Mauryan Art
The earliest and most characteristic specimens of Indian art are those of the Indus valley and of the Mauryan. Of the 84000 stupas built by Ashoka and the royal palace and other Buddhist structures, nothing has survived accept the remains of a few stupas, some pillars, some capitals and the cave dwellings of Barabar.
Many pillared Hall & Stupas, Chaityas
The ruins of a hall with 100 pillars excavated at ancient pataliputra speaks volumes about the splendors of the Royal palace, which was marvelled at by the Chinese and Greek travellers.
Dr. Spooner writes about this many pillared Hall "Marvellous preservation of the ancient wood, whose edges were so perfect that the very lines of jointure were indistinguishable, evoked admiration of all, who witnessed the experiment. The whole was built with precision and reasoned care that could not possibly be excelled today."
Stupas other architectural Marvels of Ashoka were the stupas at Sanchi and Sarnath. Excavations revealed that both these mounds were of a low structure of a diameter of about 60 ft, built of large bricks.
Hemispherical in shape with a raised terrace at the base enclosed by a wooden railing, the Vedic Aryan practice of building a mound over the dead body was the Genesis of Ashoka's Stupas.
The Vedic structure was of Earth and Ashoka made it of bricks and made the mound larger & crowned it with a harmika & an umbrella of stone, added a trrace at the base & encircled it with a wooden railing.
Chaitya Hall
- The third architectural model was the rock-cut chaitya halls in the Barbar hills. The Barbar cave dwellings dedicated to the Ajivika Sect, the forerunners of the the Digambara jainas point out Ashoka's religious tolerance & these lithic copies of thatched roof wooden Structures are the first of its kind in India.
- Ashoka adopted this style of rock-cut caves from the Archaemenian tombs on the cliffs of persopolis & Naksh-Rustum, cut during 335-330 BC.
Standing pillars & Animal Capitals
The most important & interesting objects of Ashokan art that have survived are the free standing pillars, the height of which varies from 30-40 feet. with an ornamental capital surmounted by powerfull animal sculptures. Made of sand stone quarried at chunar, these pillars are well polished like glass and are round shaped, slightly tapering monolithic shafts of great dignity, exquisite finish, simplicity & beauty.
The following are the surviving capitals
- A single lion found at Rampurva
- A single elephant found at Sankisa
- A single bull found at Rampurva
- four lions seated back to back facing the four directions found at Sarnath & Sanchi & on the heads of the four lions at Sarnath rested a stone Dharmachakra of 32 spokes.
The base of every capital is of the shape oh an invented lotus. The sarnath capital is the most imposing & has been adopted in state seal of India.
The figures of the four animals are symbols of Buddha- The elephants stands for Buddha's descent on Earth. The bull for Buddha's human birth.
The horse for Buddha's renunciation & the lion represents Buddha as the great preacher, whose teachings defeat & silence all rivals. The Dharmachakra refers to the eternal chain of caustion of propounded by Buddha in his doctrine of Pratitya-Samutpada.
The exquisite finish of the pillars tell us of its resemblance with those of Achaemenid king of Persia but the decorative floral motifs & the modelling of the animal figures bear marks of Greek influence. So, its possible that the craftsmen of Ashoka were Bactrian Greeks, who were familier with both Greek & Persian sculptures. The fifty year dominion of Ashoka art costitutes a notable epoch in the history of Indian art.
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