Religious Cosmology of the Gupta Period

DR UDAY DOKRAS

This period is called the “Golden age of India” or the “Classical Age of India” partially due
to the unprecedented activities and development in the arts, architecture, sculpture, painting
and literature.
During Gupta Era, the rock cut architecture reached its zenith and this era marked
the beginning of the Free Standing temple Architecture. Most of the temples built in the
Gupta era were carved with representation of Gods (mainly avatara of Vishnu and Lingams)
and Goddesses. The most important temple of Gupta era is Dasavatar Temple of Deogarh,
Uttar Pradesh.

Following is a brief description of the temples & Stupas of the Gupta Era:
Dasavatara temple, Deogarh Uttar Pradesh
Dasavatara temple is located in Deogarh Village in Lalitpur town in Uttar Pradesh. The
temple was discovered by Captain Charles Strahan and was named so by Alexander
Cunningham. It depicts the 10 avatara of Vishnu. It is a large and elaborate edifice with
typical temple art of Guptas (without Shikhara) and cubical Garbhagriha. This temple has
also been linked to the “Sarvatobhadra temple” mentioned in the Vishnudharmottara
Purana by several scholars.
Bhitargaon Temple
Bhitagaon Temple is located in Kanpur District of Uttar Pradesh. It is the oldest remaining
Hindu temple, and was built in the Gupta Era in 6th century.
Dhamekha Stupa
The Dhamekha stupa is located at Sarnath, 13 km away from Varanasi. It marks the deer park
or Rishipattana where Buddha gave his first sermon. As per an inscription dated 1026 AD,
recovered from the site, its older name is Dharmachakra Stupa. Archeologist, Alexander
Cunningham in search of a relic casket bored a vertical shaft through it center down to the
foundation and at a depth of around 91 centimeter he found a slab with an inscription …..Ye
Dharma Hetu Prabhava Hetu…..written in Brahmi script. This inscription is of 6th or 7th
century. Below this, one more stupa made of mauryan bricks has been found which gives in
indication that Asoka might have commissioned it.

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 Salient features of the Gupta Temples:
In Gupta period, the basic, characteristic elements of the Indian temple consisting of
a square sanctum sanctorum and a pillared porch had emerged.
 The Shikhara was not much prominent in the early Gupta temples but was prominent
in later Gupta era. There was a single entrance or mandapa or Porch.
 Gupta style temple was modeled on the architectural norms of the Mathura school.
 Some Other Notes about Gupta Temples
 Sanchi temple at Tigwa has a flat roof.
 Dasavatar Temple at Deogarh , Bhitargaon temple and Mahadev Temple at Nachna
Kuthar have a square tower of Shikhara.
 Manyar Math at Rajgriha is a circular temple of Gupta Era.
 Main style of temple architecture in i.e. Nagara style and Dravida style actually began
from the Gupta era.
 The earliest stone temple with Shikhara is Dasavatar Temple at Deogarh.
 The Bhitargaon temple at Kanpur is entirely made up of Bricks.

Religious cosmology

Religious cosmology is an explanation of the origin, evolution, and eventual fate of the
universe, from a religious perspective. This may include beliefs on origin in the form of
a creation myth, subsequent evolution, current organizational form and nature, and eventual
fate or destiny. There are various traditions in religion or religious mythology asserting how
and why everything is the way it is and the significance of it all. Religious cosmologies
describe the spatial lay-out of the universe in terms of the world in which people typically
dwell as well as other dimensions, such as the seven dimensions of religion; these are ritual,
experiential and emotional, narrative and mythical, doctrinal, ethical, social, and material.

Religious mythologies may include descriptions of an act or process of creation by a creator

deity or a larger pantheon of deities, explanations of the transformation of chaos into order, or
the assertion that existence is a matter of endless cyclical transformations. Religious
cosmology differs from a strictly scientific cosmology informed by the results of the study
of astronomy and similar fields, and may differ in conceptualizations of the world's physical
structure and place in the universe, its creation, and forecasts or predictions on its future.

