THE GUPTA AND POST GUPTAS PERIOD
GROUP-12
Presented by:
L.ANUSH NAIK,12384
ABHISHEK YADAV,12035
VIRENDRA MEENA,12818
SHAFEEQUL ISLAM,12646
JAY PANDYA,12349
A.RAJEEV BHATT,11077
INTRODUCTION
• The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire, founded by Maharaja Sri Gupta, which
existed from approximately 320 to 550 CE and covered much of the Indian Subcontinent.
• The period of Gupta rule is known as the Golden Age of India, as it was a time marked by
peace, prosperity, and the flourishing of arts and sciences.
• The Gupta dynasty patronized Hindu as well as Buddhist and Jain art and culture.
• The Ajanta cave paintings as well as Dashavatara Temple in Deogarh were created in the
Gupta period.
• Some of the great artists and thinkers that flourished in the time of Chandragupta II include
Kalidasa, one of the greatest authors of Sanskrit poetry and drama, and Aryabhatta, a
brilliant and influential mathematician and astronomer.
• The Ajanta cave paintings as well as Dashavatara Temple in Deogarh were created in the
Gupta period.
• In addition to patronizing the art of the Hindu religion, which the majority of the
rulers subscribed to, the Guptas were known also for their support of Buddhist
and Jain art and culture.
• In particular, Gupta period Buddhist art was quite influential in most of East
and Southeast Asia.
• The Ajanta caves, Buddhist rock-cut architecture dating from the 2nd century
BCE to 600 CE, contain wall paintings that were created during the Gupta
period.
• The paintings depict the Jataka tales and are considered to be masterpieces of
Buddhist religious art .
• Great works of Hindu art and architecture from the period include the
Dashavatara Temple in Deogarh .
• In addition to the arts, the various sciences also made great advancements
during the Gupta period.
GUPTAN PERIOD : TEMPLE,SCULPTURE AND ART
• The art of the Gupta period is marked by a deep spiritual quality and
a vision which tries to record the higher and deeper truths of life.
• While the early Gupta period shows an emphasis on Hindu art, the
climax of Buddhist art, with all the previous tendencies combined
into a classical statement, comes during the later period.
• The Gupta period is specially marked for the development of new
temple styles.
• The glorious of the Gupta age proper (C. 350-650) have been made
permanent through the visible creations of its art.
• It is contended that during the Gupta period the proto-type of Hindu
temple came into existence.
• The Gupta period gerally regarding as a classic peak of north Indian art
for all the major religious groups.
• Although painting was evidently widespread, the surviving works are
almost all religious sculpture.
• The period saw the emergence of the iconic carved stone deity in Hindu
art, as well as the Buddha figure and Jain tirthankara figures, these last
often on a very large scale.
• The two great centres of sculpture were Mathura and Gandhara.
• The most famous remaining monuments in a broadly Guptan style, the
caves at Ajanta, Elephanta, and Ellora (respectively Buddhist, Hindu,
and mixed including Jain) were in fact produced under later dynasties,
but largely reflect the monumentality and balance of Guptan style.
Jainsamaj,Karnataka A mural at the Thiksey monastery
Mural painting in Ajanta caves Art of temple sculpture from Gupta period
GUPTA PERIOD: SCULPTURE
• The Gupta period saw the classic phase of Indian sculpture.
• It is however in the field of sculpture that classical heights were
reached in the Gupta period.
• The Gupta sculpture was at its best in giving shape to the images of
the deities and divinities, both of the Brahminical and Buddhist
faiths.
• Countless numbers of images were cut into shape at several centers
for their installation in numberless temples and shrines.
• Sculpture making became a major occupation, and the sculptors with
their skill played a prominent role in the religious revolution of that
period.
• The standing Buddha of Mathura, and the colossal copper statue of
Buddha which is now in a British museum are some other excellent
examples of the Gupta sculpture.
• The Hindu images, too, went by
the physical beauty of their
figures, dignity of their divinity,
and grace of their spiritual being.
• The images of Siva and of other
Hindu gods and goddesses were
made in large numbers at various
places.
• All of them possessed dignity.
• Their faces revealed spiritual
expression and moods of divinity
according to the puranic
descriptions of their individuality.
The seated image of Buddha belonging to Sarnath has been rightly
regarded as the finest of all Buddha images in India. It seems to
• It seems, as if, the sculptors were convey the true messages of Buddhism.
translating the themes from
Sanskrit texts into religious
versions on stones.
• The style of Gandhara School of
art and sculpture had attained an
unprecedented excellence during
the Gupta period.
• The style had originally developed
in Mathura, which was carried to
perfection in Sarnath and where
Buddha had turned the wheel of
law.
• Gupta sculpture outgrew the
sculptural phrase of Bharhut and
Sanchi, where the subject matter
was animal figures and trees.
