122OUR PASTS–I

Marutasami and the iron pillarMarutasami was so excited. His brother had propelledhis wheelchair all along the dusty, stony path, past thetowering Qutb Minar, and up the metal ramp. It hadbeen tough, but now he was here, in front of the famousiron pillar. It was an unforgettable experience.

The iron pillar

The iron pillar at Mehrauli, Delhi, is a remarkableexample of the skill of Indian crafts persons. It ismade of iron, 7.2. m high, and weighs over 3tonnes. It was made about 1500 years ago. Weknow the date because there is an inscription onthe pillar mentioning a ruler named Chandra,who probably belonged to the Gupta dynasty(Chapter 11). What is amazing is the fact that thepillar has not rusted in all these years.

Buildings in brick and stone

The skills of our crafts persons are also apparentin the buildings that have survived, such asstupas. The word stupa means a mound. Whilethere are several kinds of stupas, round and tall,big and small, these have certain commonfeatures. Generally, there is a small box placed atthe centre or heart of the stupa. This may containbodily remains (such as teeth, bone or ashes) ofthe Buddha or his followers, or things they used,as well as precious stones, and coins.

This box, known as a relic casket, was coveredwith earth. Later, a layer of mud brick or bakedbrick was added on top. And then, the dome likestructure was sometimes covered with carvedstone slabs.

The iron pillar

CHAPTER 12

BUILDINGS, PAINTINGS AND BOOKS

123

Often, a path, known as thepradakshina patha, was laidaround the stupa. This wassurrounded with railings.Entrance to the path was throughgateways. Devotees walkedaround the stupa, in a clockwisedirection, as a mark of devotion.Both railings and gateways wereoften decorated with sculpture.

Find Amaravati on Map 7(page 113). This was a placewhere a magnificent stupa onceexisted. Many of the stonecarvings for decorating the stupawere made about 2000 years ago.

Other buildings were hollowedout of rock to make artificialcaves. Some of these were veryelaborately decorated withsculptures and painted walls.

Some of the earliest Hindu temples were also builtat this time. Deities such as Vishnu, Shiva, andDurga were worshipped in these shrines. Themost important part of the temple was theroom known as the garbhagriha, where the

image of the chief deity wasplaced. It was here that

priests performedreligious rituals, anddevotees offeredworship to thedeity.

Often, as atBhitargaon, atower, known as

the shikhara, wasbuilt on top of the

Top : The Great Stupa atSanchi, Madhya Pradesh.Stupas like this one werebuilt over severalcenturies. While thebrick mound probablydates to the time ofAshoka (Chapter 8), therailings and gatewayswere added during thetime of later rulers.Left : Sculpture fromAmaravati.Look at the picture anddescribe what you see.

BUILDINGS, PAINTINGSAND BOOKS

124OUR PASTS–I

garbhagriha, to mark this out as a sacred place.Building shikharas required careful planning.Most temples also had a space known as themandapa. It was a hall where people couldassemble.

Find Mahabalipuram and Aihole on Map 7(page 113). Some of the finest stone temples werebuilt in these towns. Some of these are shownhere.

Top : An early temple atBhitargaon, UttarPradesh.This was built about 1500years ago, and was madeof baked brick and stone.

Top Right : Monolithictemples atMahabalipuram.Each of these was carvedout of a huge, singlepiece of stone (that iswhy they are known asmonoliths). While brickstructures are built up byadding layers of bricksfrom the bottomupwards, in this case thestone cutters had towork from topdownwards.List the problems thatstone cutters may havefaced.

Right : The Durga templeat Aihole, built about1400 years ago.

125

How were stupas and temples built?

There were several stages in building a stupa or atemple. Usually, kings or queens decided to buildthese as it was an expensive affair. First, goodquality stone had to be found, quarried, andtransported to the place that was often carefullychosen for the new building. Here, these roughblocks of stone had to be shaped and carved intopillars, and panels for walls, floors and ceilings.And then these had to be placed in precisely theright position.

Kings and queens probably spent money fromtheir treasury to pay the crafts persons whoworked to build these splendid structures.Besides, when devotees came to visitthe temple or the stupa, they oftenbrought gifts, which were used todecorate the buildings. Forexample, an association of ivoryworkers paid for one of thebeautiful gateways at Sanchi.

Among the others who paidfor decorations were merchants,farmers, garland makers,perfumers,smiths, and hundreds of men and

Left : A Jaina monasteryfrom Orissa.This two storey buildingwas carved out of therock surface. Notice theentrance to the rooms.Jaina monks lived andmeditated in theserooms.In what ways is the caveshown here dif ferent fromthe illustration on p.15?