The scope of religious cosmology is more inclusive than a strictly scientific cosmology
(physical cosmology) in that religious cosmology is not limited to experiential observation,
testing of hypotheses, and proposals of theories; for example, religious cosmology may
explain why everything is the way it is or seems to be the way it is and prescribing what
humans should do in context. Variations in religious cosmology include those such as from
India Buddhism, Hindu, and Jain; the religious beliefs of China, Chinese
Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, Japan's Shintoisim and the beliefs of the Abrahamic
faiths, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Religious cosmologies have often developed
into the formal logics of metaphysical systems, such

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as Platonism, Neoplatonism, Gnosticism, Taoism, Kabbalah, Wuxing or the great chain of
being.

Buddhist cosmology is the description of the shape and evolution of the Universe according
to the Buddhist scriptures and commentaries.

Wat Arun's pagodas were built and located to simulate the Buddhist Cosmology
It consists of temporal and spatial cosmology: the temporal cosmology being the division of
the existence of a 'world' into four discrete moments (the creation, duration, dissolution, and
state of being dissolved; this does not seem to be a canonical division, however). The spatial
cosmology consists of a vertical cosmology, the various planes of beings, their bodies,
characteristics, food, lifespan, beauty and a horizontal cosmology, the distribution of these
world-systems into an "apparently" infinite sheet of “worlds”. The existence of world-periods
(moments, kalpas), is well attested to by the Buddha.

The historical Buddha (Gautama Buddha) made references to the existence of aeons (the
duration of which he describes using a metaphor of the time taken to erode a huge rock
measuring 1x1x1 mile by brushing it with a silk cloth, once every century) and
simultaneously intimates his knowledge of past events, such as the dawn of human beings in
their coarse and gender-split forms, the existence of more than one sun at certain points in
time, and his ability to convey his voice vast distances, as well as the ability of his disciples
(who if they fare accordingly) to be reborn in any one of these planes (should they so
choose).

The self-consistent Buddhist cosmology, which is presented in commentaries and works

of Abhidharma in both Theravāda and Mahāyāna traditions, is the end-product of an analysis
and reconciliation of cosmological comments found in the
Buddhist sūtra and vinaya traditions. No single sūtra sets out the entire structure of the
universe, but in several sūtras the Buddha describes other worlds and states of being, and
other sūtras describe the origin and destruction of the universe. The synthesis of these data
into a single comprehensive system must have taken place early in the history of Buddhism,
as the system described in the Pāli Vibhajyavāda tradition (represented by today's
Theravādins) agrees, despite some minor inconsistencies of nomenclature, with
the Sarvāstivāda tradition which is preserved by Mahāyāna Buddhists.

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Standing Buddha of the art of Mathura. Gupta Empire period, circa 5th century CE. Rashtrapati
Bhavan Presidential Palace, New Delhi, India./The three main schools of Gupta art were located
in Mathura, Varanasi and Nalanda.

Gupta art is the art of the Gupta Empire, which ruled most of northern India, with its peak
between about 300 and 480 CE, surviving in much reduced form until c. 550. The Gupta
period is generally regarded as a classic peak and golden age of North Indian art for all the
major religious groups.[2] Gupta art is characterized by its "Classical decorum", in contrast to
the subsequent Indian medieval art, which "subordinated the figure to the larger religious
purpose".
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, while
the production of the Buddha-figure and Jain tirthankara figures continued to expand, the
latter often on a very large scale. The traditional main centre of sculpture was Mathura, which
continued to flourish, with the art of Gandhara, the centre of Greco-Buddhist art just beyond
the northern border of Gupta territory, continuing to exert influence. Other centres emerged
during the period, especially at Sarnath. Both Mathura and Sarnath exported sculpture to
other parts of northern India.
It is customary to include under "Gupta art" works from areas in north and central India that
were not actually under Gupta control, in particular art produced under the Vakataka
dynasty who ruled the Deccan c. 250–500. Their region contained very important sites such
as the Ajanta Caves and Elephanta Caves, both mostly created in this period, and the Ellora
Caves which were probably begun then. Also, although the empire lost its western territories
by about 500, the artistic style continued to be used across most of northern India until about
550, and arguably around 650 It was then followed by the "Post-Gupta" period, with (to a
reducing extent over time) many similar characteristics; Harle ends this around 950.
In general the style was very consistent across the empire and the other kingdoms where it
was used. The vast majority of .
Gupta art was preceded by Kushan art, the art of the Kushan Empire in northern India, which
flourished between the 1st and the 4th century CE and blended the tradition of the Greco-
Buddhist art of Gandhara, influenced by Hellenistic artistic canons, and the more Indian art of
Mathura.[11] In Western India, as visible in Devnimori, the Western Satraps (1st–4th century
CE) developed a refined art, representing a Western Indian artistic tradition that was anterior
to the rise of Gupta art, and which may have influenced not only the latter, but also the art of
the Ajanta Caves, Sarnath and other places from the 5th century onward. In central India, the
art of the Satavahanas had already created a rich Indian artistic idiom, as visible in Sanchi,
which also influenced Gupta art.

