo, jewellery and clothing. \ Plate 47]

99
The same is the case with the vibrant dancing girl of Plate 48. Each of
the bracket figures is carved with similar attention to minute detail.

The highest achievement of the Hoysalas is the Hoysalesvara temple at

Halebid, built around a.d. 1150. Despite the lack of the sikharas, this
temple is a truly remarkable monument because of the intricate carvings
on its exterior walls. Such sculpture is in evidence at Belur and
Somnathpur also, but at Halebid it excels itself. The Hoysalesvara
temple consists of two same dimensions
complete temples of exactly the
built side by side. The whole complex occupies the greater part of a
200 feet square area.
The exterior of the temple is a riot of carving that almost defies
description. The lower section of the temple consists of a tall vertical
wall some nine to ten feet high. This is made up of a number of bands
of continuous animated designs running right around the building.
These carved borders are to be seen on all the temples in the same
sequence. The lowest consists of a procession of elephants, followed by
a border of lions. Then there is a band of purely decorative foliage.
Above this is a border of horsemen,followed by another floral band.
The next border is a frieze about a foot wide, depicting a succession of
scenes from the great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. This
frieze is a regular picture gallery in stone, carved with dramatic
flourish and with great wealth of detail. The frieze is on eye-level and
attracts immediate attention.
Above this is a border of yalis, crocodile-like monsters, with spirals of
foliage emerging from their mouths. Above is a band of running swans,
topped by a broad border of decorative foliage. Variety in repetitiveness
seems to be the theme of these friezes. Plate 49] I

The section above this is different in treatment on the hall and on the
shrines. Along the hall we find perforated stone screens, interrupted
by slender pillars placed at regular intervals. The corresponding section
on the shrine walls (which is what we see in Plate 49), is treated in a
much more ornate manner. In the broad space at his disposal in this
most prominent part of the building, the Hoysala craftsman shows us
his skill as a figure sculptor. In decorative niches, or under leafy
canopies, are innumerable carved figures of various gods and goddesses,

<-3racket figure from the Belur temple. Note

the fine tracery of the halo behind the image. [Plate 48]

101
finely cut and ornamented in minute detail. Each figure is half life-size,
and all are modelled in extremely high relief. The entire series provides
a full record of the Hindu gods, unusually complete, and with all the
accessories, attributes and symbols of each celestial being.

In the centre of Plate 50, we see Vishnu in his incarnation of Narasimha,

or half-man, half-lion. We see him standing on his right leg. Across his
bent left leg he holds Hiranyakasipu whom he is just destroying. The
story, as you may remember, is that Hiranyakasipu performed great
penances and obtained a boon from Brahma by which he could be killed
by neither man nor beast; neither on earth nor in heaven; neither by day
nor by night; and not by the use of any conventional earthly or heavenly
weapon. Safeguarded thus, he began harassing men and gods, until finally
the gods appealed to Vishnu. Vishnu took a form that was neither man
nor beast; he killed Hiranyakasipu at twilight, which was neither day nor
night; he killed him holding him up in the air, which was neither on
earth nor in heaven; and he killed him by tearing him open with his lion-
claws, which was not any known conventional weapon. Thus, none of the
conditions of Brahma’s boon was violated. Narasimha is depicted with
numerous arms, and in two of them he holds Vishnu’s distinguishing
emblems, the conch shell (sankha) and discus (chakra).

To the extreme left of Plate 50 is depicted an aggressive form of Siva,

probably that of Kamantaka. In this form Siva kills Kama, the god of
love, for having disturbed him in his meditation and tempted him to
fall in love with Parvati. Siva is standing on his right foot which
presses down on Kama. To the left is seen his bull Nandi, and to the
right is the form of an emaciated sage. Siva is depicted with numerous
arms in which he carries various emblems including a trident, drum
and a staff with a skull mounted on it.

To the extreme right of Plate 50, we see the graceful form of the
dancing Sarasvati. As the consort of Brahma, she is to be identified by
the fact that depicted beside her, on the pedestal, is the swan which is

Brahma’s mount. In her lower right hand she holds an akshamala

(rosary) which is Brahma’s attribute. On either side of her are musician

Exterior wall decoration on the Halebid temple, Karnataka, [Plate 49]

103
 of the enshrined images decorating the exterior ivalls of the Halehid
Details of some temple,
left to right : Siva as Kamantaka ; Vishnu as Narasimha ; Danang
Karnataka From Sarasvati.
[Plate 50]

maidens providing the music for her dance. Above her is an intricately
carved canopy.
Side by side with the statues of deities and divine beings are found
feminine figures in striking dance poses, or in the process of putting
finishing touches to their toilet. The images are carved with infinite

attention to detail, and they have about them an air of magnificence

and exuberance. Not a single detail is forgotten—hairstyle, clothes,

jewellery including headdress, pendant and girdles. The effect of these

sculptures is enhanced by the play of light and shade, resulting from the
star-shaped plan of the Hoysala temples.

It is the incredible intricacy with which each detail of this extensive

conception is treated that is so overwhelming and fills the spectator

with such astonishment. The quality of the art thus represented is not
of such a specially high order as in some other schools of Indian sculp-
ture. Certainly the figures of Plate 50 cannot compare for perfection of

104
modelling with, say, the bronzes of the southern temples seen in Plates
42 to 44. Much of the Hoysala figure-modelling is taut and stylised and
lacking in breadth. But as a sustained artistic effort, the walls of this
temple are unequalled.
The Hoysala craftsmen, it not so much builders and
seems, were
sculptors, as art craftsmen, akin to thesandalwood carver, the ivory
worker, the metal caster and the goldsmith. What they produced was
not so much architecture as applied art. In the fine chiselling of the
images within their leafy shrines on the exterior walls, we seem to see
an enlarged reproduction in stone of the sandalwood shrines which
even today are a speciality of the Karnataka craftsmen. In the bracket
figures, there is a touch of the ivory worker. In the wealth of stone
jewellery with which many of the figures are loaded, one seems to re-

cognize the delicate handling of the goldsmith. In the manner in which

the bracket figures are attached to the pillars and ceiling with studs and
rivets, we see the skill of the metal caster.

Each craftsman engaged in work on the temples tried to give of his

best and seems to have succeeded. The story goes
most famous
that the
of Hoysala sculptors, the famous Jakkanachari, cut off his right hand
when his son pointed out a flaw in his work on the Belur temple. Such
was the pride that the Hoysala craftsmen took in their work on these
exquisitely carved temples!
10

The Temple that is a Township :

Srirangam

The town of Srirangam, six miles west of Tiruchchirapalli, has a

picturesque location. The river Kaveri form its tributary
divides to
the Kolladam just as it reaches Srirangam, and the two separate streams
weave a garland around the temple-town. The Srirangam temple is
remarkable mainly because of its dimensions, the whole being equal in
area to a fair-sized town. The outermost wall is a rectangle roughly
2900 feet by 2500 feet, enclosing an area of over one quarter of a
square mile. The walk around the outer wall, and not many choose to
undertake it, is almost two-and-a-half miles long. The temple consists
of seven rectangular enclosures, one within the other. There are
21 entrance gateways known as gopwams, leading into these various
enclosures. [Plate 51]

The three outer courts at Srirangam are not of any special architectural
or even religious significance. They are just like the surrounding town
and form a sort of bazaar. It is here that one buys flowers, fruits,
garlands and incense to take into the shrine for worship. Here too are
the houses for the numerous temple employees; eating places for the
worshipper who has often travelled a long distance to the temple;
stables for the temple animals; in short, almost everything a normal
township would provide.

