Mauryan Art and Architecture

At a Glance

• Medium Stone masonry on a wide scale
• Pillars Single-piece Chunar sandstone with animal capitals
• Palace 84-pillared hall at Kumrahar
• Caves Barabar, near Gaya
• Sculpture Didarganj Yakshini
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Ancient History: Mauryan Empire

Where Does It Fit?

This is the ninth topic of the category on the Mauryan Empire. The previous topic covered the inscriptions, and this one covers Mauryan art. The next topic covers the decline of the empire. Previous topic: Ashokan Inscriptions.

Why Is Mauryan Art Important?

In short: the Mauryas made stone the main medium of royal architecture and sculpture.

The Mauryas made a remarkable contribution to art and architecture and introduced stone masonry on a wide scale. Most of the literature and art of the period has not survived, but the extensive production of crafted luxury products, such as jewellery, ivory carving and woodwork, and especially stone carving, should be counted as Mauryan art, according to another account. The Arthashastra also refers to performing arts, including music, instrumental music, bards, dance and theatre. Mauryan art spans court art in stone, which the monarchy sponsored, and popular art in clay and small objects. The pillars, palace and caves described below belong to the first, and terracottas to the second. Their material background is in Mauryan Economy and State Control.

What Are the Main Architectural Remains?

Megasthenes states that the Mauryan palace at Pataliputra was as splendid as that of the Iranian capital. Fragments of stone pillars and stumps, indicating an 84-pillared hall, have been discovered at Kumrahar on the outskirts of modern Patna. These remains do not recall the magnificence in Megasthenes’s account, but they show the high technical skill of Mauryan artisans in polishing stone, as shining as Northern Black Polished Ware. The pillars of Ashoka are monolithic: each is made of a single piece of buff-coloured sandstone, and only the capitals, which are fine sculptures in the form of lions or bulls, are joined to the top. Transporting huge blocks from the quarries at Chunar near Varanasi to north and south India, and polishing them after erection, was a great feat of engineering. How the craftsmen achieved the polish is still a mystery. The Mauryan polished pillars were mounted on statues of animals, especially lions, and the lion capital has been adopted as the national emblem of the Republic of India. The Mauryas also started the practice of cutting caves out of rock for monks to live in; the earliest examples are the Barabar caves, 30 km from Gaya, and the practice later spread to western and southern India. Towns of the period were protected by timber palisades and ditches, and wooden structures stood at Pataliputra.

What Do the Sculpture and Terracottas Show?

In the central phase of Northern Black Polished Ware, around 300 BC, the central Gangetic plains became a centre of terracotta art. Mauryan terracottas were produced on a large scale and generally represented animals and women. The women included mother goddesses, and the animals included elephants. These terracottas were modelled by hand. The stone statue of the Yakshini from Didarganj (Patna) in the form of a beautiful woman is noted for its Mauryan polish.

Another account also notes Persian influence. Mauryan columns resemble those found in the Achaemenid empire, and the bell-shaped capitals, especially the lion capital of the Sarnath pillar and the bell capital of the Rampurva pillar, resemble Achaemenid designs. The pillared remains of the palace at Pataliputra display a remarkable similarity to the pillared hall in the Achaemenid capital. Even then the craftsmen, though inspired by Persian art and architecture, gave a definite Indian character to their work. The route by which Iranian ideas arrived is in Iranian Invasion of North-West India and its Results.

As an analytical point, the pillars reveal a state able to mobilise quarrying, transport and a polishing technique over a very large area; their erection throughout India shows the spread of technical knowledge and good transport. They also served as a carrier of the royal message, as the edicts were inscribed on them, as in Ashokan Inscriptions. Later Buddhist art, including Sanchi stupas and the Gandhara and Mathura schools, built on this base, as in Kanishka Gandhara Graeco-Roman style Buddha Mathura Indigenous, red sandstone South Nagarjunakonda and Amaravati…">Mahayana Buddhism and the Gandhara and Mathura Schools of Art.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• High-frequency topic Pillars and capitals
• Tradition Court versus popular art
• Symbol National emblem

What Came Next?

The next topic describes the Pushyamitra Shunga Chief causes Reaction, finance, oppression, frontier…">causes of the decline of the Mauryan Empire. Next topic: Causes of the Decline of the Mauryan Empire.

Key People and Terms

• Monolithic pillar Pillar carved from one stone
• Chunar sandstone Buff stone for Ashokan pillars
• Lion capital Sarnath capital, national emblem
• Barabar caves Earliest rock-cut caves
• Yakshini Didarganj female figure
• Terracotta Baked clay figure

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask for features and foreign influence. These points add depth.

• Court art Pillars, hall
• Popular art Terracottas
• Influence Persian but Indian