Art History -Chap 9 -Outline

Art of India Before 1100

• Ashoka
  
  • Expanded his empire through all of India until he watched a Buddhist monk move through the battlefield
    
  • After seeing this be swore to conquer India not through force but through the spreading of the teachings of Buddha
    
  • He stimulated a rich period of art
    
  • Erected monuments for Buddha, created shrines, monasteries, sculptures, and the columns known as Ashokan Pillars (Image 9-1)
    
• The Indian Subcontinent
  
  • Peninsular region that includes:
    
    • Countries of present day India
      
    • SE Afghanistan
      
    • Pakistan
      
    • Nepal
      
    • Bangladesh
      
    • Sri Lanka
      
  • Vindhya Hills divides India into the North and South
    
  • Northern border made of Himalayas
    
  • NW are more mountains where invasions and immigrants pass through
    
    • Also major trade route
      
  • Also surrounded by water on all other sides
    
    • Connected to world by maritime trade
      
      • Formed part of a coastal trading network that extended from Africa to China
        
  • Overreaching traits unite different cultures of India
    
    • Sense of beauty
      
      • Voluptuous forms
        
      • Profusion of ornament, texture, and color
        
    • Pervasive symbolism
      
    • Emphasis on capturing the vibrant quality of a world seen as infused with the dynamics of the divine
      
• Indus Valley Civilization
  
  • Earliest civilization found in the lower reaches of the Indus River -Called Indus Valley or Harappa
    
    • Flourished from 2700-1500BCE
      
    • Discovery of the small seals in Image 9-2 that provided first clue to an ancient civilization in the region
      
      • Image 9-2: Seal Impressions
        
        • Horned animal, buffalo, ritual, yogi, three-headed animal
          
    • Excavations began in 1920s to the present day uncovered a number of major urban areas
      
    • Cities resemble each other in design and construction
      
    • Mohenjo-Daro: Best preserved site
      
      • Found elevated citadel
        
        • Surrounded by wall 50 feet high
          
        • So-Called Great Bath: Large watertight pool for ritual purposes
          
      • City on a grid plan
        
        • Two story houses; built around open courtyard
          
      • Made of fired brick
        
      • Used drainage system that channeled away waste and rain water
        
  • Motifs on the seals suggest continuities with later South Asian cultures
    
    • Man in 9-2 is in a meditative posture associated with Indian Yogi
      
    • Figures in 9-2 with elaborated headgear worship figure in tree
      
      • Insight to religious customs on Indus Valley people, whose deities may have been ancient prototypes of later Indian gods and goddesses
        
  • Many terra-cotta, stone, and bronze figurines and statues found in Indus Valley
    
    • Reveal confident maturity of artistic conception and technique
      
    • Two main styles:
      
      • Related to Mesopotamian art in its motifs and rather abstract rendering
        
        • Image 9-3: Bust of a Man
          
          • Man's garment is patterned with a trefoil (three-lobed) motif is found in Mesopotamian
            
            • Originally filled with red paste
              
          • Striated beard and smooth planar surfaces of face also resemble Meso.
            
          • Low forehead, broad nose, thick lips, and large wide eyes are distinctive to this area
            
            • Eyes inlaid with shell
              
          • Narrow band encircling head may symbolize rank
            
      • Foreshadows the later Indian artistic tradition in its sensuous naturalism
        
        • Image 9-4: Torso
          
          • Less than 4 inches tall; example of naturalism
            
          • Emphasizes the soft texture of the human body and subtle nuances of male form
            
          • Abs are relaxed in the manner of a yogi controlling his breath
            
  • Many ceramic vases found in Indus Valley
    
    • Formed on potters wheel and fired at high temps
      
    • Vessels are large and have rounded bottoms
      
    • Decorated with several zones of bold, linear designs painted in black slip
      
      • Flower, leaf, bird, and fish motifs
        
        • Image 9-5: Large Painted Jar with Border Containing Birds
          
          • Decorated with peacocks poised among leafy branches in the upper zone
            
          • Rows of leaves formed by a series of intersecting circles in the lower zone
            
  • Around 1500 BCE the citied of Indus Valley civilization declined and over the next thousand years rural societies evolved
    