106
SnnphficJ plan of Sriraiijium tvrnplc showing the seven enelosures and tiventy-one entrance
^opurams. Only the tu'o innerniost enclosures are roofed-in the others are open to the sky.
\ Plate 51 \

The architectural portion of the temple begins with the fourth court, the
outer wall of which measures roughly 1200 feet by 850 feet. There are
entrance ^opitraim in the middle of three of the sides. Within this

courtyard arc two interesting structures. One is the Hall of a Thousand

Pillars, with carved granite pillars arranged in rows. Most of the large
southern temples have such halls. The other building is the famous ‘Horse
Court’ which contains rows of pillars carved as furiously rearing horses.
Each horse rears up to a height of nearly nine feet and the strength
and vigour of these animals is most emphatically conveyed. (Plate 52)
The third enclosure has a gop»ra/?? to the north and the south. The
enclosure contains a fine pillared hall known as the Garuda mandapa.
At the side of the hall is a covered tank known as the Surya Pushkarini,
or Sun Tank. At the opposite end of the enclosure is another tank,
horse-shoe in shape, called the Chandra Pushkarini, or Moon Tank.
The second enclosure is also entered by gopiimins to the north and the
south. [Plate 531 This court is a completely covered one. It is occupied
mainly by pillared pavilions with a long processional pillared passage
to its western side. Within this is the innermost enclosure with a single
The 'Horse Court' from the fourth enclosure of
the Snrarijiam temple. [Plate 52, pp 108]

107
Golden domical roof of the main shrine of the SHraniiam temple, projecting above
the flat roof of the ninermost enclosure. [Hate SVl

gopuram on the south side. This innermost court is also covered and
measures 240 by 181 feet. It contains the sanctuary which appears
feet

to be a square compartment, but the actual chamber within is circular.

This is seen by its golden domical roof which projects above the flat roof
of the enclosure. [Plate 54]

The Srirarigam temple consists then of seven rectangular enclosures,

containing within them a collection of buildings, halls, courts, tanks and

shrines of various kinds. [Plate 51 [

In its original form the southern temple
consisted of just a shrine with its tower, and a hall in front. These two

were enclosed within a courtyard with a single entrance gopuram. How

did it come about that the southern temple finally reached the stage of a

temple-town as at Srirangam? Srirangam is an outstanding example, but

it is by no means a solitary example. All the southern temples, Madu-
rai, Chidambaram, Ramesvaram, Tirunelveli, Tiruvannamalai, consist of

a similar rather confused grouping of buildings within several courtyards

with gopurams, and all without any apparent pre-conceived plan. Most

110
of the southern temples reached their final form in gradual stages. Addi-
tions were made to the temple scheme at different periods and the final

effect was reached over a long course of years-

This temple movement began under the Pandya dynasty in the thirteenth
century and reached its climax under the Nayak rulers in the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries. Around a.d. 1250, the Pandyas defeated the
Chola rulers and established themselves as the main power in south
India. Up to this stage it had been the practice of the builders to devote
their finest craftsmanship to the most sacred part of the temple the —
shrine and its tower. Under the Pandyas this practice changed. Instead
of the shrine being the central architectural production, much of the
builders’ skill was diverted to the decoration of outlying portions of the
temple scheme.

One of the reasons for this change was that Throughout

of sentiment.
south India, on sites of great religious antiquity, were located a number
of buildings of no particular artistic character. They were, however, of
great sanctity because within them were enshrined images deserving
of deep and lasting veneration. Many of the magnificent southern bronzes
we considered in chapter 8 were originally contained within such shrines.
Religious sentiment maintained that although these structures were
architecturally insignificant, it was not proper to pull them down and
put up others in their place. It was not considered proper even to
change their appearance by, for example, increasing the height of the
tower or by enlarging the hall. At the same time, these shrines were
considered most holy and religious emotion for them had to find some
outlet. This was done by surrounding these small shrines with high
walls and making the entrances to these enclosures into gateways of an
imposing size and appearance.

But from a single wall with an impressive gopuram to seven walls with
21 gopurams as at Srirangam is a long jump. What led to such a
development ? To a large extent, this growth of the southern temple was
due to a corresponding growth of the temple ritual. The ceremonies
associated with the religion had become very elaborate and this

naturally had an effect on the buildings in which these ceremonies were

performed. Part of the increase in the size of the temple was due to the
wider powers now assigned to the deity. As we saw in chapter 8, the god

111
was now visualised in two capacities one spiritual and the other rather
like that of an earthly ruler. In his spiritual capacity he remained within
the darkened mystery of the shrine, in the inner portion of the temple.
However, on certain occasions, the god emerges from his retreat, assum-
ing a form like that of an earthly ruler. In this aspect he is led forth in
procession to take part in festivals and ceremonies of a semi-religious
character. For this purpose the outer portions of the temple came into
existence.

The enlargement of the southern temple proceeded on the following lines.

Beginning from the centre, the shrine and its porch were enclosed
within a spacious, flat-roofed structure forming the innermost court,
the entrance to this being through a small gopuram. In course of
time, this covered court itself came to be contained within another
covered court. To this court there were two entrance gopuraius. This
generally completed the portion of the temple that was wholly covered
and most sacred. The next step was that of enclosing both these covered
courts within a rectangular enclosure, bounded by a high wall. A wide
open courtyard known as a prakaratn was left all around. Within this
prakoram were added various structures, chiefly pillared halls and sub-
sidiary shrines. There were also buildings of a semi-religious character
such as granaries and rooms for storing the ceremonial supplies. This
enclosure too was entered into by two gopuraius. After a time, a still
higher enclosing wall was added, leaving another appreciably larger
prakaram all around. Within this enclosure, which was usually the last
one, two important structures are to be found. One is a hall of a thousand
pillars. The other is a tank for ceremonial bathing, lined with steps and
surrounded by pillared corridors. Four gopuranis led into this prakaram,
and each set of gopurams was larger than the ones of the previous
prakaram-

The entrance gopiirams were introduced so frequently

into the southern
temple scheme that they have become the most striking feature in the
temple architecture of the south. As you drive through the southern
countryside, the approach of any major town is indicated by the
gopurams that appear on the horizon. Some of them are really sky-
scrapers, reaching up to a height of 200 feet. At Srirangam, the gopurams
of the outermost enclosure are unfinished, but construction has proceeded

112
enough to show
had they been finished according to the usual
that
proportions, they would have attained the tremendous height of 300
feet. A typical goptirarn consists of a building oblong in plan, rising up to
a tapering tower, often over 150 feet in height. It is entered by a rectan-
gular doorway in the centre of its long side. This corridor leading
through the gopuram has rooms on either side intended to house the
temple guards and doorkeepers. Out of one of these rooms leads a stair-

case by means of which the summit may be reached.

Almost invariably the two lower stories of the gopuram are vertical and
are built of solid stone. This provides a stable foundation for the super-
structure which is usually composed of lighter material such as brick
and plaster. The tower section is pyramidal in shape and is composed
of a series of tiers that diminish as they ascend. The average angle of
slope from the vertical is 25 degrees,and the width at the top is
approximately half of its base. At the flat top is an elongated type of roof.
Gopurams all over south India follow this basic pattern.
It is possible, however, to divide these gopurams into two classes. In
one type, as in Plate 55A, the sloping sides are straight, firm and rigid.

In this variety, the decoration of the surface is almost purely of an

Gopuram with straight sides and archi-

tectural motifs as decoration. {Plate 53 A\

113
Gopuram with cunH>d sides and fignral
sculpture as decoration. [Plate 55B]

architectural nature consisting of pillars, pilasters, arches, and mouldings.

The other class of gopuram is seen in Plate 55B. The sloping sides are
not straight, but curved and concave, so that the entire building has a
soaring upward sweep. The roof at the top has a row of tall pinnacles.
Here the surface decoration consists of figural sculpture and often the
entire surface of the gopuram is covered with a bewildering array of
figures, mostly over life-size. Some of the large gopurams have as many
as 1000 carved figures, which gives an idea of the inexhaustible
resources of Hindu mythology.

It is apparent, from the example of Srirangam, that the southern temples

consist of an unsystematic complex of buildings. Certain elements
within these temples, such as the pillared halls and the gopurams are
of high artistic merit. However, unity and harmony of architectural form
is and one always tends to think of the parts rather than of
lacking,
the whole. time, one cannot fail to be impressed by the
At the same
strong atmosphere of devotion and reverence in the southern temples.
Worship undoubtedly came first, while decorative art to emphasize
worship was secondary.

