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The romance, the awakening, the renunciation, the
enlightenment and the nirvana of Buddha’s life have been
celebrated in various art forms since his birth in 563 B.C. and have
travelled down the centuries…
The life of Gautama, has
assumed the nature of a heroic myth. Every event of his life is
accompanied by miraculous happenings, and many episodes are
allegorical references to cosmic phenomena. His birth is likened to
the rising of another sun; his enlightenment, to the sacrificial fire
of agni; in his turning of the wheel of law he assumes the
power of the world ruler. Buddhism formed an early alliance with the
popular cults of the soil and of nature. This explains the presence
of yakshis and naagas, the dryads and water-spirits who
appear in all monuments of early Buddhist art. The mythology of
Buddhism also came to include a collection of moral tales purporting
to relate the events in earlier incarnations of Buddha when, in
either animal or human form, he was acquiring the merit that enabled
him to attain enlightenment.
Buddhism was such a
powerful influence that whole dynasties subscribed to it.Each
dynasty, whether the Mauryas, the Sungas, the Guptas, the Kushans and
later the Pala and Sena’s, produced stupas, sculptures,
paintings and frescoes that are regarded as heritage art today.
The worship of Buddha as
a good, an absolute, in Mahayana Buddhism (The Greater Vehicle) found
reflection in iconography of that time – the trikaya, or
three bodies of Buddha. Yet other Buddhas, presiding over “Buddha
fields” were added later and, around the eighth century, we have
the complete mandala or magic diagram of the cosmos, with a
universal Buddha of the zenith with his seat at the very centre of
the cosmic machine, surrounded by four mythical Buddhas located at
the four cardinal points of the compass. This concept of five
Buddhas goes back to earlier beliefs such as the five elements, five
senses. The iconography and style of these concepts is still
preserved.
The conversion to
Buddhism of the Mauryan Emperor, Ashoka (272-232 BC) led to the
highest moment of artistic development. The ruins of a stupa at
Piprawa in Nepal and the core of the great stupa at Sanchi mutely
testify to his zeal. Stone memorials, which consisted of great
pillars crowned by sculpted animals of metaphysical significance were
set up at sites associated with Buddha. On these pillar and other
rocks were inscribed Ashoka’s edicts on Dharma, in Pali. The
Chinese Pilgrim Hieun-Tsang who visited Sarnath, in 7th
century AD, the scene of Buddha’s first preaching, speaks
eloquently of the monument: “A stone pillar about seventy feet
high. The stone is altogether as bright as jade. It is glistening
and sparkles like light….”
During the later Sunga
rulers (185-72 B.C.) Buddhist art emerges from an archaic phase of
expression towards final maturity. The stone, whether on railings or
on gateways, was profusely decorated. Sanchi, Bharhut and Amrawati
are glowing examples. The stupa had come to be regarded as an
outward and visual manifestation of Buddha in the Ashokan age.
Stupas now built have the same mathematical perfection of sheer
architectural form and mass as in pyramids. Above the square or
circular base rose the solid and hemispherical dome. The dome
symbolized the dome of heaven, enclosing the world. Symbolism found
representation in the motifs of the carved railings like those at
Bharhut. A frequent motifs is of the yakshi embracing a tree,
usually a flowering sal. The embrace of the yakshi and the
tree that yearns for her quickening touch is symbolic of some ancient
fertility rite. Yakshas are also represented and Kuber, chief
of Yakshas adorns the Bharhut railing. The most beautiful
representation of yakshis portrays swelling breasts and an
ample pelvis. Jeweled ornaments are carved in sharpness and
precision while the body curves softly in contrast. The effect of
drapery is created intelligently, emphatically defining borders and
seams of the skirt.
Medallions served to
relate Jataka tales. The method of continuous narration is
universally employed i.e., a number from the same story are
represented within the confines of the same panel (Ruru Jataka,
Bharhut). Time and space have been represented on the panel by
placing the figures one above the other.
Embellishment of the four
gateways of stupa No. 1 at Sanchi came about in the early Andhra
period (72-25 BC). Torans and railings were decorated. The eastern
gateway has two panels of Lakshmi typifying the nativity; the
enlightenment is indicated by the tree and empty throne and the
preaching at Sarnath by the wheel.
The only surviving
examples of wall paintings from the early period are to be found in a
rock-cut chaitya hall at Ajanta caves. Inscriptions confirm its
dedication in the second century B.C. Cave 10 is devoted to Saddanta
Jataka, which recounts the story of Buddha’s sacrifice of his
tusks during his incarnation as an elephant. The composition is
presented in the form of a long frieze. “The artist has given a
marvelous impression of the immense dignity and weight of elephants
and their ponderous frolics”.
The most famous paintings
at Ajanta are in Cave 1 and date from the Gupta to early Chalukya
period (late 5th to early 7th century). The
colossal painted figures of Bodhisattvas “by their, beauty and
finality represent the imagined anatomy of a god. The face has the
perfect oval of the egg, the brows curve as an Indian bow; the eyes
are lotiform. The elephantine shoulders and arms, the leonine body,
and perhaps loveliest of all, the hand which, in its articulation,
suggests the pliant growth of the lotus flower it holds”.
The representation of
Shakti or female energy can be recognized in the beautifully drawn
female figure of dusky complexion who wears a towering headdress.
Rock-cut sanctuaries were
enormous halls of worship hewn from the rock in imitation of
free-standing architectural types. They were called chaitya-halls,
chaitya meaning holy place. All these relate to Hinayana Buddhism
(The Lesser Vehicle). The earliest chaitya-hall is at Bhaja, dating
to 1st century B.C. It consists of a nave separated by
rows of columns from smaller aisles terminating in a semi-circular
apse, in which was located the principal symbol of worship, a
rock-cut stupa. The impressiveness of the hall comes from the beauty
and austerity of the architectural members and the mystery provided
by the twilight, which in these interiors seems to make everything
melt and almost disappear. The visitor is trapped in a magic world
of unreality.
The most magnificent of
the cave temples is at Karla. Here, there are two massive stambhas
or columns that earlier had enormous metal wheel supported on lions.
The façade screen is of carved stone. In this chaitya, the
light streaming through the timbered rose-window illumines the
interior with a mystical half-light.
The art of Gandhara is
the official art of the Kushan Emperor Kanishka and his successors,
which flourished in north-western India from 1st to 5th
century A.D. The subject matter of Gandhara carvings is entirely
Buddhist and its sculptures are closely related to Roman art. The
soft, effeminate facial type of the early Buddha statues assumes
slowly the mask-like, frozen character of late antique sculpture that
prevails over the Roman world. The Gandhara school is credited with
the first representation of Buddha in anthropomorphic form. The
seated Buddha and the Bodhisattvas are stylistically presented.
During the Pala-Sena
period (730-1197 AD) Buddhism had largely disappeared from northern
India. It survived only in Bengal until annihilation by Muslim
invaders. The worship of the mystical Dhyani Buddha (a kind of
Buddhist Brahma) completely replaces any devotion to the mortal
Buddha. In this phase, usually called Vajrayana, together with the
paraphernalia of its art, it find its way to Tibet and Nepal in the
8th and 9th centuries. The last principal site
in India was the University city of Nalanda. The Nalanda bronze
images display elegance and a fondness for detail. This metal
imagery led to the flourishing of Nepalese and Tibetan sculpture.
In its travel over the
centuries, present day Buddhist art in India finds expression in
bright paintings on cloth and embroidery, depicting the life of
Buddha. Artifacts representing the Tibetan lion, the zodiac, and
puja tools litter the brightly arranged confusion of shiny metal and
trinkets in souvenir shops.
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