Below : A sculpture fromthe National Museum,New Delhi.Can you see how some ofthe caves may have beenhollowed out?

126OUR PASTS–I

women who are known only by theirnames which were inscribed onpillars, railings and walls. So whenyou get a chance to visit any of thesebuildings, remember how severalhundreds of people probably workedto construct and decorate them.

Make a diagram like the one onpage 88 (Chapter 9) to show the stagesin the building of a temple or stupa.

Painting

Find Ajanta on Map 7 (page 113). Thisis a place where several caves werehollowed out of the hills overcenturies. Most of these weremonasteries for Buddhist monks, andsome of them were decorated withpaintings. Here are some examples.

As the caves are dark inside, most of thesepaintings were done in the light of torches. Thecolours, which are vivid even after 1500 years,were made of plants and minerals. The artistswho created these splendid works of art remainunknown.

Paintings from Ajanta.Describe what you see ineach of these paintings.

127

The world of books

Some of the best–known epics were written duringthis period. Epics are grand, long compositions,about heroic men and women, and include storiesabout gods.

A famous Tamil epic, the Silappadikaram, wascomposed by a poet named Ilango, around 1800years ago. It is the story of a merchant namedKovalan, who lived in Puhar and fell in love witha courtesan named Madhavi, neglecting his wifeKannagi. Later, he and Kannagi left Puhar andwent to Madurai, where he was wrongly accusedof theft by the court jeweller of the Pandya king.The king sentenced Kovalan to death. Kannagi,who still loved him, was full of grief and anger atthis injustice, and destroyed the entire city ofMadurai.

A description from the SilappadikaramHere is how the poet describes Kannagi’s grief:

“O witness of my grief, you cannot console me. Is it right that yourbody, fairer than pure gold, lies unwashed here in the dust? Is it just thatin the red glow of the twilight, your handsome chest, framed with a flowerwreath, lies thrown down on the bare earth, while I remain alone, helplessand abandoned to despair? Is there no god? Is there no god in this country?Can there be a god in a land where the sword of the king is used for themurder of innocent strangers? Is there no god, no god?”

Another Tamil epic, the Manimekalai wascomposed by Sattanar around 1400 years ago.This describes the story of the daughter ofKovalan and Madhavi. These beautifulcompositions were lost to scholars for manycenturies, till their manuscripts wererediscovered, about a hundred years ago.

Other writers, such as Kalidasa, (about whomyou read in Chapter 11) wrote in Sanskrit. BUILDINGS, PAINTINGS

AND BOOKS

128OUR PASTS–I

A verse from the MeghadutaHere is a verse from Kalidasa’s best-known poem,the Meghaduta, in which a monsoon cloud isimagined to be a messenger between lovers who areseparated from one another.

See how the poet describes the breeze that willcarry the cloud northwards:

“A cool breeze, delightful as it is touchedWith the fragrance of the earthSwollen by your showers,Inhaled deeply by elephants,And causing the wild figs to ripen,Will blow gently as you go.”Do you think Kalidasa can be described as a lover

of nature?

Recording and preserving old stories

A number of Hindu religious stories that were incirculation earlier were written down around thesame time. These include the Puranas. Puranaliterally mean old. The Puranas contain storiesabout gods and goddesses, such as Vishnu, Shiva,Durga or Parvati. They also contain details onhow they were to be worshipped. Besides, thereare accounts about the creation of the world, andabout kings.

The Puranas were written in simple Sanskritverse, and were meant to be heard by everybody,including women and shudras, who were notallowed to study the Vedas. They were probablyrecited in temples by priests, and people came tolisten to them.

Two Sanskrit epics, the Mahabharata andRamayana had been popular for a very long time.Some of you may be familiar with these stories.The Mahabharata is about a war fought betweenthe Kauravas and Pandavas, who were cousins.

129

This was a war to gain control of the throne of theKurus, and their capital, Hastinapur. The storyitself was an old one, but was written down in theform in which we know it today, about 1500 yearsago. Both the Puranas and the Mahabharata aresupposed to have been compiled by Vyasa. TheBhagavad Gita, about which you learnt in Chapter10, was also included in the Mahabharata.

The Ramayana is about Rama, a prince ofKosala, who was sent into exile. His wife Sita wasabducted by the king of Lanka, named Ravana,and Rama had to fight a battle to get her back. Hewon and returned to Ayodhya, the capital ofKosala, after his victory. Like the Mahabharata,this was an old story that was now written down.Valmiki is recognised as the author of the SanskritRamayana.

There are several versions (many of which areperformed) of the Mahabharata and theRamayana, popular amongst people in differentparts of the subcontinent. Find out about aversion in your state.