114
 Plan of the Great Temple^ Srirangam
Ifrom History of Indian and Eastern Architecture by Ferguaon)

The 4 inner courts. [Plate 56 ]

11

The Terrifying Gods of

Tibet and Nepal

A NY VISITOR TO Delhi, wandering along the pavements of Jan Path,

will come across a series of curio shops displaying purely Tibetan and

Nepali handicrafts. Most of these art objects are so different from those
you see elsewhere in India that you invariably stop for a closer look.
Images of the Buddha, of course, you will see in profusion. But com-
peting for attention, in almost equal numbers, are ‘terrifying’ images of
Tibetan gods images which make you wonder whether they are gods
or demons. Why did the Tibetan mind picture its gods in such terrify-
ing shapes and ferocious forms? The answer seems to lie mainly in the
desolate and awesome nature of Tibet’s climate and terrain which has
been an important factor in shaping Tibetan culture

Tibet is a vast and thinly populated country where small groups of

people live separated from each other by stretches of arid, deserted
land. It is a region of high awe-inspiring mountains, of wild rivers, of
steep dangerous gorges and of immense silent deserts. It is also a land
of icy winters, of sudden violent storms and of screeching winds. The
grim and forbidding face of Nature, combined with the weird atmosphere
created by climatic conditions, made the Tibetans preoccupied with the
fearsome possibilities of their environment. All their hopes as well as
fears were associated with it; it influenced not only their mind and
character but also shaped their religion.

116
Chief among the fears to which the Tibetan mind was prone was the
belief in theunseen presence of innumerable evil spirits and malevolent
forces which were waiting to harm human beings. To overpower these
forces and to protect the individual believer as well as his religion, the
Tibetan created a set of wrathful and terrifying gods, who were all pro-
tective deities.. These gods were depicted as demoniacal-looking creatures
with frightful countenances. They were credited with powers strong
enough to scare away and destroy even the most powerful and hideous
evil spirits. The fear-complex, then, was behind the creation of these

Tibetan gods. Once created, these horrifying deities enslaved the minds
of their creators.
Tibetan religion is known as Lamaism, and Lamaism is a combination of
Buddhism and the indigenous beliefs of Tibet. According to tradition.
Buddhism was introduced into Tibet in the seventh century a.d. by the
two wives of the first great Tibetan Songsten-gampo who estab-
ruler
lished a unified Tibet. One of the wives was Chinese and the other
Nepali. Throughout the centuries, Tibet has been influenced by both the
Chinese and the Indo-Nepali traditions.
When Buddhism was first introduced, the Tibetans were a nomadic
tribe, illiterate and superstitious. They believed strongly in a group of
magical practices known as Bon. Fear was the main sentiment by
which the Bon religion upheld its authority. It exploited the natural
fears to which the Tibetan mind was susceptible, and held out magical
powers as the means to dispel these fears. With such a background, the
Tibetans were inclined to be hostile towards the imported Buddhism;
they did not understand its profound doctrines and learned theories. The
only way Buddhism could survive in such primitive surroundings was by
incorporating some of Bon’s chief concepts, specially its belief in magic.
It is this combination of Buddhism and Bon, with the addition, in the

course of centuries, of certain new gods and attitudes that finally came
to be known as Lamaism.
The terrifying deity of Tibet is to be found in both Tibetan sculpture
and painting. Plate 57 shows a bronze image of the demoniac god
Yamantaka. The emphasis in the composition of these images is always
on the diagonal, and movement is expressed through the use of sharp
angles at the joints of the limbs. The artist has chosen to exaggerate the
posture of the body to better express the god’s inherent power and

117
energy. Yamantaka always represented black and naked with his
is

main head that of a buffalo. He has eight more heads, all awesome.
Thirtyfour hands carry various objects including a drum and thunderbolt.
With 16 legs, he tramples animals and demons on the right and birds
and demons on the left. The bronze is also painted and is a striking
example of the effective use of colour to emphasize the ferocious aspect
of the god. Red, for example, is used for eyebrows and gaping mouth
and for the eye sockets of all the skulls decorating Yamantaka’s head-
dress. Though depicting such a terrifying image, the bronze is yet a
graceful conception and reveals the technical
excellence of the crafts-
man. This particular image of Yamantaka is a masterpiece that belongs
to the seventeenth century. If you observe closely you will see that
Yamantaka is shown in sexual union with his Shakti (the female force)
whom he holds with his two main arms.

Representation of gods in sexual embrace is a common theme in the art

of Tibet, and such images are referred to as iiab-yum which means
father-mother. In India, sexual analogy has often been used in religious
texts to give concrete shape to an abstract idea or metaphysical concept.
Throughout the centuries Indian sages have tried to explain that God and
the human soul were essentially the same and not two separate entities.
They maintained that realisation of this truth led to enlightenment.
Sexual symbolism was found to be the most expressive and vivid means
of depicting this concept -the fundamental unity behind an apparent
duality. The inner significance of the ijah-ijum images of Tibet was ex-
plained only to initiates into Lamaism; the images were not intended
for public display. Not only the benevolent gods but quite frequently
the terrifying gods also were depicted in the yab-yum posture as in the
case of the bronze Yamantaka of Plate 57.

The demoniac gods were often represented in paintings too. Tibetan scroll
paintings are known as tankas. The tanka was usually painted on cotton
or linen of Indian or Nepali manufacture. A mixture of seven parts of
chalk to one part of glue was applied to the cloth to smooth the surface.
This was polished with shell and the cloth was then dried and stretched
in a wooden frame. The colours were mostly local red, yellow and blue—
from mineral rocks near Lhasa and black from the soot of pinewood.
Indigo and red lac were from India. The colours were mixed with white

118
 This Tibetan painting {tanka) depicts the terrifying god Mahakala around whom
other fearful gods are seen engaged in a gruesome dance. [Plate 55 ]

(chalk)and held in a suspension of glue. Some of the paintings have a re-

markable sparkle due to the greater amount of glue used in the mixing
of the colours.

Plate 58 shows us
tanka depicting the terrifying protective god
a
Mahakala. Painted completely black, this god is shown draped in snake
and tiger skins. He has a wide gaping mouth with fangs and his three

120
protruding eyes are awe-inspiring. Mahakala wears a crown of skulls and
is also ornamented with garlands of skulls. With one hand he brandishes
a sword, in another he holds a trident threaded with skulls, with a
third he displays a skull cap, and in the fourth hand is a coconut.
Mahakala is represented against a magnihcent background of orange,
yellow and brown flames. Around him are several other terrifying deities,
each surrounded by his own halo of coloured flames, and seemingly
engaged in a gruesome dance. Hayagriva, the chief of these fearful
deities, is depicted directly below Mahakala, while painted above him is

This tanka depicts the goddess Lha Mo, one of the most horrifying of Tibetan deities, and
the protective goddess of the city of Lhasa. \Plate 59]
This painting of the Buddhist god Mahisha-Samvara, god of protection against enemies
comes from Nepal. [Plate 60]
Vajrasattva (the Adi-Buddha) shown in union with his Shakti and flanked
by monks and siddhas.

The tanka of Plate 59 depicts the female deity Lha Mo, who is one of
the most frightful of the terrifying gods. Lha Mo is the protective goddess
of the capital city Lhasa. She always shown seated on her mule which
is

has a distinctive third eye in its flank. Her frightful face has a gaping
fanged mouth in which she holds a corpse. Her headdress is composed
of orange flames; she wears a crown of
and a garland of severed
skulls
heads. In one hand she holds a skull cap filled with blood, and with the
other she brandishes a club ‘over the brains of those who have broken
their promises’ Lha Mo is shown riding through a sea of blood in
which float the dead bodies of the wicked whom she has destroyed.
Behind her is a further background of brown and yellow flames, while
in the fore ground are two of her equally hideous goddess companions.

It seems possible that Lha Mo, who is said to live in cemeteries, was a

deity of entirely Tibetan origin. One can quite imagine the effect of
these tankas on the simple and unquestioning mind of the worshipper.
The walls of Tibetan monasteries were decorated with these tankas and
the dark interiors were lit by flickering oil lamps. As the worshipper
entered, he saw only groups of terrifying deities engaged in weird and
fantastic dances!