• The Vedic Period
  
  • Centuries between demise of Indus Valley civilization and the rise of first unified empire in 4th century BCE
    
  • Named for Vedas, a body of sacred writings that took shape over these years
    
  • Profound changes in social structure
    
  • formation of three of the four major enduring religions
    
    • Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism
      
  • Marked by dominance of Indo European Aryans
    
    • Pastoral, semi-nomadic warrior people believed to have entered India sometime around 1500 from the NW
      
    • Brought Sanskrit language, hierarchical social order, and religious practices that centered on the propitiation of gods through fire sacrifice
      
      • Importance of fire sacrifice and religiously sanctioned social class persisted through the Vedic Period
        
  • Latter part of the period
    
    • 800 BCE Upanishads were composed
      
      • Metaphysical texts which examine the meaning of earlier cryptic Vedic hymns
        
      • Focus on individual soul, atman, and the universal soul, Brahman
        
      • Brought on Indian philosophy
        
        • Material world is illusory and only Brahman is real and eternal
          
        • Our existence is cyclical and that beings are caught in samsara, relentless cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth
          
          • Break cycle by uniting atman with Brahman
            
    • Flowering of India's epic literature
      
      • Mahabharata: longest epic in world literature
        
      • Ramayana: most popular epic in India and SE Asia
        
  • Religious communities
    
    • Teachers:
      
      • Buddha:
        
        • "Enlightened One" lived during 500 BC
          
        • Form basis of Buddhist religion
          
      • Mahavira:
        
        • Last of 24 purified super-beings known as pathfinders
          
        • Founder of Jain religion
          
      • Both rejected authority of Vedas (fire sacrifice and hereditary class structure)
        
      • Open to all
        
• The Maurya Period
  
  • 700 BCE; Cities appear on subcontinent
    
  • Dynasty covered all but the Southern-mort portion of continent
    
  • Reflects ages of heroes and rise to prominence of Buddhism
    
    • Became official religion under Ashoka
      
  • Dharma, the divinely ordained moral law believed to keep world from falling into chaos
    
    • Image 9-6: Yakshi Holding a Fly Whisk
      
      • Fully embodies the authority of Dharma
        
      • Found at Didarganj, near the capital, Pataliputra
        
      • Represents a yakshi, spirit associated with the productive forces of nature
        
      • Large breasts and pelvis show the figure embodies the association of female beauty with procreative abundance, bounty, and auspiciousness
        
        • Qualities reflect the generosity of the gods and working of Dharma in the world
          
      • Made from fine-grained sandstone
        
      • Conveys yakshi's authority through frontal rigor of her pose, massive volumes of her form, and strong linear patterning of her ornaments and dress
        
  • In addition to yakshis and their male counterpart, yakshas, Maurya period is known for art associated with the imperial sponsorship of Buddhism
    
    • Ashoka commissioned large monuments of Buddha including monolithic pillars throughout his empire set up primarily at sites related to the events of Buddha's life
      
      • Creators of Ashokan pillars seem to have adapted ancient form to the symbolism of Indian creation myths and Buddhism
        
      • Ashokan pillar is a slightly tapered sandstone shaft, usually rested on a stone foundation slab sunk more than 10 feet into ground and rose about 50 feet into air
        
      • Carved inscriptions relating to the rules of Dharma
        
      • At the top carved from a separate block of sandstone the capital bore an elaborate animal sculpture
        
      • Believed that that pillars symbolized the axis mundi, or axis of the world, joining the earth with the cosmos
        
        • Image 9-7: Lion Capital
          
          • Originally crowned the pillar erected at Sarnath in NE India, the site of Buddha's first teaching
            
          • Lowest portion represents the down turned petals of a lotus blossom
            
            • Symbolizes presence of divine purity in an imperfect world
              
          • Above lotus is an abacus (slab forming the top of capital) embellished with low relief carvings of wheels call chakras, alternating with four different animals: lion, horse, bull, and elephant
            