• The sculptures were rather
exquisite and the figures were
proportionate and balanced.
• The sculptors implemented exotic
gestures and postures and the
figures appeared to have fitted Hindu sculpture from Gupta period
attire.
GUPTA PERIOD :ART OF PAINTING
• The excellence of the art of painting was yet another glory of the
Gupta Age.
• The fresco-paintings on the walls and ceilings of the world famous
Ajanta caves are the brightest examples of that refined art.
• The painters of Ajanta were at work from much earlier times,
perhaps from 1st century A.D. or even earlier.
• But it was during the Gupta period that most of the paintings were
worked out.
• More than that, the art came to its perfection during that time.
• They used bright colors,adopted spiritual themes as well as secular
as the subject matter of drawing.
• The scenes of their painting looked most natural, and the figures
most life-like.
• Every piece of painting in Ajanta
Caves is like a masterpiece of art.
• There are interesting palace scenes,
scenes of gandarvas and apsaras, and
scenes of social life.
• The Ajanta style of art aimed at
covering most subjects of religious,
spiritual and social values.
• The art aimed at carrying a deep
appeal to the human mind to create a
permanent impression.
• The gods and sages, kings and
queens, men, women and children,
birds and beasts, trees and flowers,
palaces and houses, and the scenes of
varying subjects, all painted in
appropriate colour, carried their Dancing girl in Ajanta fresco, showing deterioration
deeper meaning for men’s thought and between the cave now (left) and Robert Gill's copy
imagination.
• Mural paintings survive from both the
earlier and later groups of caves
Section of the mural in Cave 17, the 'coming of
Sinhala'. The prince (Prince Vijaya) is seen in both
groups of elephants and riders.
Cave 2, showing the extensive paint loss of many
areas.
Hamsa jâtaka, cave 17. This painting probably shows one
of the previous lives of the Buddha
• Ajanta contains by far the most important survivals of painting from this
and the surrounding periods, showing a mature style which had
probably had a long development, mainly in painting palaces
• All the paintings appear to be the work of painters at least as used to
decorating palaces as temples, and show a familiarity with and interest
in details of the life of a wealthy court.
• Unlike much Indian painting, compositions are not laid out in horizontal
compartments like a frieze, but show large scenes spreading in all
directions from a single figure or group at the centre.
• The ceilings are also painted with sophisticated and elaborate
decorative motifs, many derived from sculpture.
• Transparent drapery is used not to reveal the charms of the flesh but to
conceal them.
• They painted the figures of Buddha,
depicted his previous births, and showed
the various incidents of his life as taken
from the Jataka stories.
• They also worked out other themes to
represent the realities of life and
existence.
• Much of the Ajanta paintings did not
survive the centuries of time. Of the 29
Caves, the paintings of 16 Caves
continued to exist till last century.
A dancer with full complement of accompanying musicians.
Mahajanaka Jataka, Cave 1
• But most of those precious arts also got
damaged or destroyed.
• Yet, whatever of that artistic wealth could
survive till now, is considered as wonders
of world art heritage.
• The paintings in Ellora and Bagh Caves
were also of high standard.
• Good portions of those works have not
survived.
• Painting being a very delicate thing, it
fails to resist the havoc of Nature.
• At many more places, as in Ajanta and
Ellora, the art of painting of the past Cave in Ellora with paintings of Buddhist
have succumbed to the ravages of time. pantheon
• The Indian art influenced the art outside.
The Indian fresco-paintings were
imitated in Central Asia and its influence
entered deep into Buddhist China.
• For all these above mentioned reasons,
the culture of the Gupta Age went by its
unique value and excellence.
Wall Mural, Ellora Caves
TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE OF GUPTA PERIOD
• The Gupta Age indicated a new era in the history of temple
architecture.
• Free standing sculptural temple were the chief features of temple
architecture during the Gupta period.
• For the first time they initiated permanent materials like brick and
stone, instead of perishable materials like bamboo, wood etc.
• Structural temples, instead of cave temples were erected during this
period for the convenience of idol worship.
• The Gupta architects had invented an artistic standard, which
became the general rule of temple construction in the successive
ages.
• The Gupta architecture is revealed through the cave and temple
architecture of those times, which also include two Buddhist stupas.
• The stone temple in Deogarh of
Dasavatara with its excellent
carvings and panels on the walls
is extant remains of Gupta
architecture.
• The 'shikara' or top of the temple
are the chief attractions about
these constructions.
• The talent of Gupta architect
found expression in the
sculpture of the 'dome'.
• The Shiva temple at Nachana, the
Parvati Temple at Ajaya Garh in
Uttar Pradesh, the Vishnu Temple
in Central Province, the
Ekkalinga Shiva Temple at
Satana, are some of the extant
remains of Gupta architectural Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh, Gupta dynasty, c. 500 CE.
pieces.
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