To a lesser extent, the terrifying deity appears in Nepal also. Perhaps

because of the less compelling natural environment of Nepal, and because
of the proximity to India and Indian god never held
ideas, the terrifying
as important a position here as in Tibet. Plate 60 shows us one of the
most popular of the Buddhist guardian deities of Nepal Mahisha- —
Samvara. He is invoked and worshipped in Nepal as a god of protection
against enemies. He has nine heads in three rows of three, and the main
head is that of a buffalo. He has 34 arms which hold skulls and impaled
bodies and six of the arms are in an inner circle close to the body. His
16 legs can best be counted by numbering the claws on his toes. The
world of animals and men is shown prostrate at his feet. There is a halo

of burning flames around Mahisha-Samvara and surrounding the halo

are 48 repetitions of the main figure, each with its own halo of flames.
The modern eye, gazing at these strange but elegant compositions which
are such riots of line and colour, sees mainly the hand of the sculptor

123
and painter. But to the devout Tibetan, it was his protective deity,
‘terrifying’ only because of its glory and power. To him the image
represented a god who yielded to his prayers and entreaties and shielded
him from all harm. There are various representations of other gods and
goddesses too in Tibetan and Nepali art, but these ‘terrifying’ gods are
both characteristic and unique.
 12

Fatehpur Sikri : A Ghost Town

JVloRE THAN ANY site, Fatehpur Sikri, with its imposing

Other deserted
sandstone monuments and arrangement of spacious paved areas,
its

creates an atmosphere of peaceful isolation. Viewing the surroundings

from the top of the Panch Mahal or from Birbal’s palace, it is easy to
conjure up the world of Akbar with its pomp and luxury on the one
hand and its note of humanity and religious tolerance on the other.
Despite the lapse of 400 years, the warm red sandstone monuments
standing on top of the stony Sikri hill are unweathered and well
preserved due to the hot and exceptionally dry climate of the area.

These gracious monuments offer a silent contrast to the busy present day
village, reminding us that a somewhat similar contrast must have existed

when Akbar decided to build a new capital at this secluded site. What
remains to-day in such perfect condition at Fatehpur Sikri consists of
only the palace buildings and the mosque on top of the hill. The rest of
the town, which once occupied a large area around the base of the hill,

was built of perishable material and has not stood the test of time.

To appreciate in full the artistic achievement of Fatehpur Sikri, it is

necessary to understand something of the complex personality of Akbar,

In youth, Akbar’s activities prepared him to be only a soldier and
conqueror while all his later inclinations were those of a scholar and lover
of art. Perhaps because he himself was illiterate, he grew to be specially
conscious of the immense value of culture and learning. Akbar became

125
one of the greatest of Mughal patrons of art, literature, music, painting
and architecture. His love of book-learning is evident in his collec-
tion of manuscripts and in his library numbering 24,000 volumes.
Akbar’s great and well-know'n religious tolerance, combined w'ith his
feeling for literature, led him to have both religious and literary works
translated from Sanskrit, Turkish and Latin. His love of painting induced
him to get painters to make illustrated copies of various works. His
immense desire for fame and renown led him to commission Abul Fazl to
write his biography. It also made him one of the greatest of Mughal
builders, for architecture has indeed the most lasting claim as an
aid to fame.

Akbar’s desire to outshine all other rulers by his achievements in

philosophy and religion, in art and architecture, was only intensified by
15 years of consolidated rule. He had already built himself a magnificent
fort-palace at his capital of Agra. To strengthen his claim to artistic
renown and to further display his imperial power, he now decided to
build another and a more glorious capital city at Sikri.

The choice of Sikri as a site has an interesting story attached to it. At

a time when Akbar was deeply concerned about the lack of an heir to
his throne, the saint Salim Chisti living at Sikri predicted that he
would have three sons. Later, when his wives were pregnant, Akbar
sent them to the saint Salim at Sikri where his first two sons were born.
His third son was born at the hermitage of another Chisti saint. Akbar
felt deeply indebted to saint Salim Chisti and he decided to honour

him by building his new capital at Sikri.

In 1571 stone masons and architects moved to the barren hill of hard
red sandstone and in the course of the next 15 years the entire city
appeared on the hill. It was named Fatehpur Sikri, the word Fatehpur
meaning City of Victory. Akbar’s eldest son Salim, named after the
Chisti saint, and later known as Jehangir, writes;

My revered father, regarding the village of Sikri, my birthplace,

as fortunate to himself, made it his capital, and in the course
of 14 or 15 years the hills and deserts, which abounded in

beasts of prey, became converted into a magnificent city, com-

prising numerous gardens, elegant edifices and other places of

126
 great attraction and beauty. After the conquest of Gujarat, the
village was named Fatehpur (the town of victory).

Akbar had made a study of the tenets and philosophy of many religions
including Hinduism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism. movedHe gradually
away from orthodox Islam and announced a reli-gion of his own known
as Din-i-ilahi or Religion of God. The keynote of this religion was its
attitude of deep tolerance arising out of what has been labelled Akbar’s
‘vague and mystical liberalism’. By marrying Hindu wives and allowing
them to practise Hindu rites and to celebrate Hindu festivals within the
palace confines, Akbar had won the affection and trust of several Hindu
rulers and vassals. These rulers willingly co-operated in the emperor’s
building activities not only by offering monetary tribute, but also by
sending skilled artisans from their kingdoms to Sikri. This helped Akbar
to erect the entire group of buildings at Sikri in a short span of time.
The distinct styles of these various groups of artisans are clearly seen
in some of the buildings at the site. Akbar was equally tolerant of
Portuguese missionaries and took great interest in their teachings, even
engraving the words of Christ on the main gateway to the Great Mosque
at Sikri.

The advent of the Muslims into India had brought about major changes
in the art and architecture of the country. With Islam came the new
concept of the mosque as a place of worship. The mosque is a spacious,
open and airy structure, while the Hindu shrine is usually dark, enclosed
and incense-laden. In contrast to Hindu art, all decorative carving in
Muslim architecture had to be floral or geometric, figural representation
being taboo in Islam. This tradition was strictly observed in orthodox
Islamic countries, but the Indian stone carver often took the liberty of
introducing a bird or animal into his relief motifs. (Luckily the Mughal
painter did not feel bound by the orthodox tradition).

While Hindu inscriptions merely served a practical purpose such as that

of recording facts regarding the foundation of a temple, the Muslims
made an art of calligraphy, and decorative lettering occupied a place of

importance on Muslim monuments. It was also a special characteristic

of the Muslims to enliven bare stone walls with the application of painted
plaster and with an inlay of glazed tiles, marble and precious stones.

127
Patterned effects were often achieved by using marble of different colours
for the mural decorations.

The Muslims also introduced new methods of building. The use of mortar
as a cementing agent gave a wider range to the builders’ art, while the
principle of the arch made it open spaces by
unnecessary to span all

beams placed across pillars. Large unpillared halls now became possible.
In addition, a completely new type of structure, the tomb, began to be
built. The Hindus raised no monument for their dead because of their
practice of cremation, followed by immersion of the ashes. The Muslims
who buried their dead, made the tomb into a major architectural
monument. The Islamic gave a fresh perspective to Indian architec-
style
ture and domed structures began to appear everywhere, giving a new
look to the skyline of the country.

Although various regional influences may be seen in the architecture of

Fatehpur Sikri, there is, nevertheless, an essential uniformity of style
that leaves no doubt that there existed a single master architect in
charge of the planning of the entire city. Fatehour Sikri consists of
two well-separated sections : the palace area consisting of buildings
separated by arrangements of spacious paved grounds, and the mosque
area. While the palace buildings reveal a combination of Hindu and
Islamic styles, the Great Mosque is constructed on almost purely Mus-
lim principles. From a distance the eye registers a uniform picture of
red sandstone, while the impression left on the mind by the sweep of
buildings is one of regal grandeur. It is only on a much closer view that
the wealth of decoration emerges.

The palace area numerous and varied structures both

consists of
administrative and residential. The palace of Birbal is a gracious domed
building in two stories. Whether it ever belonged to Birbal, Akbar’s
famous friend and adviser, is a matter of doubt. The upper storey with
its two diagonally-placed rooms opening on either side on to terraces

enclosed by low parapets would suggest rather that the palace was
occupied by Akbar’s two senior queens Salima and Rukiya- (Plate 611
An interesting feature in the construction is a curious system of double-
roofing, obviously intended to keep the interior cool. The carving on the
walls and niches and on the ceilings and pillars is profuse, elaborate

128
 !.s' }iracc(id buildui^, popuhirli/ kiioum us Birhid's palace, was the resulcmc ol hro of
Akhar’s senior queens Plate 61]
\

and varied and certainly imparts a special character, besides addinv* to

the general attraction of Birbal’s palace. This detailed decorative work

is strongly Hindu in style.

