Art & Architecture Of Gupta period
During the Gupta period, unprecedented progress is seen in various arts such as:- Vastu, architecture, painting, pottery-art etc. Next we will know them with different examples.
Temple:-
The highest examples of Indian architecture were the then temples. The art of temple building is born from here.
The temples of this time were built on a high platform. Stairs were made all around to climb the platforms.
The idols of the deities were placed in the sanctum sanctorum and a covered circumambulatory passage was constructed around the sanctum.
In Gupta temples, the figures of Ganga, Yamuna, Shankh and Padma were made on the sides (edges).
The umbrellas of Gupta temples were usually made flat, but the remains of the construction of temples with spire have been found.
Gupta temples were built with small bricks and stones. The temple of Bhitargaon is built from bricks only.
The best example of Gupta temple art is the Dashavatara temple of Deogarh. The Gupta architecture is seen in its fully developed form in that temple.
 |
Dashavatara Temple Of Deogarh |
These temples are studded with beautiful sculptures. These include peeping figures, flying animals and birds, sacred trees, swastikas, flower-leaf designs, idols of lovers and dwarves undoubtedly captivate the mind.
As a specialty of this temple, the 12 meter high peak in it can probably be ignored.
Perhaps the shikhar was or was the first use in temple construction.
Compared to one mandapa of other temples, this temple of Dashavatara uses 4 mandalas.
Buddhist Deva Temple:-
These temples are found in Sanchi and Bodh Gaya.
Apart from this, in two Buddhist stupas, one Dhamek Stupa of Sarnath which is built by bricks whose height is about 128 feet.
 |
| Dhamek Stupa |
Second Rajgriha's Jarasangh meeting is of great importance.
 |
| Jarasangh meeting |
Sculpture :-
The best aspect of Gupta art is its sculpture.
Most of their idols are related to Hindu gods and goddesses. The Kushan period nudity and sexuality had completely disappeared in the sculptures of Gupta art.
The Gupta sculptors started the use of clothes in the idols to hide the physical attractiveness.
Among the Buddha statues of the Gupta period, the sitting Buddha statue of Sarnath, the standing Buddha statue in Mathura and the bronze Buddha statue of Sultanganj are noteworthy. An attempt has been made to show the calm conscious posture of Mercury in these sculptures.
 |
| Sarnath |
 |
| Mathura |
 |
| Sultanganj |
In which period the idols of Kurmavahini Yamuna and Makarvahini Ganga were built?
The 1 Mukhi and Chaturmukhi Shivling of Lord Shiva was first constructed in the Gupta period itself.
The Ardhanarishvara form of Shiva was also created during the Gupta period.
The famous idol of Vishnu is installed in the Dashavatar temple of Deogarh.
Click here to read Daily Current Affairs!
Click here to read Daily Current Affairs!
Architecture :-
The brick temples of Bhirgaon in Kanpur, Inner Ghazipur and Deorgarh in Jhansi are noteworthy.
 |
| Bhitargaon Temple |
The Hindu art of the Gupta Empire of the early 5th century is displayed in dramatic form at Udayagiri in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh.
Here the monument of Varaha Avatar of Lord Vishnu is meaningful in which he saves Mother Earth from deep and cataclysmic waters. It has a similar feeling of power and majesty to the boar of Lord Varaha.
Painting :-
Painting had reached a high peak during the Gupta period.
In the Kamasutra, the information about painting under 64 arts has also been said to be necessary for an elite person (citizen).
The best examples of painting in the Gupta period come from the Ajanta caves located in Aurangabad in Maharashtra and the Bagh caves near Gwalior.
 |
Ajanta Caves |
 |
| अजंता के चित्र |
 |
| अजंता के चित्र |
 |
| अजंता की गुफाएं |
 |
| अजंता की गुफाएं |
Of the total 29 caves built at Ajanta, at present only 6 caves (1,2, 9,10,16, 17) are left.
