Indian Art and Architecture

C

Indo-Islamic Style

Islamic architecture in India dates from the 13th century to the present. Brought to India by the first Muslim conquerors, Islamic architecture soon lost its original purity and borrowed such elements from Indian architecture as courtyards surrounded by colonnades, balconies supported by brackets, and above all, decoration. Islam, on the other hand, introduced to India the dome, the true arch, geometric motifs, mosaics, and minarets. Despite fundamental conceptual differences, Indian and Islamic architecture achieved a harmonious fusion, especially in certain regional styles.

Indo-Islamic style is usually divided into three phases: the Pashtun, the Provincial, and the Mughal. Examples of the earlier Pashtun style in stone are at Ahmadābād in Gujarāt State, and in brick at Gaur-Pandua in West Bengal State. These structures are closely allied to Hindu models, but are simpler and lack sculptures of human figures. The dome, the arch, and the minaret are constant features of the style; a famous monument in this style is the mausoleum Gol Gumbaz (17th century) in Bijāpur, Karnātaka State, which has a dome with a 43-m (142-ft) diameter, almost as big as that of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. Another notable structure is the five-story stone and marble tower called the Qutb Minar (12th century), near Delhi.

The Provincial style reflected the continued rebellion of the provinces against the imperial style of Delhi. The best example of this phase is in Gujarāt, where for almost two centuries until 1572, when Emperor Akbar finally conquered the region, the dynasties that succeeded one another erected many monuments in varying styles. The most notable structures in this phase are found in the capital, Ahmadābād. The Jami Masjid (1423) is unique in the whole of India; although Muslim in inspiration, the arrangement of 3 bays and almost 300 pillars, as well as the decoration, in this mosque is pure Hindu.

The Mughal phase of the Indo-Islamic style, from the 16th to the 18th century, developed to a high degree the use of such luxurious materials as marble. The culminating example of the style is the Taj Mahal in Āgra. This domed mausoleum of white marble inlaid with gemstones was built (1632-48) by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a tomb for his beloved wife. It stands on a platform set off by four slender minarets and is reflected in a shallow pool. Other famous examples of the Mughal style are the Pearl Mosque at Āgra, Uttar Pradesh State, the palace fortresses at Āgra and Delhi, and the great mosques at Delhi and Lahore (now in Pakistan).

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D

Modern Styles

Building in India since the 18th century has either carried on the indigenous historical forms or has been patterned after European models introduced by the British. Numerous examples of Western styles of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries may be seen in public buildings, factories, hotels, and houses. The most outstanding example of modern architecture in India is the city of Chandīgarh, the joint capital of Haryāna and Punjab; the city was designed by the Swiss-born French architect Le Corbusier in collaboration with Indian architects. The broad layout of the city was completed in the early 1960s. Notable architectural features include the vaulted structure, topped by a huge, concrete roof umbrella, and the use of concrete grille and bright pastel colors in the Palace of Justice; the arrangement of concrete cubes topped by a concrete parasol that is the Governor's Palace; and the use of projections, recesses, stair towers, and other contrasting elements to break the monotony of the long facades of the secretariat building, which are 244 m (800 ft) long. Modern Indian architecture has incorporated Western styles, adapting them to local traditions and needs—as in the design of the railroad station at Alwar, Rājasthān State.

III

Sculpture

The earliest prehistoric sculpture in India was produced in stone, clay, ivory, copper, and gold.

A

Early Period

Examples of the 3rd millennium bc from the Indus Valley, found among the remains of the burnt-brick buildings of Mohenjo-Daro, include alabaster and marble figures, terra-cotta figurines of nude goddesses, terra-cotta and faience representations of animals, a copper model of a cart, and numerous square seals of ivory and of faience showing animals and pictographs. The similarity of these objects to Mesopotamian work in subject matter and stylized form indicates an interrelationship of the two cultures and a possible common ancestry (see Mesopotamian Art and Architecture). In Vedic and later times, from the 2nd millennium to the 3rd century bc, connections with Middle Eastern culture are not evident. An example of the earlier phase of this period is a 9th-century bc gold figurine of a goddess, found at Lauriya Nandangarh. Later, from 600 bc to historical times, common examples include finely polished and ornamented stone disks and coins representing many kinds of animals and religious symbols.

B

Buddhist Sculpture

With the rise of Buddhism in the 3rd century bc and the development of a monumental architecture in stone, stone sculpture both in relief and in the round became important architectural adjuncts. Buddha himself was not shown in early Indian art; he was represented by symbols and scenes from his life. Among other common subjects for representation were Buddhist deities and edifying legends. At this time and subsequently throughout the history of Indian sculpture, figures and ornamentation were arranged in intricately related compositions. Monuments of the period include the animal capitals of King Ashoka's sandstone edict pillars, and the marble railings that surround the Buddhist stupas at Bharhut, near Satna in Madhya Pradesh, where the reliefs seem to be compressed between the surface plane and the background plane. Also outstanding are the gates of the Great Stupa at Sanchi, where the reliefs suggest the delicacy and detail of ivory carving.

In northwest India, in a region that was called Gandhara in ancient times and now includes Afghanistan and part of the Punjab, a Greco-Buddhist school of sculpture arose that combined the influence of Greek forms and Buddhist subject matter. It reached the peak of its production in the 2nd century ad. Although the Gandhara style greatly influenced sculptural work in Central Asia and even in China, Korea, and Japan, it did not have a major effect in the rest of India; it is probable, however, that the images as well as the symbols of Buddha developed at Gandhara later spread to Mathura, now in Uttar Pradesh, where an important school of sculpture developed from the 2nd century bc to the 6th century ad. Remains of the earlier work of this school also show a close relationship to the style of the sculpture at Bharhut. Later, in the 1st and 2nd centuries ad, the Mathura school discarded the old symbols of Buddha and represented him with actual figures. This innovation was carried on through subsequent phases of Indian sculpture.

The Gupta period, from ad 320 to about 550, produced Buddhas with clearly defined lines and refined contours. The drapery of the figure was diaphanous and clung to the body as if wet. Often the figures were made on a great scale, as in the colossal copper sculpture, weighing about 1 metric ton, from Sultanganj, Bihār State.

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