            • Animals may symbolize the four great rivers of the world
              
          • Standing on abacus are four lions facing each cardinal direction
            
            • Lions may be emblematic of the universal nature of Buddha
              
              • Roar compared to the speech of Buddha, spread far and wide
                
          • Same patterning of realistic elements:
            
            • Veins and tendons standout in the legs
              
            • Claws are large and powerful
              
            • Mane richly textured
              
            • Jaws have a loose and fluttering edge
              
• The Period of Shungas and Early Andhras
  
  • With the demise of Maurya empire India returned to local rule with regional dynasties
    
    • Shunga in central India and Andhra in South India most important of the dynasties
      
    • STUPAS
      
      • Stupas: Religios monument enclosing a relic chamber, fundamental to Buddhism
        
        • Image 9-8: Great Stupa, Sanchi
          
          • Built by Ashoka, 3rd century
            
          • Part of a large monastery complex crowning a hill
            
          • Mid-2nd Century BC the stupa was enlarged to what it is today and surrounding stone railing constructed
            
            • Railing provides a physical and symbolic boundary between an inner sacred area and outer, profane world
              
            • 11 foot stone railing rings the entire stupa, enclosing another, wider, circumbulatry path at ground level
              
            • Carved with octagonal uprights and lens-shaped crossbars
              
          • 100 years later elaborately carved stone gateways were added to the railing
            
          • Solid, hemispherical dome was built from rubble and dirt
            
            • Faced with dressed stone, then covered with a shinning white plaster made from lime and powered seashells
              
            • Sits on a raised base
              
            • On top of the dome another railing (square) defines the abode of the gods atop the cosmis mountain
              
              • Encloses the top of a mast bearing three stone disks of decreasing size
                
                • May refer to Buddhist concept of three realms of existance: desire, form, and formlessness
                  
                • Mast is an axis mundi
                  
        • Image 9-9: East Torana of the Great Stupa at Sanchi
          
          • Four stone gateways, or toranas, punctuate the railing
            
          • Set at four cardinal directions, they symbolize the Buddhist cosmos
            
          • Sculpted by ivory carvers
            
          • 35 feet high
            
          • Square posts are carved with symbols and scenes drawn mostly from the Buddha's life and his past lives
            
          • Vines, lotuses, geese, and mythical animals decorate the sides while guardians sculpted on the lowest panel of each inner side protect the entrance
            
          • Capitals above these posts consist of four back-to-back elephants on the north and east gates, dwarfs on the south gate, and lions on the west gate
            
          • Buddha never shown as in all Indian art
            
        • Image 9-10: Yakshi Bracket Figure
          
          • Forms a bracket between each capital and the lowest crossbar
            
          • Finest female figure in Indian art and make an instructive comparison with the yakshi of the Maurya period
            
          • Personification of the waters, she is the course of life
            
            • Here she symbolizes the sap of the tree
              

              
              

Maurya	Sanchi
Formal rigid pose Emphasis on realistic details Clear distinction between clothed and nude parts	Leans daringly into space This garment is noticeably by only the Hems, she appears completely nude Swelling, arching, curve of her body evoke procreation and bountiful essence

• First stupas constructed to house the Buddha's remains after his cremation
  
  • Relics were divided into eight portions and set into eight reliquaries
    
    • Each reliquary was then placed in it's own burial mound called a stupa
      
  • Since each stupa held the remains of the Buddha, they were venerated as his body and, by extension, his enlightenment and attainment of nirvana, liberation from rebirth
    
• Stupa may be plain and small or large and elaborate; varies from region to region, but it's plan is a carefully calculated mandala, diagram if the great cosmos area
  

• (ELEMENTS OF ARCHITECTURE)
  
  • Consists mainly of stupas and temples, often at monastic complexes containing viharas, monks cells and common areas
    
  • Monuments either be structural (built up from the ground) or rock-cut (hewn out of mountain-side)
    