Cave number 16 and 17 itself are of Gupta period. Ajanta's paintings hold first place in the world in technical terms.
The work of decoration of various types of flowers, leaves, trees and animal figures of these caves and the work of depicting the statues of Mercury and Bodhisattva has been used as a descriptive scene of stories taken from the Jataka texts.
This painting is mostly of Jataka tales. A feature of Ajanta painting is that the scenes in these paintings are not divided into different configurations.
Before painting, the wall was thoroughly scrubbed and cleaned and then a coating was applied on it.
Appreciating the painting of the dying princess in Ajanta Cave No. 16, Griffith Varg and Ferguson said that it is irreversible in the history of painting in terms of compassion and telling its story clearly.
Cave number 16 was donated to the Buddhist Sangha by Varaha Mantri, the ruler of the Vakataka dynasty.
The painting of cave number 17 is called Chitrashala. It was built by a feudatory named Harishena.
The birth of Buddha in this Chitrashala is related to the events of Mahabhinishkraman and Mahaparinirvana.
In this cave there is a grand statue of Buddha's Mahaparinirvana, with many goddess musicians at the top and their sad followers at the bottom.
The Ajanta Caves are related to Mahayan Buddhism.
Paintings Of Bagh Caves:-
The tiger caves have been made by cutting the Vindhya mountain near Gwalior, located at a place called Bagh, in 1818 AD, Dangerfield discovered these caves. The themes of the tiger cave paintings are related to the cosmic life of man. The pictures of music and dance obtained from here are most attractive.
 |
Bagh Caves |
Literature:-
The Gupta period is considered the golden age of Sanskrit literature.
According to Barnett, the Gupta period has the same importance in the history of ancient India as that of the Periclean people in the history of Greece.
Smith compared the Gupta period with the Elizabeth and Stuart periods of British history.
The Gupta period is considered to be the period of the best poets. In this period the poets are divided into two parts:-
1) Those ever come in the first part, about which we get information from the records, although we do not know about any of their works. Eg :- Harishena, Shav (Virsen), Vatsabhatti and Vasul come.
2) In the second part come those poets whose works we have knowledge about such as:- Kalidas, Bharavi, Bhatti, Matrugupta, Bhartrishreshtha, Vishnu Sharma etc.
Harishena:- composed the Prayag pillar inscription for Samudragupta. Genre of Writing :- Champu Style (Prose-mixed)
Shaw (Virsen):- The only source of information about the poetic style of Shava is the inscription on the wall of the Udayagiri cave. On the basis of the article, it is believed that Shav was a scholar of grammar, justice and politics and was a resident of Pataliputra.
Vatsa Bhatti: - Information about his poetic style is found from the pillar article of Mandsaur of Malav Samvat.
There are a total of 44 verses in this article, in which the Surya has been praised in the first three.
Vasul :- Mandsaur Prashasti was composed during the time of Yashovardhana. This poem of total 9 verses is a unique example of best poetry.
Kalidas :- The important works of this great poet of Sanskrit literature are:-
Ritusanhara, Meghadootam, Kumarasambhavam and Raghunath epics.
Kalidasa's best work is his play Abhigyan Shakuntalam.
Apart from these, he also composed the drama Malavikagnimitram, Vikramorvasyam.
Bharavi:- The epic Kiratarjuniyam composed by him is based on the festival of Mahabharata. It has a total of 18 cantos.
Bhatti:- The devotional poetry composed by him is also called Ravana Vadh. Based on the story of Ramayana, this poem has a total of 22 sections and 1624 verses.
Matrugupta:- Information about this comes from Kalhana's Rajatarangini. It was based on the Natyashastra of Bharata.
Vishnu Sharma:- 250 different versions have come out in about 50 languages of the world in the Poetry Panchatantra composed by him. Panchatantra is counted second only to the world's most famous book, the Bible. By the end of the sixteenth century this treatise had been translated into Greek, Spanish, German and English.