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Vishnu, 5th century,Mathura/ One of the earliest dated Gupta statues, a Bodhisattva derived
from the Kushan style of Mathura art, inscribed "year 64" of the Gupta era, 384 CE, Bodh
Gaya.
With the conquests of Samudragupta (r.c. 335/350-375 CE) and Chandragupta II (r.c. 380 –
c. 415 CE), the Gupta Empire came to incorporate vast portions of central, northern and
northwestern India, as far as the Punjab and the Arabian sea, continuing and expanding on
these earlier artistic traditions and developing a unique Gupta style, rising "to heights of
sophistication, elegance and glory".Unlike some other Indian dynasties before and after them,
and with the exception of the imagery on their coins, the Gupta imperial family did not
advertise their relationship to the art produced under them by inscriptions, let alone portraits
that have survived.
Early chronology
There are several pieces of statuary from the Gupta period which are inscribed with a
date. They work as a benchmark for the chronology and the evolution of style under the
Guptas. These Gupta statues are dated from the Gupta era (which starts in 318–319 CE), and
sometimes mention the reigning ruler of that time. Besides statuary, coinage is also an
important chronological indicator
Although the Gupta Empire is reckoned to start after King Gupta in the late 3rd century CE,
the earliest known and dated sculptures of Gupta art come relatively late, about a century
later, after the conquest of northwestern India under Samudragupta. Among the earliest is an
inscribed pillar recording the installation of two Shiva Lingas in Mathura in 380 CE
under Chandragupta II, Samudragupta's successor.[23] Another rare example is a statue of a
seated Bodhisattva in the Mathura style with dhoti and shawl on the left shoulder, coming
from Bodh Gaya and dated to "year 64", presumably of the Gupta era, thought to be 384 CE.
[15]
This type remained a rare occurrence, as in most of the later Gupta statues the Buddha
would be shown with the samghati monastic robe covering both shoulders.
Coinage too was a relatively late development, also consecutive to Samugragupta's conquest
of the northwest. The Gupta coinage was initially in imitation of the Kushan types.

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Style
The Gupta style of statuary, especially as seen in the Buddha images, is characterized by
several formative traits: ornate halos with floral and gem motifs, clothes with thin diaphanous
drapery, specific hair curls, meditative eyes, elongated earlobes, relatively thick lower lips,
and often three lines across the neck.
Three main schools of Gupta sculpture are often recognised, based
in Mathura, Varanasi/Sarnath and to a lesser extent Nalanda. The distinctively different
stones used for sculptures exported from the main centres described below aids identification
greatly.
Both Buddhist and Hindu sculpture concentrate on large, often near life-size, figures of the
major deities, respectively Buddha, Vishnu and Shiva. The dynasty had a partiality to Vishnu,
who now features more prominently, where the Kushan imperial family generally had
preferred Shiva. Minor figures such as yakshi, which had been very prominent in preceding
periods, are now smaller and less frequently represented, and the crowded scenes
illustrating Jataka tales of the Buddha's previous lives are rare. [34] When scenes include one of
the major figures and other less important ones, there is a great difference in scale, with the
major figures many times larger. This is also the case in representations of incidents from the
Buddha's life, which earlier had showed all the figures on the same scale.
The lingam was the central murti in most temples. Some new figures appear,
including personifications of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, not yet worshipped, but placed
on either side of entrances; these were "the two great rivers encompassing the Gupta
heartland The main bodhisattva appear prominently in sculpture for the first time, as in the
paintings at Ajanta. Buddhist, Hindu and Jain sculpture all show the same style, and there is a
"growing likeness of form" between figures from the different religions, which continued
after the Gupta period.
The Indian stylistic tradition of representing the body as a series of "smooth, very simplified
planes" is continued, though poses, especially in the many standing figures, are subtly tilted
and varied, in contrast to the "columnar rigidity" of earlier figures. The detail of facial parts,
hair, headgear, jewellery and the haloes behind figures are carved very precisely, giving a
pleasing contrast with the emphasis on broad swelling masses in the body. Deities of all the
religions are shown in a calm and majestic meditative style; "perhaps it is this all-pervading
inwardness that accounts for the unequalled Gupta and post-Gupta ability to communicate
higher spiritual states".
Mathura school
The long-established Mathura school continued as one of the main two schools of Gupta
Empire art, joined by the school of Varanasi and nearby Sarnath. Mathura sculpture is
characterized by its usage of mottled red stone from Karri in the district, and its foreign
influences, continuing the traditions of the art of Gandhara and the art of the Kushans.
The art of Mathura continued to become more sophisticated during the Gupta Empire. The
pink sandstone sculptures of Mathura evolved during the Gupta period to reach a very high
fineness of execution and delicacy in the modeling, displaying calm and serenity. The style
become elegant and refined, with a very delicate rendering of the draping and a sort of
radiance reinforced by the usage of pink sandstone. Artistic details tend to be less realistic, as
seen in the symbolic shell-like curls used to render the hairstyle of the Buddha, and the orante
halos around the head of the Buddhas. The art of the Gupta is often considered as the
pinnacle of Indian Buddhist art, achieving a beautiful rendering of the Buddhist ideal.