  • Derive from burial mounds and contain relics
    
  • Major stupa
    
    • Surrounded by a railing that creates a path for rituals
      
      • Railing punctuated by toranas
        
    • Stupa sits on a round or square terrace, stairs lead to an upper circumambulatory path around platform's edge
      
  • Two general Hindu temple types are the northern and southern styles
    
    • All raised on plinths and dominated by the super-structures
      
    • Series of mandapas (halls) lead to inner sanctuary
      
    • Bardhagriha contain sacred image
      
    • Axis mundi
      
    • North:
      
      • Towers, called shikharas, are crowned by amalakas
        
    • South:
      
      • Towers, called vimanas, are crowed by large capstones
        
• BUDDHIST ROCK-CUT HALLS
  
  • Caves have always been considered hallowed places in India
    
  • 2nd century Buddhist monks began to hew caves for their own usage out of the stone plateaus in the region of south-central India known as Deccan
    
  • Exteriors and interiors were carved from top to bottom like great pieces of sculpture
    
  • Two types:
    
    • Vihara: Used for monks living quarters
      
    • Chaitya: meaning 'sacred', usually enshrined a stupa
      

• The Kushan and Later Andhra Periods
  
  • 1st century in the regions of now Afganistan. Pakistan, and Northern India control went to the Kushans
    
    • A nomadic people from central Asia
      
    • The king Kanishka supported the building of many stupas and Buddhist monastaries
      
  • Buddhism went through an evolution that ersulted in the form know as Mahayana, or Great Vehical
    
    • Image 9-11: Section of Chaitya Hall at Karla
      
      • Second half of 1st century
        
      • Largest most developed example of these Buddhist works
        
      • Columns support a balcony at the entrance, in front of which a pair of Ashokan-type pillars stood
        
      • Dominating upper portion of main façade is a large horseshoe-shaped opening called a sun-window or chaitya window, this is the halls main source of light
        
      • Three entrances to main façade
        
        • Two side entrances are approached through a shallow pool of water
          
          • Symbolically purifies visitors as it washes their dusty feet
            
          • Flanking the entrances are sculpted panels of mithuna couples, amorous male and female figures that evoke harmony and fertility of life
            
      • Wide central aisle and two narrower side aisles lead to stupa and apse at far end
        
    • Image 9-12: Chaitya Hall at Karla
      
      • Walls of the vestibule are carved in relief with rows of small balcony railings and arched windows
        
      • Base of side walls supported by enormous statues of elephants
        
      • Interior hall 123 feet long and 46 foot high ceiling carved in barrel vault ornamented with arching wooden ribs
        
      • Closely spaced columns separating the aisles are an important example in the evolution of the many Indian styles
        
        • Base resembles a large pot set on a stepped pyramid of planks
          
        • From here an octagonal shaft rises
          
        • Crowning the shaft a bell-shaped lotus capital supports an inverted pyramid of planks which serves as a platform for a statue
          
        • Statues facing the main aisle depict kneeling elephants, each bearing a mithuna couple, those facing side aisles depict pairs of horses along with the couples
          
      • Stupa is carved from living rock
        
    • Inspired the first depictions of the Buddha in art
      
  • Schools
    
    • Two earliest schools of representation arose in the Gandhara region in the NW and in the famous religion center of Mathura
      
    • Later a third school, known as Amaravati school, developed in the south
      
      • Schools cultivated different styles, but they shared a basic visual language, iconography
        
        • Buddha is recognized by certain characteristics
          
          • Wears a monks robe, or sanghati, a long length of cloth draped over the left shoulder and around the body
            
          • Said to have two distinguishing marks, or lakshana
            
          • Golden colored body
            
          • Long arms that reach to knees
            
          • Impression of a wheel in hands and soles of feet
            
          • Urna, tuft of white hair between his eyebrows
            
          • Earlobes are shown elongated because of heavy earrings worn in youth
            
          • On the top of his head was an ushnisha, a bun or topknot representing his enlightenment
            
