HISTORY PROJECT
*Mauryan art and architecture
*Pataliputra
MAURYAN art and
ARCHITECTURE
Mauryan rule marks an important phase in our cultural
history. Mainly in the period of Ashoka , the art and
architecture was at its zenith and fall within the
category of court art . Ashoka embraced Buddhism and
the immense Buddhist missionary activities that followed
encouraged the development of distinct sculptural and
architectural styles. Let us find out various art and
architecture of Mauryan period which had connected to
the lives , activities and patronage of ordinary people.
SANCHI STUPA : In the Vedic period burial mound of
earth and bricks which were erected by the Vedic Aryans were
known at that time. In the Mauryan period, mainly in the period of
Ashoka numerous stupas were constructed and scattered all over the
country. The stupas of solid domes were constructed of brick or
stone with different sizes. The Ashoka stupas were constructed to
celebrate the achievements of Gautama Buddha. Like stupa at Bairat
Rajasthan in the third century B.C., The Great Stupa at Sanchi was
built with bricks and several changes were done. The inner wall of
the stupa was built either by terracotta bricks or by sun-burnt bricks.
The top of the dome was decorated by a wooden or stone umbrella
which denotes the universal supremacy of Dharma. Parikrama was
also there by encircling the stupa.
PILLARS OF MAURYAN PERIOD
:The most famous and mind boggling monuments of Mauryan art were
the Pillars, the pillars of Dharma. These Pillars were not used for support
and stand free in columns. Two main parts of the pillars were the shaft
and the capital. A monolith column made of one piece of stone with
exquisite polish is a shaft. Polishing art of the pillar is very unique and
seems to be like a metal. Usually animal figures are the capital figures
and carved standing on a square or circular abacus. Abacuses are
decorated with stylized lotuses.
LION CAPITAL : Capital of Mauryan period found at Sarnath
near Varanasi, known as the Lion Capital. Being one of the finest examples
of Mauryan sculpture and built by Ashoka in commemoration of
Dhammachakrapravartanan or we can say first sermon of Buddha. The
capital has four Asiatic lions seated back to back, which symbolize power,
courage, pride and confidence. The sculpture surface was polished and the
drum was there on the bell base, i.e. Abacus has the depiction of chakra or
wheel on all four directions and a bull, horse, an elephant and a lion
between every chakra. It has 24 spokes and these 24 spoke chakra is adopted
to the National Flag of India. The circular abacus is supported by an inverted
lotus capital. This has been adopted as the National Emblem of Independent
India, but it does not have a shaft, the lotus and crowning wheel.
CAVES OF MAURYAN PERIOD: Instead of
pillars, rock cut caves are also an artistic achievement of Ashoka’s reign. The
caves at Barabar hill in the north of Gaya and the Nagarjuni hill caves, the
Sudama caves, etc. are the several examples of cave architecture. The hills of
Barabar caves were donated by Ashoka to Ajivika monks and three separate
caves at Nagarjuni hills were by Dasharatha to them. The cave of Gopika was
excavated in the reign of Dasratha in a tunnel like fashion. The interior part of
the cave is polished like a mirror.
MAURYAN PALACES : The palace of
Mauryan period had gilded pillars with
golden vines and silver birds. All the
towns were surrounded by the high
walls with battlements, water ditches,
bearing lotuses and plants.
POTTERY OF MAURYAN PERIOD :Use of
the potters wheel became universal. The pottery associated with the
Mauryan period consists of many types of ware. But the most highly
developed technique is seen in a special type of pottery known as
the Northern Black Polished ware (NBP), which was the hallmark of the
preceding and early Mauryan periods. The NBP ware is made of finely
levigated alluvial clay, which when seen in section is usually of a grey and
sometimes of a red hue. It has a brilliantly burnished dressing of the quality
of a glaze which ranges from a jet black to a deep grey or a metallic steel
blue. Occasionally small red-brown patches are apparent on the surface. It
can be distinguished from other polished or graphite-coated red wares by its
peculiar lustre and brilliance.
CLICK THE PICTURE AND CLICK OK
PATALIPUTRA
PATALIPUTRA : During the reign of Emperor Ashoka in the
3rd century BCE, it was one of the world's largest cities, with a population
of about 150,000–400,[Link] city is estimated to have had a surface of
25.5 square kilometers, and a circumference of 33.8 kilometers, and was
in the shape of a parallelogram and had 64 gates (that is, approximately
one gate every 500 meters). Pataliputra reached the pinnacle of
prosperity when it was the capital of the mauryan great
Emperors, Chandragupta Maurya and Ashoka. The city prospered under
the Mauryas and a Greek ambassador, Megasthenes, resided there and
left a detailed account of its splendour, referring to it as "Palibothra“.
Main recovered artifacts :
Pataliputra lotus
motif Masarh lion sculpture
Chariot wheel Pataliputra mason
Bulandhi Bagh marks
GARDENS OF PATALIPUTRA : Pataliputra is the ancient name
for the present-day city of Patna (which was adopted in the reign of Sher
Shah Suri). The old name is believed to derive from Patali, meaning
Trumpet Flower, which was the name of King Putraka’s wife. Gram means
village and Putra means son. Pataliputra is on the banks of the Ganges and
became powerful during the reign of Chandragupta Maurya. He was a
contemporary of Alexander the Great and established an empire reaching
from the Bay of Bengal to Afghanistan. Kauṭilya was an advisor to King
Chandragupta Maurya (see note on Hindu gardens). The Greek historian
Megasthenes left a description of Pataliputra with a moat, a timber
palisade, bazaars, 2- and 3-story houses and ‘In the heart of the city was the
royal palace, which stood in the midst of a walled-in park, with ornamental
trees, tame peacocks and pheasants, and lakes full of sacred fish’. (See note
on Indian/Mauryan gardens).The of Pataliputra/Patliputra site is now
known as Kumrahar.
THANK
YOU
A
PRESENTATIO
N BY RACHEL
OF CLASS 6 - A