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Gupta art is also characterized by an expansion of the Buddhist pantheon, with a high
importance given to the Buddha himself and to new deities, including Bodhisattvas such
as Avalokitesvara or divinities of Bramanical inspiration, and less focus on the events of the
life of the Buddha which were abundantly illustrated through Jataka stories in the art
of Bharhut and Sanchi (2nd–1st centuries BCE), or in the Greco-Buddhist
art of Gandhara (1st–4th centuries CE).
The Gupta art of Mathura was very influential throughout northern India, accompanied by a
reducing of foreign influences; its style can be seen in Gupta statues to the east in areas as far
as Allahabad, with the Mankuwar Buddha, dated to the reign of Kumaragupta I in 448.
There are a number of "problematical" Buddhist and Jain images from Mathura whose dating
is uncertain; many are dated with a low year number, but which era is being used is unclear.
These may well come from the early Gupta period.
Buddha in Abhaya Mudra. Kushana-Gupta transitional period. Circa 3rd-4th century,
Mathura.

Standing Buddha, inscribed Gupta Era year 115 (434 CE), Mathura.
This Buddha image embodies the qualities of radiant inner calm and stillness, the products of
supreme wisdom. The figure once raised his right hand (now missing) in the characteristic
abhaya-mudra, a gesture dispelling fear and imparting reassurance. The Buddha is robed in the
simple, uncut cloth of a monk, and his religiosity is further conveyed by a large halo and
auspicious markings (lakshanas), both natural and supernatural, denoting Buddhahood (the state
of perfect enlightenment), As the summation of stylistic development in a period of Buddhist
expansion, this representation became the benchmark for the Buddha image throughout Asia.

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Head of a Buddha, 6th century./ A relief of the Trivikrama , "three strides of Vishnu", in the
art of Mathura during the Gupta period./ Vishnu in three incarnations
(Chaturvyuha): Vishnu himself or Vāsudeva-Krishna in human form, Varaha as a
boar, Narasimha as a lion. Mathura, mid-5th century CE. Boston Museum./Vishnu statue,
5th century, Mathura.

Sarnath school

The Dharmachakra Pravartana Buddha at Sarnath, a Gupta statue of the Buddha

from Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India, last quarter of the 5th century CE. The Buddha is depicted
teaching in the lotus position, while making the Dharmacakra mudrā
The Varanasi/ Sarnath style produced mainly Buddhist art, and "Sarnath Buddhas are
probably the greatest single achievement of the Indian sculptor", largely setting the
representation of the Buddha that was followed in eastern India and South-East Asia for
many centuries, and the general representation of the human body in India. A number of
dated examples show that the mature style did not develop until 450–475. It is characterized
by its yellowish sandstone from the quarries of Chunar, and lacks the foreign influences seen
in Mathura. Folds on clothing have disappeared, and the clothing itself is extremely thin, to
the point of being transparent. The halo has become large and is often elaborately
decorated. The top edge of the eye-socket is very marked, forming a sharply carved edge.

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The Sarnath style was the origin of Buddha images in Siam, Cambodia and Java.

