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One of The Earliest Mauryan Patrons of The Arts Was Emperor Ashoka

- Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd-2nd century BCE constructed over 85,000 stupas and pillars decorated with Buddhist imagery to spread the faith. The pillars featured carvings of animals like lions, and some lions resembled those found in Persia, suggesting influence from Persian art. - Located in Maharashtra, the Ajanta Caves contain paintings and carvings from the 2nd century BCE to 650 CE illustrating Buddha's life. They were abandoned in 650 but rediscovered in 1819 and are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. - During the 1st-6th century Kushan Empire, the Gandhara school centered around Peshawar and Taxila

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347 views1 page

One of The Earliest Mauryan Patrons of The Arts Was Emperor Ashoka

- Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd-2nd century BCE constructed over 85,000 stupas and pillars decorated with Buddhist imagery to spread the faith. The pillars featured carvings of animals like lions, and some lions resembled those found in Persia, suggesting influence from Persian art. - Located in Maharashtra, the Ajanta Caves contain paintings and carvings from the 2nd century BCE to 650 CE illustrating Buddha's life. They were abandoned in 650 but rediscovered in 1819 and are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. - During the 1st-6th century Kushan Empire, the Gandhara school centered around Peshawar and Taxila

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One of the earliest Mauryan patrons of the arts was Emperor Ashoka (ruled 270-232

BCE) who decided to spread the Buddhist faith through the construction of 85,000
stupas or dome-shaped monuments, decorated with Buddhist writings and imagery
engraved on rocks and pillars. The finest example is probably the Great Stupa at Sanchi,
whose carved gateways depict a variety of Buddhist legends. The actual Pillars of
Ashoka, typically erected at Buddhist monasteries or other pilgrimage sites, were hewn
out of sandstone and topped with capitals decorated with carvings of animals, mainly
lions. The lions are depicted in the round, either seated or standing. Only six such pillars
survive. The most famous lion-capital - consisting of four lions, and known simply as the
"Ashoka Column" - is located at Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh. It is interesting to note that
some of Ashoka's lions resemble those at Persepolis, Persia, leading some scholars to
believe that Mauryan sculpture was influenced by Ancient Persian Art from the
Achaemenid and Sargonid eras. Other animal images used on the pillars, include bulls
(Rampurva) and elephants (Sankissa).
Ashoka himself may have focused on Buddhism, but his sculptors almost certainly
maintained the same sculptural traditions which were used to illustrate Hinduism, both
before and since. Thus, in addition to stone, artists also practiced wood carving,
terracotta and metalworking in bronze and iron. To compare terracotta production in
China, see: Chinese Terracotta Army(246-208 BCE).
Ajanta Caves (c.200 BCE - 650 CE)
Located in a remote valley in the Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, Western India, the
Ajanta Caves are world famous for their cave art - paintings and carvings illustrating the
life of Buddha. There are some 29 rock-cut caves in total, five of which were used as
temples or prayer halls, and twenty-four as monasteries. The earliest date from the 2nd
and 1st century BCE; more caves were carved and decorated during the Gupta Empire
(400650 CE). The parietal art at Ajanta includes some of the finest masterpieces of
Buddhist iconography in India. In addition to numerous serene statues of Buddha, the
Ajanta sculptures include intricate images of animals, warriors, and deities while the
paintings depict tales of ancient courtly life and Buddhist legend. Finally abandoned
about 650, in favour of the Ellora caves some 100 kilometres (62 miles) away, the
Ajanta Caves were gradually forgotten until 1819, when they were accidentally
rediscovered by a British officer during a tiger-hunt. Since 1983, the Ajanta Caves have
been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Kushan Empire Sculpture (1st6th century)
After Ajanta, the next two distinctive schools of Buddhist visual art emerged during the
Kushan Empire in eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan and north-western India, during the 1st
century CE. The first, known as the Gandhara school (flourished 1st-5th century), was
centered around Peshawar - formerly an important centre of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom
- and later at Taxila, in the Rawalpindi district of the Punjab province in Pakistan; the
second, located south of New Delhi in Uttar Pradesh, was the Mathura school (flourished
1st6th century). Their significance lies in the fact that they gave Buddha a human
figure. Up until now, despite India's rich tradition of figurative art, Buddha had never
been represented by a human image, but only by symbols. To emphasize his divinity
therefore, the typical Kushan statue of Buddha was typically huge, with a halo around
his head, and the dharmachakra engraved upon the palms of his hands and the soles of
his feet. Although the two schools differed in the details of their Buddhist figures, the
general trend in both was to move away from a purely naturalist design and toward a
more idealized image.

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