Stories told by ordinary people

Ordinary people also told stories, composedpoems and songs, sang, danced, and performedplays. Some of these are preserved in collectionsof stories such as the Jatakas and thePanchatantra, which were written down aroundthis time. Stories from the Jatakas were oftenshown on the railings of stupas and in paintingsin places such as Ajanta.Here is one such story:

BUILDINGS, PAINTINGSAND BOOKS

130OUR PASTS–I

The story of the monkey kingOnce upon a time there was a great monkey king,who lived on the banks of the Ganga in theHimalayas, with 80,000 followers. They fed on thefruit of a special mango tree, which were verysweet. Such exquisite mangoes did not grow onthe plains. One day, a ripe mango fell into theriver and floated all the way to Varanasi. Therethe king of the city who was bathing in the riverfound it, and was amazed when he tasted it. Heasked the foresters of his kingdom whether theycould find the tree for him, and they led him all

the way to the Himalayas. There, the kingand his courtiers had their fill of

mangoes. At night, the kingdiscovered that the monkeys

were also feasting on the fruit,and decided to kill them.

However, the king of themonkeys worked out aplan to save his followers.He broke off branches ofthe mango tree, and tiedthem to form a ‘bridge’

across the river, and heldon to one end till all his

followers crossed over.Exhausted with the effort, he

fell down and lay dying.The human king saw what had

happened, and tried unsuccessfully torevive the monkey. When he died, the kingmourned his death and paid him full respect.

This story is shown on a piece of sculpturefound from a stupa at Bharhut in central India.Can you identify which parts of the story areshown in the sculpture?

Why do you think these were chosen? 130OUR PASTS–I

131

Writing books on science

This was also the time when Aryabhata, amathematician and astronomer, wrote a book inSanskrit known as the Aryabhatiyam. He statedthat day and night were caused by the rotation ofthe earth on its axis, even though it seems as ifthe sun is rising and setting everyday. Hedeveloped a scientific explanation for eclipses aswell. He also found a way of calculating thecircumference of a circle, which is nearly asaccurate as the formula we use today.

ZeroWhile numerals had been used earlier,mathematicians in India now invented a specialsymbol for zero. This system of counting wasadapted by the Arabs and then spread to Europe.It continues to be in use throughout the world.

The Romans used a system of counting withoutusing zero. Try and find out more about it.

ElsewherePaper has become a part of our daily lives. The bookswe read are printed on paper, and we use paper forwriting. Paper was invented in China about 1900years ago, by a man named Cai Lun. He beat plantfibres, cloth, rope and the bark of trees, soaked thesein water, and then pressed, drained and dried thepulp to create paper. Even today, hand made paperis made through a similar process.

The technique of making paper was a closelyguarded secret for centuries. It reached Korea about1400 years ago, and spread to Japan soon after. Itwas known in Baghdad about 1800 years ago. FromBaghdad it spread to Europe, Africa, and other partsof Asia including the subcontinent.

What were manuscripts in early India made outof ? (Hint: See Chapter 1)

KEYWORDS

stupa

temple

painting

epic

story

Purana

science

mathematics

BUILDINGS, PAINTINGSAND BOOKS

132OUR PASTS–I

ImagineYou are sitting in a mandapa of a temple. Describe thescene around you.

Let’s recall

1. Match the following

Stupa Place where the imageof the deity is installed

Shikhara Mound

Mandapa Circular path aroundthe stupa

Garbhagriha Place in temples wherepeople could assemble

Pradakshina patha Tower

2. Fill in the blanks:

(a) ———————— was a great astronomer.

(b) Stories about gods and goddesses are found inthe ————————

(c) ———————— is recognised as the author of theSanskrit Ramayana.

(d) ———————— and ———————— are two Tamil epics.

Let’s discuss

3. Make a list of the chapters in which you find mentionof metal working. What are the metals objectsmentioned or shown in those chapters?

4. Read the story on page 130. In what ways is themonkey king similar to or different from the kingsyou read about in Chapters 6 and 11?

beginning of stupa

building (2300 years

ago)

Amaravati (2000

years ago)

Kalidasa (1600 years

ago)

Iron pillar, Temple at

Bhitargaon, Paintings

at Ajanta, Aryabhata

(1500 years ago)

Durga temple (1400

years ago)

SOME IMPORTANT

DATES

133

5. Find out more and tell a story from one of the epics.

Let’s do

6. List some steps that can be taken to make buildingsand monuments accessible to differently abled people.

7. Try and list as many uses of paper as you can.

8. If you could visit any one of the places described inthis chapter, which would you choose and why?

BUILDINGS, PAINTINGSAND BOOKS