The Mankuwar Buddha, with inscribed date "year 129 in the reign of
Maharaja Kumaragupta", hence 448 CE. Mankuwar, District of Allahabad. Lucknow
Museum/ 5th century Sarnath statue, Indian Museum// Buddha head, Sarnath, 5th century

Buddha in
copper, 500–700 CE, 2.3 metres tall. Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery/Buddha, 450-500 -
Buddha, standing, inscribed: "Gift of Abhayamira in 154 GE" (474 CE) in the reign
of Kumaragupta II. Sarnath Museum \Relief of Jain tirthankara Parshvanatha on the Kahaum
pillar erected by Skandagupta in 461 CE
Other centres-Nalanda

Gupta sculptural qualities tend to deteriorate with time, as in Nalanda in Bihar in the 6th
century BCE, figures become heavier and tend to be made in metal. This evolution suggests a
third school of Gupta art in the area Nalanda and Pataliputra, besides the two main centres of
Mathura and Vanarasi. The colossal Sultanganj Buddha in copper from the area of Pataliputra

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is a uniquely large survival from this school, but typical in style. [42] In the same monastery
two similar but much smaller (and slightly later) figures in stone were found, one now on
display in the British Museum.[
Udayagiri Caves/Vidisha
The "first dated sculptures in a fully-fledged early Gupta style" come from the rock-
cut Udayagiri Caves and the surrounding area near Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh. Though the
caves, all but one Hindu, are "of negligible importance architecturally", around the cave
entrances are a number of rock relief panels, some with large deities. They are in a relatively
crude and heavy style, but often with a powerful impact; Harle describes the mukhalinga in
Cave 4 as "pulsating with psychic power". The most famous is the 7 x 4 metre relief of
Vishnu in the form of the giant boar Varaha, raising the earth from the primordial waters,
watched by rows of much smaller gods, sages and celestial beings. One cave also has an
extremely rare inscription relating a site to the Gupta court, recording the donation of a
minister of Candragupta II.The famous Iron pillar of Delhi is thought likely to have been
originally set up outside the caves.

Udayagiri Caves mukhalinga (Cave 4), described as "pulsating with psychic power".

Head of Vishnu from Vidisha near Udayagiri, Central India, 4th century// Vishnu in the form
of Varaha, Udayagiri caves, circa 400 CE. In front, probable relief of Chandragupta II (380–415 CE) kneeling,
paying homage to Varaha. //Vishnu sleeping, protected by Shesha, Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh

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Eran

Eran in Madhya Pradesh has a "pillar" or large single column dated 484/5 by an inscription
of Buddhagupta, the only standing Gupta example, with two Garuda figures at the top
(illustrated below). It had two large Varaha figures outside the ruined Gupta temple. The style
of the sculpture is somewhat provincial. Still at the site is a huge and impressive boar on four
legs, with no human characteristics, its body covered with rows of small figures representing
the sages who clung to the hairs of Varaha to save themselves from the waters. Now moved
to the university museum at Sagar is a figure with the same body and pose as that at
Udayagiri, "one of the greatest of all Indian sculptures ... nothing can match the figure's air of
insolent triumph". Both are dated to the late fifth century.
Others
The surviving sanctuary of the early 6th-century Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh has a
typically fine doorway, and large relief panels on the other three walls. These are now
external, but would originally gave given on to the covered ambulatory. Though "majestic",
these show "the sturdiness of early Gupta sculpture is yielding to a softer, more delicate and
ultimately weaker styl.e" The row of men beneath the sleeping Vishnu have "stylized poses,
probably imitated from the theatre".
There are also other minor centres of Gupta sculpture, particularly in the areas
of Dasapura and Mandasor, where a huge eight-faced mukhalinga (probably early 6th-
century) found in the river has been reinstalled in the Pashupatinath Temple, Mandsaur.
The Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara continued a late phase through at least most of the
Gupta period, having also been a formative influence.

Elephanta Caves, triple-bust (trimurti) of Shiva, 18 feet (5.5 m) tall, c. 550.