The Punch Mahal, an open building in five stories, is impressive in its

complex arrangement of elegant pillars. Each floor diminishes in size

ending in a single domed pavilion which gives the structure a delicate

and finished look. The first floor has 84 pillars, the second 56, the third
20, and the fourth 12, while the uppermost is the single pavilion. The
pillars and their brackets are remarkably varied in general design as well
as in decorative work. In fact, no two pillars on the second floor arc
alike. The Panch Mahal, apparently an equivalent of the Persian badgir
or ‘wind-catcher’, was a palace where the ladies of the court could relax,
while the cool summer breezes played around them. 1
Plate 62|

The Sunehra Makan (Golden House), popularly known Maryam’s as

house, is a small and comparatively undistinguished building. Once
upon a time, however, it was splendidly decorated with wall paintings

129
in which gold was lavishly used. These paintings were Persian in style
and represented the very early stages of Mughal painting. Except for
the carpet designs on some ceilings, all that now remains of these
frescoes is the faded outline of a few figures and scattered patches of
decorative lettering. It is indeed difficult to imagine their one-time glory.

The pavilion known as the Turkish Sultana’s house, with its trellis-work
parapet on the flat roof, seems to have been a chamber for discussions,
rather than a residential house. Badauni tells us that an important
religious debate took place one night in 1575 in the Chamber of the
Anup Talao. Apparently, the reference is to this pavilion with the pool
in front. The building is small and modest and consists of a single room
contained within pillared verandahs. The simplicity of this design provides
an appropriate background for the detailed decorative carving which

The Punch Mahal is

remarkable for its com-
plex arranf^ement of
pillars which are elabo-
rately ornamented. This
open structure was the
equivalent of the Per-
sian bad^ir or *wind-
catcher. [Plate 62]
 An example of the deUeate floral cannn^’ that
appears on the walls of the pavilion popularly
known as the I'urkish Sultana's hous(\ [Plate 61\

covers every inch of the wall surfaces. [Plate 631 Gazing at the delicate
floral patterns surrounded by borders of geometric design, one can un-

derstand why the pavilion has been described as a ‘superb jewel casket’.
The simple method of construction as also the abundance of this parti-

cular type of shallow carving, brings to mind the tradition of the wood
worker. It appears probable that the craftsmen who built this exquisite

pavilion came from either the Punjab or Kashmir, where woodwork, at

that time, was a predominant and living craft.

The largest of Sikri’s residential buildings is known as Jodh Bai’s palace.

It corresponds to Abul Fazl’s description of the palace occupied by
Akbar’s Rajput wives, and in which Akbar occasionally performed the
Hindu sacrifice known as Jodh Bai’s palace consists of four
horna.
structures on the four sides of an open rectangular area measuring 320

I3I
The facade of the Diwan-t-Khas acquires its look of distinction from the ele^^ant domed
kiosks on the roof. [Hate 64\

feet by 215 feet. These buildings are enclosed and connected by a wall
30 feet high and include an impressive entrance gateway, a Hindu
temple and a Hawa Mahal with exquisitely cut stone trellis screens.
Here the ladies could relax in cool comfort, while through the delicate
trellis-work they could get a pleasing view of the outside, remaining
themselves unobserved. In the days when
the floors were richly carpeted
and bolstered with silken cushions, and when attendant maids glided
to and fro laden with trays of pan and sweetmeats, it must have
presented a picture of colourful luxury. The architectural influence of
Islam is apparent in the domes and in the application of vivid blue
glazed tiles to some of the roofs. However, its niches, brackets, pillars

and hanging balconies, and its richly carved ornamentation, show un-
mistakable resemblance to the temple architecture of western India It

seems as though the master architect entrusted the construction of this

palace to a guild of craftsmen from Gujarat.

132
Of the administrative buildings, the most important is the Diwan-i-Khas,
the Hall of Private Audience. The exterior is rectangular in plan and is

in two Giving the structure a distinctive look are the four small
stories.
pillared kiosks placed at the corners of the terraced roof. [Plate 64] The
interior arrangements of the Diwan-i-Khas are so unusual and unique
that it seems certain it was designed according to the instructions of
Akbar himself. The interior, basically a single chamber, has a large
substantial pillar in the centre with a massive expanding capital that
supports a circular stone platform above. The concept seems to be that
of a spreading tree. The patterned pillar branches out at the top into a
series of 36 decorated brackets, set closely together and supporting the
‘throne’ platform above. This central platform is connected to galleries

This pillar with its ex-

panding capital is the focal
point of the interior of
the Diwan-i-Khas. It sup-
ports the circular platform
above ivhere it is pre-
sumed Akbar sat indarbar.
[Plate 651
The 'throne' platform above the central pillar in the 'Diivan-i-Khas\ and the 'bridges' connect-
ing it to the galleries. [Plate 66]

along the sides by stone ‘bridges’ with lattice-work railings. [Plates 65

and 66,1 The exact purpose of this remarkable building remains in some
doubt. It seems likely, however, that Akbar conceived this curious
design because he wished to hold private darbar, seated in a prominent
position on the central platform, with his representatives in the galleries
around- Those who did not intend to participate in the discussions per-
haps gathered below.

The mosque mosque itself, the

area at Fatehpur Sikri consists of the
great southern gateway known as the Buland Darwaza and the small
tomb of the saint Salim Chisti within the courtyard. The mosque, which
covers an area of 542 feet by 438 feet, is one of the largest, most finished
and typical of its kind. It is conventional in design and consists of a
wide open courtyard with pillared walks on three sides, with the
sanctuary at the western end facing Mecca. The courtyard gives a sense
of great dignity and spaciousness, and arranged all along the parapets

134
are a series of small pillared and domed kiosks, creating a most pleasing
effect. Jehangir tells us that on holy days and anniversaries the kiosks
were wrapped in coloured cloth and lamps were lit within. The sanc-
tuary is composed compartments crowned by domes.
of various interior
Its decoration consists of painted, carved and inlaid work for which

Akbar seems to have called into play the resources of the best
craftsmen of the day. The diversity of patterns used in the decoration
of the walls is remarkable. Tt is as had taken as their model
if the artists
the pages of an exquisitely illuminated manuscript and enlarged these
with their jewelled geometry of line and colour to enrich the spaces on
the walls’.

Some years after the construction of this mosque, Akbar wished to

commemorate one of his victories by erecting a triumphal archway. He
chose the southern entrance to the mosque and built there the imposing
Buland Darwaza or Gate of Magnificence. [Plate 67) The gateway, 130
feet wide, approached by 42 steps and rises 134 feet above the top
is

step, so that the entire structureis 176 feet from ground level. Seen from

the ground, the massive dignity of the Buland Darwaza is awe-inspiring

in its grandeur. In the broad rectangular border formation on the central

face of the gateway is a continuous ornamental inscription. This calli-

graphic border with its beautiful lettering is of impressive size. Among
itsmessages it contains the following words indicative of Akbar’s religi-

ous broadmindedness:

Jesus,Son of Mary, on whom be peace, said The world is a :

bridge; Pass over it; But build no house upon it. Who hopes for

an hour, hopes for eternity. The world is an hour. Spend it in

prayer, for the rest is unseen.

The exquisite white marble tomb of the saint Salim Chisti produces a
complete change of mood. [Plate 68[ Originally the tomb appears to have
been a small red sandstone structure, only partly faced with marble. It
was probably at the end of Jehangir’s reign that the major portion of the
marble work was added and the tomb achieved its effect of extreme
elegance. The delicacy of treatment makes the marble look almost like
carved ivory. The walls of the square exterior are composed of beautiful
perforated screens bound by pillars with lattice-work capitals which
create a honeycomb appearance. The tomb chamber within is circular

136
The tomb of the saint Salim Chisti within the courtyard of the Great Mosque, Its white
marbled elegance is instriking contrast to the red sandstone of the Mosque buildings. [Plate 68]

and measures 16 feet in diameter with a low dome above. Placed over
the tomb is a richly decorated canopy made of ebony, almost completely
covered with glistening pieces of mother-of-pearl cut in various shapes.
The floor and walls of the chamber are paved with marble inlaid with

coloured stones.

Fatehpur Sikri has been described as a ‘brief but brilliant story’. Once
humming with life and adorned with cool fountains, green gardens and
pleasure pavilions, it stood as a symbol of Akbar’s most creative years.

