The Art of South Asia Standing Buddha Sarnath

The Art of South Asia

Standing Buddha Sarnath, Uttar Pardesh, India Gupta 474 CE

• When Alexander the Great retreated, the Maurya Dynasty developed (323 - 185 BCE) and the ruler, Ashoka, spread Buddhism teaching throughout India. • Ashoka developed a legal code based on Buddha's dharma and inscribed laws on pillars to be spread across lands. The pillars connect the ground/earth to sky forming an “axis of the universe”. • Columns were erected on pilgrimage routes to sites Associated with Buddha.

The life and death of the Buddha, frieze from Gandhara, Pakistan, second century CE. Schist, 2’ 23/8” x 9’ 6 1/8”. Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. This frieze is one of the earliest pictorial narrative cycles Where Buddha is in human form. Sensuous women called yakshi are goddesses which personify fertility and vegetation.

Gupta Empire, r. ca. 320 – 450 • Under the Guptas, the canonical image for Buddha emerged. • Buddha wears monastic robes, turns eyes downward, hands in Wheel-turning gesture and preaches the sermon. • Wheel of the Law seen below the figure. The body is smooth body emphasizes the figures spirituality. Seated Buddha preaching first sermon, from Sarnath, India, second half of the fifth century. Tan Sandstone, 5’ 3” high. Archaeological Museum, Sarnath.

The kings of the Chandella dynasty patronized the arts and built many temples, palaces and complex irrigation systems. Khajuraho has 20 large temples alone. The temples were dedicated Shiva, Vishnu and Surya. Devotees approach from the East and walk around in circumambulation in clockwise direction.

Section of a narrative frieze encircling the temple at the level of the plinth, Lakshmana temple, Khajuraho, Chatarpur District, Madhya Pradesh, India, dedicated 954 Many sculptures depict ideal feminine beauty which was seen as auspicious and protective. Different types of women were Included to show fertility, growth and progress. Sculptures also depict daily life, love, war and historical events from the Chandella dynasty.

From Khan Academy: https: //www. khanacademy. org/ humanities/ap-art-history/south -east-se-asia/indiaart/a/lakshmana-temple-india

• The Chola dynasty was a golden age of trade and artistic Development. • Much of the artwork of this period was religious. • Nataraja – Nata = dance/performance, raja = king/lord • Small sacred object intended to be movable and would have been carried in parades by Hindu worshippers. Priests Would chant prayers and offer blessings. • Sometimes the figures would be clothed, or decorated in jewels. • Worshippers would pray and their faith would activate the divine energy in the statue and Shiva would then be Present.

• Bichitr allegorical portrait shows Jahangir, Akbar’s son, seated on the throne in miniature form from album made for the emperor. • The sands of time run out, cupids inscribe throne with wish that Jahangir would live a thousand years. Jahangir’s head has a radiant halo with golden sun a and a white crescent moon. • Jahangir is center of the universe and its light sources. One inscription on the painting gives the emperor’s title, “light of the faith”.

Cenotaphs, Taj Mahal, Agra, India, 1632 -53