Very important rock-cut sites outside the Gupta Empire proper, to the south, are the Ajanta
Caves and Elephanta Caves, both mostly created in the Gupta period, and the Ellora
Caves which were probably begun around the end of it. As it was mainly restricted to
the Gangetic plain, the vast Gupta territories included relatively few rock-cut sites with much
sculpture. The later Ajanta style of sculpture is somewhat heavy, but sometimes "awe-
inspiring" in the large seated shrine Buddhas, but other smaller figures are often very fine, as
is the ornamental carving on columns and door-frames.
When combined with the painted walls, the effect can be considered over-decorated, and
lacking "motifs on a larger scale to serve as focal points". The main internal carving was
probably completed by 478, though votive figures to the sides of many cave entrances may be

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later. The Ajanta style is only seen at a few other sites nearby. After work ended there much
of the skilled workforce, or their descendants, probably ended up working at Elephanta and
then Ellora.
Unlike the series of caves side by side at Ajanta, the main interest at Elephanta is the largest
cave, a huge Shiva temple, and above all the colossal triple-bust (trimurti) of Shiva, 18 feet
(5.5 m) tall, which "because it is so amazingly skilfully placed in relation to the various
external entrances ... receives exactly the amount of light necessary to make it look as if it is
emerging from a black void, manifestation from the unmanifest".Also from the Mumbai area,
the Parel Relief or (Parel Shiva) is an important late Gupta monolithic relief of Shiva in seven
forms.

The Eran Varaha, about 5 metres long, dedicated by Huna ruler Toramana circa 510 CE.\
Vishnu, Central India, 5th century/ Shiva mukhalinga, Bhumara Temple, 5th or 6th
century, Madhya Pradesh\

Cast of the Parel Relief, in the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya

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The Brahma from Mirpur-Khas, detail/ Mother Goddess from entrance of a Hindu Temple,
Tanesara-Mahadeva (near Udaipur), suggesting connections with the Art of Gandhara. 5th-
6th or early 7th century CE.
The over life-size copper Sultanganj Buddha (2.3 metres tall) is "the only remaining metal
statue of any size" from the Gupta period, out of what was at the time probably
approximately as numerous a type as stone or stucco statues. There are, however, many
much smaller near-identical figures (up to about 50 cm tall), several in American museums.
The metal Brahma from Mirpur-Khas is older, but about half the size of the Sultanganj
figure. The Jain Akota bronzes and some other finds are much smaller still, probably figures
for shrines in well-off homes.
The style of the Sultanganj figure, made by lost-wax casting, is comparable to slightly earlier
stone Buddha figures from Sarnath in "the smoothly rounded attenuation of body and limbs"
and the very thin, clinging body garment, indicated in the lightest of ways. The figure has "a
feeling of animation imparted by the unbalanced stance and the movement suggested by the
sweeping silhouette of the enveloping robe".

Hindu temple of Bhitargaon, late 5th century, but considerably restored/Pataini temple is a
Jain temple built during the Gupta period, 5th century
For reasons that are not entirely clear, for the most part the Gupta period represented a hiatus
in Indian rock-cut architecture, with the first wave of construction finishing before the empire
was assembled, and the second wave beginning in the late 5th century, just as it was ending.
This is the case, for example, at the Ajanta Caves, with an early group made by 220 CE at the
latest, and a later one probably all after about 460. Instead, the period has left almost the first
surviving free-standing structures in India, in particular the beginnings of Hindu temple
architecture. As Milo Beach puts it: "Under the Guptas, India was quick to join the rest of the
medieval world in a passion for housing precious objects in stylized architectural
frameworks", the "precious objects" being primarily the icons of gods.
The most famous remaining monuments in a broadly Gupta style, the caves
at Ajanta, Elephanta, and Ellora (respectively Buddhist, Hindu, and mixed including Jain)
were in fact produced under other dynasties in Central India, and in the case of Ellora after

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the Gupta period, but primarily reflect the monumentality and balance of Guptan style.
Ajanta contains by far the most significant survivals of painting from this and the surrounding
periods, showing a mature form which had probably had a long development, mainly in
painting palaces. ] The Hindu Udayagiri Caves actually record connections with the dynasty
and its ministers, and the Dashavatara Temple at Deogarh is a major temple, one of the
earliest to survive, with important sculpture, although it has lost its mandapa and covered
ambulatory for parikrama.

