MAURYAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE

KOUDAMPALLI SRI VAISHNAVI

12015505
ROLL NUMBER 40
• The art produced during the period of Mauryan Empire (322BCE-
185BCE)

• It represented an important transition in Indian Art from use of Wood

to Stone

• Mauryan art is classified into two parts

 COURT ART
 POPULAR ART represented as in the form of yakshas and yakshinis
 COURT ART
Architectural work Description Characteristics Location Pictorial
Representation

PILLARS Ashoka erected 1.Made up of

chunar,sand stone
Lion Capital,Sarnath
pillars throughout
the empire as the 2.Upper most
element is capital
symbol of ( animals like
significance of the lion,bull)
Mauryan empire 3.Inscriptions are
found

STUPAS Stupas are believed

to be the house
1.Domed shaped
with a
Sanchi Stupa,MP
Piprawaha Stupa,UP
ashes of the HARMIKA,CHATRA,AN
Buddha. DA,TORANA

PALACES Palaces were built

to reflect the royalty
1.Wood was the
principal material
Mauryan Capital,
Pataliputra
of the Mauryan used. Ashoka’s palace,
Empire 2.Inspired by Kumrahar
Achaemenid Chandragupta
palaces at Maurya’s Palace
Parsepolis in Iran.
 POPULAR ART
Architectural Work Description Characteristics Location Pictorial
Representation

CAVES Caves were used Caves were Barabar Caves,

as Viharas by marked by a Bihar
Buddhist Monks highly polished Nagarjuna Caves,
walls and Bihar
Gateways

POTTERY 1.Use of potters Was used for Found in Ganges

wheel became Dishes and Bowls Valley
universal
2.Northern Black
polished Ware
Pottery was the
hall mark of this
period

COINS Coins used were Symbols are

Silver,Copper pieces punched on them
of various shapes Ex:Elephant,Trees
and Mountains
 FEATURES OF MAURYAN ART

• Mauryan art is considered as the first organised art activity in the

Indian Art

• Greek historian,Megasthenes,described the palaces as one of the

greatest creations of mankind

• Chinese traveller Fa Hien called Mauryan Palaces as good gifted

monuments.
THANK YOU!