137
During those twelve years (a.d. 1574 to a.d. 1586) of rich activity, Akbar’s
manuscripts were copied, his biographies and translations were comple-
ted, his miniatures were painted, and his elaborate administrative
machinery was set in motion. In 1586 Akbar moved his court to the
Punjab and when he returned in 1598, he established himself at Agra
and not at Fatehpur Sikri.
Varied conjectures have been made as to why Akbar deserted his
favourite city, built with such effort and enthusiasm. The most popular
theory is that of the failure of the city’s water supply, and certainly the
artificial lake two miles long and a mile wide, built by Akbar, did dry up.
On the other hand, since there ample evidence of an almost foolproof
is

water supply system comprising storage tanks and channels, one feels that
the explanation for the desertion of Fatehpur Sikri must lie elsewhere,
hidden in the folds of Akbar’s complex personality. For some unknown
reason, he seems to have failed to hear again the call of Sikri which,
almost overnight, became a ghost town.
 13

Rajput Miniature Painting :

A Synthesis of Hindu and Muslim

Included in the collection of the National Museum, New Delhi, is

the exquisite Rajput miniature seen in Plate 69, showing a girl feeding
a black buck. The peace and serenity which immediately establishes
itself as the predominant note of this painting is common to all Kangra
miniatures. Indeed, the tranquillity of the Kangra valley itself seems to
emerge from the delicate tracery of the picture and from its cool blues,
pale greens and soft mauves. The beauty of the Kangra valley women with
their fine features, large gentle eyes and graceful figures is also reflected
in Kangra miniatures, often, as in this instance, forming their sole theme.

Seated on a willow tree, the girl in the picture is holding a branch in one
hand and feeding a buck with the other. Like all the women of Kangra
miniatures, she is wearing a high-waisted dress which adds to the effect
of grace and elegance. The delicate sweeping lines of the willow tree
seem to echo the rhythmic curves of the girl’s figure. The drawing is fine
and precise, and the delicacy of treatment is typical.

This miniature was painted around a.d. 1800 in the state of Kangra,
which was then under the Chand
rule of Sansar (a.d. 1775 to a.d, 1823).
Some 30 years before Sansar Chand came to the throne, artists from
Delhi, fearing the consequences of Nadir Shah’s invasion of India, took
refuge in the area of the Punjab hills. These artists laid the foundation
of the Kangra school of painting. Sansar Chand, who was a keen patron

139
of arts, surrounded himself with poets, story-tellers and skilled artists,
with talented singers and dancing girls. The years of his reign were
among the most glorious in the history of Kangra.

Why are these paintings known as miniatures ? Obviously because of

their specially small size.The average miniature measures some eight
inches by six inches, and the Girt feeding the Black Buck of Plate 69
is reproduced in its actual size. The art of transferring colour on to
such small-size manuscripts of leaf or paper began around a.d. 900. All
earlier painting in India —
and painting had flourished from very ancient
—
times had been confined entirely to the decoration of walls. The
earliest were painted on long narrow strips of palm-leaf.
miniatures
These strips were about three inches wide and a foot in length. The
left-hand corner of these strips contained a painting about three inches
square, while the remaining nine inches was occupied by a text, to
which the painting was an illustration. Holes were punched in each strip
and the entire lot was held together by a string. These horizontal palm-
leaf manuscripts were exclusively religious texts.

With the coming of the Muslims these manuscripts assumed the upright
format which is the normal practice today. This format was derived
from the Persian method of book illustration which was followed in
the Mughal courts of India from the fifteenth century onwards. Minia-
ture painting received great encouragement during the reign of the
emperor Akbar who is said to have employed more than 100 painters,
most of them Hindus. These painters worked under the supervision of
two Persian master artists. Contemporary records tell us that the emperor
Akbar regularly examined the work of the painters and conferred re-
wards according to merit. Miniature painting continued to be patronized
by the emperors Jehangir and Shah Jehan in whose reigns some magnifi-
cent illustrated texts were produced. The decline, however, began soon
after, and when Nadir Shah of Persia invaded India and occupied Delhi
in 1738, artists dispersed to various parts of the country including
Rajasthan and the Punjab hills. In the many small Rajput states of this
which had already
area, there existed a tradition of miniature painting,
imbibed earlier Mughal influences. Artists from the Mughal court who
now sought patronage in these Rajput states, seem to have increased
the enthusiasm for miniature painting and given it fresh impetus. Some
of the flnest examples of Indian miniatures now came from these areas.

140
Rajput miniatures were painted during the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries and are the result of the intermingling of Muslim and Hindu
cultures. The style of the painting often reveals Muslim influence, while
the spirit and subject-matter are purely Hindu.
The miniatures mainly depict episodes from the legend of Krishna and
miniature after miniature was produced in the Rajput courts portraying
Krishna and his romantic adventures with the gopis. Radha and Krishna
were considered to be symbols of the human soul and God, Radha’s long-
ing for Krishna being a means of expressing the soul’s longing for God.
Since very early times in India, the ecstasy of the love of man and woman
had been considered to be the closest analogy to the soul’s delight in
God. The Rajput rulers were followers of the Vallabhacharya cult which
held that God was to be found, not in ascetic denial, but in the very midst
of worldly pleasures.
In addition to these miniatures that interpret human love in terms of
the divine, there are many from contemporary love-
that portray scenes
poetry and depict woman’s capacity for love, quite apart from any re-
ligious significance. This was a favourite theme of Indian poetry, two of
the most famous poems in this category being the Sanskrit Rasamanjari
of Bhanu Datta and the Hindi Rasika Priija of Keshav Das- Krishna
worship, with its emphasis on the longing for the Divine Lover,
inspired this romantic literature, which in turn was reflected in Rajput
painting. Part of the preoccupation and repeated depiction in miniature
paintings of women yearning for their lovers may also be traced to the
particular character of Rajput society. It must be remembered that being
a warlike people, Rajput men were often away on the battlefield, leaving
their women alone for long periods.
The Rajput artists used for their paintings a thick handmade paper
prepared from cotton, bamboo and jute. Several sheets of this paper were
gummed together to provide a base and often, old, used paper formed
the lower layers. Brushes were made from the hair of the squirrel’s tail
and the outline was first drawn with this fine brush. A coating of white
colour was applied over the whole, after which the outline was redrawn.
The paper was polished with a rounded stone and the colours were then
applied.
The Rajput artists used a wide variety of shades ranging from the strong
pure colours of the Basohli paintings to the soft mauves and powdery

142
 :

blues of Kangra. Blue was from imported lapis lazuli and yellow was
obtained from a sulphide of arsenic. Red was derived from various
sources —from red ochre, iron oxide and cochineal. Gold was derived
from gold leaf. Several coatings of colour were applied. After each ap-
plication the colour was allowed to dry, then polished, and then another
coat of the same colour was applied. This was done several times.
Gold and silver were added last, not with the usual brush, but with a
bear’s or a tiger’s claw. The human figures were painted last, after the
entire background had been completed. Finally, the outline which was
blurred by the process of colouring, was redrawn in black.
There are several categories of Rajput miniatures, each associated with a
different Rajput court. Each style has its own special mode of depicting
human figure and features. Four of the most distinctive styles are the
Kangra and Basohli from the Punjab hills, and the Kishangarh and Bundi
from Rajasthan.
The state of Basohli which, like Kangra, is also in the Punjab hills,
produced, however, a style of miniature painting which is in complete
contrast to that of Kangra. Basohli painting makes its impact because
of its primitive directness and its strong sense of movement. There is
no search here for line perfection, but rather an attempt to depict simple
blocked-out shapes. This is clearly seen in Plate 70 depicting a scene
from the Dana-Lila. The story goes that Krishna and his companions
used to waylay the gopis and demand a kiss as the fee idana) for allow-
ing them to proceed. This was usually willingly given! If the gopis
refused, their veils were drawn off and a kiss snatched, often resulting in
the breaking of their milk pots.