Examples of early North Indian Hindu temples that have survived after the Udayagiri
Caves in Madhya Pradesh include those at Tigawa (early 5th century), Pataini temple (5th
century), Sanchi Temple 17 (similar, but respectively Hindu and Buddhist), Deogarh, Parvati
Temple, Nachna (465), Bhitargaon, the largest Gupta brick temple to survive, and Lakshman
Brick Temple, Sirpur (600–625 CE). Gop Temple in Gujarat (c. 550 or later) is an oddity,
with no surviving close comparator
There are a number of different broad models, which would continue to be the case for more
than a century after the Gupta period, but temples such as Tigawa and Sanchi Temple 17,
which are small but massively built stone prostyle buildings with a sanctuary and a columned
porch, show the most common basic plan that is elaborated in later temples to the present
day. Both of these have flat roofs over the sanctuary, which would become uncommon by
about the 8th century. The Mahabodhi Temple, Bhitargaon, Deogarh and Gop already all
show high superstructures of different shapes. The Chejarla Kapoteswara
temple demonstrates that free-standing chaitya-hall temples with barrel roofs continued to be
built, probably with many smaller examples in wood.

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Tetrastyle prostyle Gupta period Temple 17 at Sanchi, possibly built for Buddhist use, but
typical of the evolving Hindu temple. Mauryan Buddhist apsidal hall behind/ The current
structure of the Mahabodhi Temple dates to the Gupta era, 5th century. Marking the location
where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment./Vishnu temple in Eran, late 5th
century.

Ajanta cave 17, frescoes above a lintel

Painting was evidently a major art in Gupta times, and the varied paintings of the Ajanta
Caves, which are much the best survivals (almost the only ones), show a very mature style
and technique, clearly the result of a well-developed tradition. Indeed, it is recorded that skill

15
in amateur painting, especially portraits, was considered a desirable accomplishment among
Gupta elites, including royalty. Ajanta was ruled by the powerful Vakataka dynasty, beyond
the territory of the Gupta Empire, but it is thought to closely reflect the metropolitan Gupta
style. The other survivals are from the Bagh Caves, now mostly removed to the Gujari Mahal
Archaeological Museum in Gwalior Fort, Ellora, and Cave III of the Badami cave temples.
At Ajanta, it is thought that established teams of painters, used to decorating palaces and
temples elsewhere, were brought in when required to decorate a cave. Mural paintings
survive from both the earlier and later groups of the caves. Several fragments of murals
preserved from the earlier caves (Caves 10 and 11) are effectively unique survivals of ancient
painting in India from this period, and "show that by Sātavāhana times, if not earlier, the
Indian painters had mastered an easy and fluent naturalistic style, dealing with large groups
of people in a manner comparable to the reliefs of the Sāñcī toraņa crossbars"
Four of the later caves have large and relatively well-preserved mural paintings which "have
come to represent Indian mural painting to the non-specialist", and represent "the great
glories not only of Gupta but of all Indian art".They fall into two stylistic groups, with the
most famous in Caves 16 and 17, and what used to thought of as later paintings in Caves 1
and 2. However, the widely accepted new chronology proposed by Spink places both groups
in the 5th century, probably before 478.
The paintings are in "dry fresco", painted on top of a dry plaster surface rather than into wet
plaster. All the paintings appear to be the work of painters supported by discriminating
connoisseurship and sophisticated patrons from an urban atmosphere. Unlike much Indian
mural painting, compositions are not laid out in horizontal bands 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.
The paintings in cave 1, which according to Spink was commissioned by Harisena himself,
concentrate on those Jataka tales which show previous lives of the Buddha as a king, rather
than as a deer or elephant or other animal. The Ajanta paintings have seriously deteriorated
since they were rediscovered in 1819, and are now mostly hard to appreciate at the site. A
number of early attempts to copy them met with misfortune.
Only mural paintings survive, but it is clear from literary sources that portable paintings,
including portraits, were common, probably including illustrated manuscripts
Ajanta paintings

16
One of four frescos for the Mahajanaka Jataka tale. The king announces he abdicates to
become an ascetic/Sibi Jataka: king undergoes the traditional rituals for renouncers. He
receives a ceremonial bath

Foreigners in Cave 17, Ajanta/./The Bodhisattva of compassion Padmapani with lotus.

The chronology of Gupta art is quite critical to the art history of the region. Fortunately,
several statues are precisely dated, based on inscriptions referring to the various rulers of the
Gupta Empire, and giving their regnal dates in the Gupta era.

17
1880 sketch of 9-squared Dashavatara temple plan (not to scale, some parts not
shown)

18
The much later 16 th

19