  • THE GANDHARA SCHOOL
    
    • 9-13: Standing Buddha
      
      • A typical image portrays the Buddha as a superhuman figure, more powerful and heroic than ordinary human
        
      • Over-life-size Buddha dates to fully developed stage of the Gandhara style around the 3rd century
        
      • Carved from schist, a fine grained dark stone
        
      • Buddha's body revealed through his garments is broad and massive
        
      • Left knee bends gently
        
      • Sanghati is tight, rib-like folds alternate with delicate creases, setting up a clear rhythmic pattern of heavy and shallow lines
        
        • Upper: Folds break asymmetrically along the left arm
          
        • Lower : Drape in a U shape
          
          • Folds suggests life and power within the image
            
          • Influenced by Hellenistic period
            
            • Position near the East-West trade route may have stimulated contact with Roman culture
              
  • THE MATHURA SCHOOL
    
    • Not allied with Hellenistic period
      
    • Evolved from traditions of yakshas
      
    • Images produced at Mathura during the early days of the school may have been first representations of Buddha
      
      • 9-14: Buddha and Attendants
        
        • Stele is one of the finest of early Mathura images
          
        • Carved in high relief from a block of red sandstone
          
        • Depicts Buddha seated with two attendants
          
        • Buddha is in a yogic posture on a pedestal supported by lions
          
        • Right hand raised in a symbol meaning "have no fear"
          
        • Buddha's urna, ushnisha, and impression on palms and soles are clearly visible
          
          • Behind him is a large halo, scallops on the border represent radiating light
            
        • Behind the halo is a pipal tree, representing the tree under which Buddha achieved enlightenment
          
        • Two celestial being hover above
          
        • Has a riviting outward gaze and alert posture that gives out a more intense concentrated energy
          
        • Robe is tightly pulled allowing fleshy form to be seen as almost nude
          
          • Pleats are depicted abstractly through compact parallel formations of ridges with incised line the center of each ridge
            
        • Facial features take on geometric shapes
          
          • Rounded forms of the widely opened eyes
            
    • Buddha images rely on gestures called mudras to communicate certain ideas
      
    • Manthura has a tendency to abstraction
      
  • THE AMARAVTI SCHOOL
    
    • Figures are slighter than those of the Gandhara and Mathura schools
      
    • Mobile while others are at rest
      
    • Rhythmic nuances of limbs and varied postures create interest in activity of each individual and engender a light and joyous effect
      
      • 9-15: Siddhartha in the Palace
        
        • Depict a scene from Buddha's life when he was prince Siddhartha
          
          • Reveals scene of pleasure around a pool of water
            
          • Gathered around the only male, Siddhartha, are only women
            
        • Carved in low relief
          
        • Framed by decorated columns, crouching lions, and amorous mithuna couples
          
• The Gupta Period
  
  • Founded a dynasty in the eastern region of central India known as Magadha and expanded during the 4th century to create an empire that encompassed the entire northern and much of southern India
    
  • Renowned for flourishing artistic and literary culture
    
  • Buddhism reached it's peak and Hinduism began to rise in popularity
    
  • BUDDHIST SCULPTURE
    
    • Two schools reached their peak: Mathura and the school at Sarnath
      
      • 9-16: Standing Buddha
        
        • Embodies the fully developed Sarnath Gupta style
          
        • Carved from fine grained sandstone
          
        • Mildly relaxed pose, body visible through a clinging robe
          
          • Portrayed with none of the creases from earlier periods
            
          • Effect is to concentrate attention on the perfected form which emerges in high relief
            
        • Body is graceful with broad shoulders
          
        • Face is smooth and ovoid and has the same elegance
          
        • Behind head are remains of halo
          
      • Buddha not represented as a super-human presence but as being whose spiritual purity is evidenced by physical purity
        
  • PAINTING
    
    • Some of the finest surviving murals are from Buddhist rock-cut halls of Ajanta in the western Deccan region
      
    • Many caves were carved around 475 CE
      
    • Cave I
      
      • Large vihara hall with monks chambers around the sides and a Buddha shrine chamber in back
        