The treatment of the feminine face in Basohli paintings is unusual. The

women have rounded receding foreheads, predominantly large eyes and
big rounded chins. Their hair usually falls in long wavy tresses and they
wear richly patterned clothes. The figures are invariably bejewelled
raised white paint is used to show up pearl
necklaces, while pieces cut
from shining beetles’ wings highlight the green of emerald ornaments.
The emphasis is on colours like red, mustard and blue, and when trees
are painted, they are highly stylised. The general effect of the Basohli
style contains a suggestion of something wild and primitive.
Painting in the small state of Basohli seems to have developed during
the reign of Sangram Pal (a.d. 1635 to a.d. 1673). The distinctive Basohli

143
This scene from the Dana-Lila isa Basohli miniature belonging to around A.D. 1700. It shows
one of Krishna s companions snatching away the veil of a gopi who has apparently refused
the dana of a kiss. {Plate 70]

style, while revealing both Mughal and Rajasthani influences, is yet

different from both. One is led to assume that there must have existed a
local tradition of painting which has not yet been clearly traced. The
Mughal clothes, which are typical of the Basohli miniatures, were prob-
ably an influence of Sangram Pal’s visit to the court of Shah Jehan. The
spirit of the paintings, however, has nothing in common with the Mughal

tradition. The Basohli style reached its most expressive phase in the
reign of Kirpal Pal (a.d. 1678 to a.d. 1693) who was a great patron of art
and literature, and it is to this period that our Dana-Lila miniature
belongs.

From Rajasthan proper come the Kishangarh miniatures which are among
the most beautiful and elegant paintings of fndia. The small state
of

144
 :

Kishangarh, which lies between Jaipur and Ajmer, was founded by Kishan
Singh in 1611. It was during the reign of Sawant Singh who came to the
throne in 1748 that Kishangarh’s most exquisite series of miniatures
were painted. These miniatures derive in theme and spirit as well as in

stylefrom the personalities of the ruler Sawant Singh and his chief artist
Nihal Chand. Sawant Singh was a patron of art and was himself a poet.
Under the name of Nagaridas he wrote a whole series of lyrics on the
Krishna theme. He was also inspired by his love for Bani Than! (Bewitch-
ingLady of Fashion), a young singer who was maid to his step-mother
and who soon became his mistress. Their mutual devotion was a long
and lasting one, and Bani Thani was certainly the living model for his
exquisite descriptions of the divine Radha
Her face is gleaming like the brightness of the sun.
High arched, twin pencilled eyebrows hover on her brow
like black bees over a lily pond.
And her dark tresses fall here and there like the
curling tendrils of a creeper.
Bejewelled is her nose, curved and sharp like the
thrusting saru [cypress] plant,
And her lips have formed a gracious bow parting into
a queenly smile.

The artist Nihal Chand was able to capture the spirit of his master’s
lyricism and translate it faithfully in terms of line and colour. He also
had at his command every technique of Mughal painting. The fine

features, oval faceand slim bodies of Radha and Krishna as depicted by

Nihal Chand were undoubtedly stylised and idealistic portraits of the
royal lovers. Thus arose the distinctiveness of the Kishangarh Radha-
Krishna, with their elongated faces, firmly cut-back foreheads and sharp
pointed noses. The eyes are invariably long and curved upwards, and the
eyebrows descend from a bold arch. The lips are thin and sensitive and
the chin slender and pointed. Radha has long tresses and her face is

framed by a curl of hair. She wears a fine gold-embroidered wrap. The

equally elegant Krishna is painted pale blue and wears an orange turban.
The effect of delicacy is further stressed by the pearls and pale emeralds
which go to make up their jewellery.

145
The refined drawing and expressive lines
of the Kishangarh style may be
seen in Plate 71 which depicts Radha
and Krishna seated in a pavilion
on a marble terrace, attended by a group
of maids. Nihal Chand gloried
in painting Radha-Krishna
and the gopis gliding through lush green
gardens, sailing in red boats on a blue
lake, or sitting on white marble
terraces. The elegant pillars of the
pavilion with their detailed decorative
treatment are a constantly recurring feature
of Kishangarh paintings. The
trees with their circularly grouped
foliage are also typical. Kishangarh
miniatures depict a great deal of landscape,
making lavish use of green
against sunset skies of vermilion and
gold.
The vibrant paintings of Bundi, also from
Rajasthan, strike a different
note. The state of Bundi lies a little north of Udaipur
and painting

146
 t

This Bundi minia-

ture, belonging
to around A.D.
1700, illustrates
the Rasika Priya
of Keshav Das.
[Plate 72]
commenced there during the reign of the Rajput ruler Rao Chattar Sal
(a.d. 1631 to A.D. 1659), who was made governor of Delhi by the Mughal
emperor Shah Jehan. The close association of the Bundi rulers with the
Mughal court is evident in the early paintings. In the reign of the next
two rulers, the typical Bundi style emerges and reaches its finest form
under the ruler Unmed Singh who ruled from a.d. 1749 to a.d. 1771.
Plate 72 shows us a miniature illustrating a verse from the Rasika Priya
of Keshav Das, a Hindi poem which deals extensively with the theme of
heroes and heroines and their classification.The painting is divided into
two sections. The upper portion shows Krishna seated in the centre on
a lotus with Radha beside him, while the scene below depicts Radha with
two attendant maids. Fine line drawing is characteristic of the Bundi
style. The women of the Bundi style have receding foreheads and chins,

strong noses, deeply curved eyebrows, narrow eyes, thin lips and full
cheeks. They have small breasts and long slim bodies.

The date palms and plantains that are predominant in the landscape are
typical of the Bundi countryside. The detailed treatment of architecture
reveals the influence of the Mughal tradition. The Bundi artist had a
special fondness for painting carpet designs in great detail. He also liked
using brilliant colours, effectively placing pure reds, yellows and greens
against deep blue skies dotted with stars and a crescent moon.
Rajput artists strictly adhered to the traditions of the school of painting
in which they had been trained. Even in instances where an individual
touch is seen, the style rarely moves away from the basic principles laid
down by its particular school. Rajput miniature painting was definitely
a court art which flourished in an atmosphere of royal patronage. Though
the themes of the miniatures came mainly from the stories and
legends widely prevalent among the people, the common man had little
opportunity to appreciate the paintings themselves which remained
confined to the royal courts.
 1

Notes and Acknowledgements

Chapter 1

Several books on Indian art suggest that the Sanchi stupa was decorated sometime in the
first century a.d. In my opinion, the decoration belongs to between B.c. 50 to b-c. 25. I have
discussed, in some detail, the points in favour of such a dating in my book Early Buddhist
Rock Temples, London, 1972.

Chapters 2 & 3

Walter Spink of the University of Michigan has been doing extensive work on the rock-cut
architecture of India. In chapters 2 and 3 of this book, 1 have followed Spink’s recently
presented analysis on the development of these caves. I find myself more in agreement with
Spink’s views regarding their dating than wit those of Percy Brown, whose theories have
been widely accepted until today. See Spink, “Aianta to Ellora”, Marg, 1967 and Spink, “Ajanta
and Ghototkacha, a Preliminary Analysis,” Arts Orientalis, vol. 6.

Chapter 5
For several decades, fouveau Dubreuil’s theory of the development of the site of Mahabali-
puram, as extending over the reigns of four Pallava rulers, has not been questioned by art
historians. In my chapter on Mahabalipuram, however, 1 have presented the recent view put
forward by R. Nagaswamy (Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology), who has argued that
Mahabalipuram was built during the reign of a single Pallava ruler. See R. Nagaswamy’s “New
Light on Mahabalipuram”, Transactions of the Archaeological Society of South India, 1960-62.

Chapters 9 & 10

Percy Brown’s insight into the art of the Hoysalas, and his analysis of the development of the
south Indian temple, remain unchallenged. I would like to record my indebtedness to the
relevant sections of his volume Indian Architecture: Buddhist and Hindu, on which I have
based chapters 9 and 10 of my book.

Chapter 1

There few authoritative as well as lucid works on the art of Tibet. The monograph
are
written by Pratapaditya Pal (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) is certainly one such work,
and I have drawn heavily on it for my own brief discussion on the Tibetan gods. See P. Pal,
The Art of Tibet, Asia Society, New York, 1969.

Chapter 13
Much discussion centres around the subject o Rajput miniature painting, and particularly on
the origins of the various schools and the influences that shaped them. I have relied on Karl
Khandalavala’s scholarly publication Pahari Miniature Painting, and have also drawn on
Galbraith and Randhawa’s Rajput Painting,

149
 The permission given by the under-mentioned institutions to reproduce photo-
graphic material in this book is gratefully acknowledged:
1.

2.
Natarajci on the cover — National Museum, New Delhi and Department of
Atomic Energy, Bombay.

Tibetan Paintings of Mahakala (plate 58) and Lha Mo — National

(plate 59)

Museum of Ethnology, Leiden, The Netherlands.

