The Schools of Art in Ancient India | Art Schools in Ancient India - Gandhara, Mathura, Amaravati

To get regular updates, subscribe to our channel and click on the bell icon. Visit our channel and get more learning videos under playlist option. There you can find current affairs, daily vocabulary, banking awareness, aptitude and much more. The Buddhism spread greatly during the 1st and 2nd centuries had spurred a renewed artistic passion to illustrate the enlightened message of Buddhism. During this prolific time emerged three main schools in India that had developed their own particular styles and distinctions. These were the Gandhara, Madhura and Amaravati schools. First we are going to look after Gandhara school about its period, sculptures and Buddhist monasteries. Gandhara school's period, plays and patterns It flourished from about the middle of the 1st century BC to about the 5th century AD in the Gandhara region, which is northwestern India now, and hence known as the Gandhara school. It owed its origin to Indo-Greek rulers, but the real patrons of the schools were Sagas and Kushanas, especially Kanishka. Owing to its intimate connection with Mahayana Buddhism, it is also called the Greco-Buddhist school. Gandhara sculptures Specimens of Gandhara sculpture have been found extensively in the ruins of Takshila and the various ancient sites of Afghanistan and northwestern India. They were executed in black stone. Gandhara school has the following main features 1. A tendency to mould the human body in a realistic manner with great attention to accuracy of physical details, especially the delineation of muscles, the addition of mustaches, curly hair and the like. The representation of thick drapery with large and bold fold lines and rich carving elaborate ornamentation and complex symbolism. Gandhara architecture excelled mainly during the construction of monasteries and stupas. Buddhist monasteries A very large number of Buddhist monasteries were built in the early centuries of the Christian era. Ruins of about 15 monasteries have been found in the neighbourhood of Peshawar and Rawalpindi, while in the Kabul valley alone there are some 50 examples. Buddhist stupas The Greco-Roman architectural impact modified the structure of the stupa. The orthodox Indian design of the stupa was developed into an architectural composition The height of the stupa was raised enormously by elevating it on a high platform and by elongating its main body upwards. Besides, plastic ornamentation was added to the structure of the stupa. All this provided the stupa effective and colourful appearance. The main theme of Gandhara school can be said to be the new form of Buddhism i.e. Mahayanism and its most important contribution was the evolution of an image of the Buddha. The school of art that developed at Madura, current Uttar Pradesh, has been called the Madura school. Its origin has been tracked back to 1st century AD when its genuine progress has begun. The artist of Madura used the spotted red sandstone for making images. Though the Madura school owed much to the earlier Indian traditions like Bharat, Gaya and Sanchi, it also borrowed from the Gandhara school and adopted more than one Greco-Roman motif. The Jaina images in its early phase, the Madura school was probably inspired by Jainism as we find that many figures of crass-legged naked Tirthankaras in meditation were called by Madura crownsmen. The Buddhist images The early Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the Madura school are fleshy figures and with little spirituality about them, but later they develop in grace and religious feeling. Brahmanical images The Madura artists also carved out images of Brahmanical divinities. Popular Brahmanical gods like Shiva and Vishnu were represented alone and sometimes with their consorts Pavati and Lakshmi respectively. Images of many other Brahmanical deities were also faithfully executed in stone. The most striking remains are the beautiful female figures of Yakshinis, Noginis and Apsaras. These richly jeweled ladies stand in pet attitudes reminiscent of the Indus dancing girl. The Royal Statues Most of the Kushana royal statues were found at the village of Maut near Madurai, where the Kushana kings had a winter palace. With a chapel in which the memory of former monarchs and princes were revered, almost all the figures have been broken by the rulers of the succeeding dynasties. And that of the great Kanishka, the most striking of the statues unfortunately lacks its head. Amaravati school In the region between the lower valleys of the Krishna and Kothavari, which became an important center of Buddhism at least as early as the 2nd century BC, a separate school of art known as the Amaravati school flourished. Though it had its beginnings in the middle of the 2nd century BC, it matured only in the later Satavagna period i.e. 2nd and 3rd century AD and declined by the end of the 4th century AD. Its main centers were Amaravati, Nagarjuna Konda and Jagaiyapeta. It art is mainly used white marbles. The Buddhist Statues The great stupa of Amaravati was adorned with limestone reliefs depicting scenes of Buddha's life and surrounded with freestanding Buddha figures. Amaravati artists created beautiful human images which outnumbered those of religious nature. The figures and images of males and females carved under the influence of this school have been regarded as some of the best among the contemporaries not only from the point of view, their size, the physical beauty and expression of human emotions but also from the point of view of composition. The female figures in different moods and poses are in particular its best creations. Even men, animals and vegetations have been treated elegantly. The Significance The Amaravati school had a profound influence on surrounding schools of art. Its producers were carried to Ceylon and Southeast Asian countries and had a marked effect on the indigenous towns. Its influence on later South Indian sculpture is also very evident. you