      • Walls covered with murals fainted in fresco with mineral pigments on a prepared plaster surface
        
        • Depict episodes from Buddha's past lives
          
        • Image 9-17: Bodhisattva
          
          • Detail wall painting in Cave I at the entrance
            
          • Bodhisattva is lavishly adorned with delicate ornaments
            
            • Complicated crown with many tiny pearls festoons, large earrings, long necklaces, and bracelets
              
          • Stripped cloth covers his lower body
            
          • Graceful bending posture and serene gaze impart a sympathetic attitude
            
          • Spiritual power suggest by his size compared to his surroundings
            
          • Naturalistic style balances outline and softly graded color tones
            

            
            

      • Bodhisattva are enlightened beings who postpone nirvana to help others achieve enlightenment
        
      • Distinguished from Buddha by princely attire
        
    • Sophisticated, realistic detail is balanced in typical Gupta fashion
      
    • Outline drawing clearly defines shapes, tonal gradations impart the illusion of three-dimensional form with lighter tones used for protruding parts
      
• The Post-Gupta Period
  
  • Influence of Gupta lingered until mid 7th century
    
  • Hindu temples and gods increasingly appeared during the Gupta period and the post-Gupta era
    
  • THE EARLY NORTHERN TEMPLE
    
    • Classified into two types: Northern and Southern
      
      • Northern:
        
        • Distinguished by super-structure called shikhara
          
          • Rises as a solid mass above the flat stone ceiling and windowless walls of the sanctum or garbhagriha, which houses an image of the temples deity
            
          • As it rises it curves inward
            
          • Crowning the top is a circular, cushion-like element called amalaka
            
          • From there a finial takes the eye to a point where the earthly world is thought to join the cosmic world
            
          • Imaginary axis mundi penetrates the entire temple running through the finial
            
        • Image 9-18: Vishne Temple at Deogarh
          
          • Earliest northern-style temples; dates around 530 CE
            
          • Much of shikhara has crumbled away
            
          • Built of large cut stone
            
          • Would have given impression of a mountain which one of several metaphoric meaning of the Hindu temple
            
          • Only has one chamber, the garbhagriha
            
        • Image 9-19: Doorway of the Vishnu Temple at Deogarh
          
          • Entrance to a Hindu temple is elaborate and meaningful
            
          • Two river goddesses, one on each upper corner of the lintel
            
            • Symbolize the purifying waters flowing down over the entrance
              
              • Provide symbolic nourishment for the vines and flowers decorating the jambs
                
          • Innermost vines come from naval of a dwarf
            
          • Mithuna couples and small replicas of the temple line other jambs
            
          • Bottom: Male and female guardians flank the doorway
            
          • Above the door, center, is image of the god, Vishnu
            
        • Image 9-20: Vishnu Narayana on the Cosmic Waters (Panels)
          
          • Large panels in relief contain images of Vishnu appear as 'windows; on the temples exterior
            
          • Do not function literally to let light into the temple, they function symbolically to let the deity's light out of the temple
            
          • Panels symbolize the third phase of Vishnu's threefold emanation from Brahman, the Formless One, into our world
            
          • Depict Vishnu lying on the Cosmic Waters at the beginning of creation
            
          • Represents the Subtle Body, or second, stage of the deity's emanation
            
          • Vishnu sleeps on the serpent of infinity
            
          • Stirred by his female aspect, personified by goddess Lakshmi, seen holding his foot, Vishnu dreams the universe into existence
            
          • Vishnu is depicted as large, with four arms
            
            • Connote his omnipotence
              
          • Lightly garbed, but richly ornamented
            
          • Four rightmost figures in the frieze represent Vishnu's powers, at the left are two demons who threaten to kill Brahma
            
          • The birth and appearance of evil portrayed in three clearly organized registers
            
    • Entrance takes worshipper from mundane world to the sacred, so stepping over the threshold is considered sacred
      
  • MONUMENTAL NARRATIVE RELIEFS
    
    • Image 9-21: Cave-Temple of Shiva at Elephanta
      
      • Cave temple is complex in layout and conception, perhaps to reflect the nature of Shiva
        