3. Mahisha-Samvara (plate 60) —National Art Gallery, His Majesty’s Govern-

ment of Nepal, Bhaktapur, Nepal.

4. Other photographs Archaeological Survey of India, Government of India,

New Delhi.

150
 Glossary

abhaya mudra hand gesture of reassurance

akshamala rosary; string of beads always seen in the hands of an image

of Brahma

alasci kanya term used to describe carvings in the Odissi temples of girls
in various leisurely postures

apsara heavenly maiden

apsidal the semi-circular or inverted-U-shaped end of a building; applied

particularly to the Buddhist temple

arcade a long passage or gallery, usually with arched ceiling

balcony projecting platform enclosed by wall or railing, on the outside

of a building

base lower portion of any structure whether building or pillar

beam long piece of stone or wood, laid across pillars

hhumi-sparsa mudra earth-touching gesture of the hands, particularly of the Buddha

hodhisattva a being capable of becoming a Buddha, but who chooses to remain

in world to help other beings towards Buddhahood; an
this
intermediary between man and Buddha

hodhi tree tree under which the Buddha obtained enlightenment

bracket a projecting support, often ornamental

calligraphy decorative lettering

canopy covering above a niche

capital upper portion of a pillar

ceiling inner covering surface of building, below the roof

cell small residential room in a monastery

chaitya a Buddhist temple

chakra a wheel, always seen in the hands of a Vishnu image

151
chapel a temple ; a place of worship

colonnade a series of columns or pillars

column pillar

court an enclosed space

deity a god

enlightenment realisation of the ultimate meaning of life on earth

excavation hollowed out of rock or earth

facade front view of a building

fresco wall painting on a plastered surface

frieze a band or border of decoration, usually horizontal, on the wall

of a temple or other structure

gallery a long covered passage

gana dwarf-like attendant of Siva

gopuram ornamental gateway-tower of the south Indian temple

high relief deep carving in which the figures stand out prominently from
the background

Hinayana earlyform of Buddhism as taught by the Buddha himself, in

which the Buddha was not considered as God

inscription writing on stone, metal or clay

jamb the side frame of door or window

Jataka stories of the previous lives of the Buddha

kalasa vase-like structure crowning the spire of a Siva temple

kapala skull-cap

kiosk small decorative pillared pavilion with a domed roof

linga an emblem of Siva ; a phallic emblem

low relief shallow carving in which the figures stand out only slightly from
the background

Mahayana Later form of Buddhism in which the Buddha was worshipped

as God

mandapa an open hall

monolith a single rock shaped into a building, pillar or other object

mortar mixture of lime, sand and water for joining stones or bricks

mudra gesture of the hands and fingers

mural wall decoration, usually painting

naga serpent-being associated with the waters

152
nagini female serpent-being associated with the waters

Nandi the bull of Siva

narrative sculpture sculpture depicting an entire story

niche a hollow portion in the wall intended for a statue or other

ornament

nirvana term used by the Buddhists for enlightenment

panel a section of a wall, usually recessed, and containing decorative

carving

parapet flat projecting surface often enclosed by a railing, at various

levels of a building

pavilion an open roofed building

pilaster a pillar that is attached to the wall

pinnacle slender spire-like structure on the top of a building

plan floor-plan; horizontal section of a building showing the distribu-

tion of its various parts

porch an open roofed entrance to a shrine, usually pillared

pradakshina patha processional passage built around the object of worship

prakaram open courtyard to be found in the south Indian temple

ratha a chariot used in connection with temple ceremonies a term ;

used to describe the monolithic temples of Mahabalipuram

relief carving carving attached to stone or wood surface, and only partly
projecting from that surface

rock-cut cut out of the solid rock of a mountainside

sanctum the most sacred part of a temple; the shrine in which the image
of the god is placed

sankha conch-shell always seen in the hands of a Vishnu image

Shakti female force; the feminine counterpart of a god

shrine the most sacred part of the temple in which the image of the
god is placed; the term is also used to describe a small temple

shrine tower tower above the sanctuary containing the image of the god

siddha saint

sikhara tower or spire above the shrine

storey a level of a building

structural built by piling up stone or bricks (as distinct from rock-cut)

stupa structure shaped like a mound, and containing within it relics
of the Buddha or of the disciples, or merely marking a sacred
spot

superstructure upper portion of a structure

153
tanka Tibetan or Nepali painting on cloth

terrace an open, flat roof-top; a veranda

trench a deep narrow cut in rock or earth

Trinity a group of three; Trimurti; applied usually to Brahma- Vishnu-

Siva; can also refer to three aspects of Siva himself

urna tuft of hair between the eyebrows of Buddha images

usnisa protuberance on the skull of the Buddha, indicating his super-

human status

utsava-vigraha special images in a temple, taken out for worship on ceremonial

and festival occasions

varada mudra hand gesture of granting a wish

vault arched covering over any space

vihara monastery of the Buddhists and Jains

wing side extensions of a building

yab-yum father-mother; term applied to Tibetan images of god and

goddess shown in union

yali mythical crocodile-like creature

154
 Index
Ajanta Fatehpur Sikri
chaityas (chapels) description, 17 reason for desertion of, 138
viharas (residential halls for monks> the capital, 126
description, 16
Akbar Gopurams
and Din-i-ilahi, 127 types of, 113-114
and miniature painting, 139-140 Greek-inspired art
complex personality of, 125-127 known as Gandharan school of art,
Architecture 38, 42
Moghul and Hindu, 127-128

Belur temple
Hoysala
craftsmen, 105
description of, 99, 101
Birbal Hoysalesvara temple
description, 101-103
palace of . . . 128-129
Bon religion, 117
Buddha Jodh Bai Palace, 131-132
birth, 2-3
bodhi tree, 3 Kalachuri, 25-26, 30
divine figure of, 40 Kangra
first sermon of ... at Sarnath, 3 and reign of Sansar Chand, 139-140
Gandharan, 42, 45 miniature
marriage, 3 description of, 139-141
meaning of, 3 Khajuraho temples
nirvana, 4 and Chandela rulers, 61
origin of stupa 4 decorated ceiling of, 63
representation as human figure, 17 erotic art in, 68-71
search for Ultimate Truth, 3 images of apsaras at, 67-68
stone for religious and artistic ex- Kandariya Mahadeo, the largest, 62-63,
pression, 26 66-67
Bundi sculptures of, 66
paintings of, 146-148 Kishangarh
paintings, 144-146
Diwan-i’khas, 132, 133-134
Konarak
Elephanta Sun temple
cave temple description, 26-28, 29 description, 78-80, 83
Ellora location, 78
Dhumar Lena cave description, 31, 32
Ellora Lamaism
during Rashtrakuta rule, 31 definition, 117
Kailasa temple at, 31, 33-37 Lingaraj temple
rock cut architecture, 37 description, 75-78

155
Mahabalipuram Sanchi sculpture
development during Rajasimha’s reign, continuous story telling, 7
51-52, 60 lack of three dimensional effect, 8, 9
location, 46 non-representation of Buddha figure in

types of monuments at, 46-50 stupa, 6-7, 8

monoliths and Ashoka, 4

and Buddhism, 1-2, 5
Pancha Panda va rathas, 57
definition, 1
rock cut caves
location, 1
Mahishamardini cave, 56
Somnathpur temple
sculptured scenes
description, 95-99
Arjuna’s penance, 46-50, 52-55
South Indian temples
Krishna mandapa, 55 casting of metal images, 87
structural temples description of Nataraja, 87-89
shore temple, 58-60 shrines of, 86
Maryam* s house, 129-130 utsava-vigrahas, 92
Srirangam
Paintings as a temple-town, 110
Basohli, description, 143-144 location of,106
Paintings, miniature temple boundary, 106-107
origin. 111
colour used in, 142-143
materials for, 142
Sunehra Makan
see Maryam’s house
origin and growth, 140
theme, 142
Tankas
Panch Mahal, 129-130
scroll paintings, 118-124
Parasuramesvar shrine, 80, 82
T ibet
Puri
climatic conditions, 116
Jagannath temple deities, 116-117
car festival, 73 Tomb
description of shrine, 73-75 origin of, 128

Saivite Trinity Yamantaka God

description, 28-29 description, 117-119.
 TTCSicr g^fT^T^T*!

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