      • Three entrances
        
        • Only light source; resulting cross and back lighting add to sense of the cave as a place of mysterious complexity
          
        • Each flanked by a pair of guardian figures
          
      • Designed along two main axes: north-south and east-west
        
      • Along the east-west axis large pillars cut from living rock appear to support the low ceiling and beams although they are not structural
        
      • Pillars form orderly rows
        
      • Cave shape is overlapping mandalas that create a symmetric yet irregular shape
        
      • Pillars have an unadorned, square base rising to nearly half it's total height
        
      • Above is circular column which has a curved contour and a billowing "cushion" capital
        
        • Column and capital are fluted
          
      • Focus of east-west axis is a square lingam shrine
        
      • In the center is the lingham, the phallic symbol of Shiva: represents Shiva as the un-manifest Formless One
        
    • Image 9-22: Eternal Shiva
      
      • Focus of the north-south axis is a relief on the south wall depicting Shiva in Subtle Body
        
      • Huge bust (Here) represents his Sadashiva, or Eternal Shiva
        
      • Heads are shown resting upon the broad shoulders, but five heads are implied: fourth in back and fifth on top
        
      • Heads summarize Shiva's fivefold nature as creator (back), protector (left shoulder) destroyer (right shoulder), obscurer (front), and releaser (top)
        
    • Reliefs are examples of the Hindu monumental narrative tradition
      
    • 11 feet high, they are set in recessed niches on either side of each of the three entrances and three on the south wall
      
      • Panels of Shiva portray the range of his powers and some of his different aspects
        
      • As a whole the reliefs represent the third stage, the Gross Body manifestation
        
    • The third great Hindu Deity is Devi, a designation covering many deities who embody the feminine
      
      • Represents the power of shakti, a divine energy understood as feminine
        
    • Female goddesses
      
      • Lakshmi and Durga
        
      • Durga is the essence of the conquering powers of the gods
        
      • Image 9-23: Durga Mahishasura-Mardini (Durga as Slayer of the Buffalo Demon)
        
        
        • Relief at Mamallaporam, near Madras, in SE India, depicts Durga in her popular form as the slayer of the buffalo demon
          
        • She is depicted riding her lion, her shakti and with eight arms
          
        • The demon is shown with his human body and buffalo head fleeing as her warriors slaughter his own
          
        • Moods of victory and defeat are clearly seen on the appropriate side
          
        • Stylistically, this and other panels at Mamallapuram represent the final flowering of the Indian monumental relief tradition
          
  • THE EARLY SOUTHERN TEMPLE
    
    • Southern:
      
      • The Five Rathas:
        
        • Carved in the style of contemporary wood or brick structures
          
      • 9-24: Dharmaraja Ratha Mamallapuram
        
        • Uses same symbolism as Northern style, though it appears strikingly different
          
        • Based on mandala
          
        • Square in plan, unfinished, barghagriha usually found inside, was never hollowed out
          
        • On the lower portion only the columns and niches have been carved out
          
        • Usage of single deity in each niche shows the trend in the centuries ahead: narrative reliefs have been dying out
          
        • Does not culminate the paraboloid of the northern shikhara, but in a pyramidal tower called a vimana
          
          • Each story is articulated by a cornice and carries a row of miniature shrines
            
          • Shrines and cornices are decorated with a window motif from which faces peer
            
        • Crowning the vimana is a done-shaped octagonal capstone
          
• The Early Medieval Period
  
  • Many small kingdom and dynasties flourished
    
    • Some long lived such as the Pallavas and Cholas in the south and Palas in the northeast
      
    • Kings rivaled each other by building temples to their favorite deities
      
  • THE MONUMENTAL NORTHERN TEMPLE
    
    • Image 9-25: Kandariya Mahadeva Temple, Khajuraho
      
      • Dedicated to Shiva
        
      • Built by ruler of the Chandella dynasty in the late 10th century
        
      • In northern style
        
      • Larger, more extensively ornamented and expanded through the addition of hall on the front and porches on the sides and back
        
      • Temple rests on a stone terrace that sets of sacred space from mundane world
        
      • Mandapa, halls, symbolize the Subtle Body stage
        
        • Serve as spaces for rituals
          
      • Built of stone blocks using only post and lintel contruction
        
      • Interior space is not large
        
      • Exterior has strong scupltural presence
        
        • Massiveness suggesting a "cosmic mountain" composed of ornately carved stone
          
        • Shikhara rises over 100 feet over garbhagriha and is crowned by a small amalaka
          
        • Decorative scheme adds complex richness to the surface and it obscures the shape of the shikhara, which is slender, with a swift impetuous upward movement
          
      • Despite complexity it has a clear structure and unified comp.
        
      • Towers of the super-structure are separated from the lower portion by strong horizontal moldings and by open spaces
        
      • The rows of sculpture are integrated into exterior walls
        
        • 3 feet tall and carved in high relief
          
        • Depicts gods and goddesses, some in erotic positions
          
      • Lower portion of the temple is characterized by a verticality by protruding and receding elements
        
  • THE MONUMENTAL SOUTHERN TEMPLE
    
    • Cholas founded a dynasty that governed most of the far south
      
    • Chola dynasty reached its peak during the reign of Rajaraja I
      
      • Image 9-26: Rajarajeshavra Temple to Shive, Thanjavur
        
        • Built by Rajaraja
          
        • Supreme achievement of the southern style
          
        • Stands within a huge walled compound near the bank of the Kaveri River
          
        • 216 feet high, tallest structure in India at the time
          
        • Longitudinal axis and greatly expanded dimensions
          
        • Mandapa halls at the front have flat roofs
          
        • Base of vimana rises for two stories, which each story emphatically articulated by a large cornice
          
        • Exterior walls are ornamented with niches, each holds a single statue usually of Shiva
          
        • Vimana is a four-sided, hollow pyramid that rises for 13 stories
          
          • Each story is decorated with miniature shrines, window motifs, and robust dwarf figures who seem to be holding up the next story
            
            • Appear well integrated into the surface and do not obscure the shape
              
  • THE BHAKTI MOVEMENT IN ART
    
    • Two major religious movements were developing that affected Hindu practice and its art
      
      • The tantric, or esoteric
        
        • Influences appeared during this period in the north
          
      • Bhakti, or devotional
        
        • Influences in the south
          
        • Based on ideas expressed in ancient texts, especially the Bkagavad Gita
          
        • Revolves around the ideal relationship between humans and deities
          
        • Gods create maya, or illusion, in which we are all trapped
          
        • Inspired by Bhakti artists created some of India's greatest and most humanistic works
          
        • The walls of Rajarjeshavra were once covered in frescoes
          
        • Image 9-27: Rajaraja I and His Teacher
          
          • Depicts ruler not as a warrior or kings, but a simple mendicant standing beside his religious teacher
            
          • Teacher is shown with dark skin and aged white beard which contrasts with the youthful king
            
          • Position of the two show how the king treats his teacher with intimacy and respect
            
          • Both figures show their devotion to Shiva by holding a small flower as an offering
            
          • Which strength and grace the line defines the boldly simple forms and features
            
          • No excessive detail or shading
            
        • Image 9-28: Shiva Nataraja
          
          • Name means 'Dancing Shiva'
            
          • The dance of Shiva signifies the universes cycle of death and rebirth
            
            • Also a dance for each individual, signifying the liberation of the believer through Shiva's compassion
              
          • Shows Shiva dancing with four arms dancing on the body of Apasmaru, a dwarf figure who symbolizes "becoming"
            
          • Shiva's left hand holds fire, a circle of fire rings the god
            
          • Right hand holds a drum
            
          • Front arms are in a gesture meaning "have no fear"
            
          • The complex pose is set in with clarity
            
          • The scant cloth he wears reveals his perfected form with broad shoulders and supple waist
            
          • Does not appear self absorbed as in image 9-22