The Gandhara School
The Gandhara school of sculpture has attained a celebrity perhaps beyond its merits. There was a time when European scholars considered it as the only school in ancient India which can rightfully claim a place in the domain of art. Many still regard it as the source of all subsequent development of art in India and the Far East. In spite of the undeniable merit of Gandhara sculptures, the above views seem to be highly exaggerated.
The Gandhara sculptures have been found in the ruins of Taxila and in various ancient sites in Afghanistan and West Pakistan. They consist mostly of images of Buddha and relief-sculptures representing scenes from Buddhist texts. Some technical characteristics easily distinguish them from all other specimens of Indian sculpture. In the first place, there is a tendency to mould the human body in a realistic manner with great attention to accuracy of physical details, especially by the delineation of muscles and the addition of moustaches, etc. Secondly, the representation of the thick drapery with large and bold fold-lines forms a distinct characteristic.
The Gandhara sculptures accordingly offer a striking contrast to what we meet with elsewhere in India, viz. the smooth round features of the idealised human figures, draped in a transparent or semi-transparent cloth, closely fitting to the body and revealingits outline.
These distinguishing characteristics of Gandhara sculpture were undoubtedly derived from Greek art, or, to be more precise, the Hellenistic art of Asia Minor and the Roman empire. Gandhara art is accordingly known also as Indo-Greek or Graeco-Roman. There is, also, no doubt that this art owed its origin to the Greek rulers of Bactria and North-West India. But though the technique was borrowed from Greece, the art was essentially Indian in spirit, ad it was solely employed to give expression to the beliefs and practices of the Buddhists. With a few exceptions, no Greek story or legend , and no Greek art motif has been detected among the numerous specimens of Gandhara sculpture. The Gandbara artist had the hand of a Greek but the heart of an Indian.
The most important contribution of Gandhara art was the evolution of an image of Buddha, perhaps an imitation of a Greek God like Apollo. Fine images of Buddha and Bodhisatva, and relief-sculptures illustrating various episodes of Buddha’s present and past lives, are remarkably executed in a kind of black stone. For a long time it was believed that the Gandhara Buddha image served as the model for those executed at Mathura and other centres. But it in now recognised that the Buddha image was evolved independently at Mathura and Gandhara. There is a striking difference between the Buddha images of Gandhara and those of the ]Indian interior. The former laid stress on accuracy of anatomical details and physical beauty, while the latter strove towards imparting a sublime and spiritual expression to the figure. The one was realistic and the other idealistic, and this may be regarded as the vital difference between Western and Indian art. The rich and varied contents of Gandhara sculpture, like those of Sanchi and Bharhut, hold before us a mirror, as it were, reflecting ancient life and ideals.
It may be added that both the schools of Mathura and Gandhara flourished under the lavish patronage of Scythian kings. The portrait-statues of the Kushan kings add a novel feature to the art of this period. The Kushan art, particularly that of the Gandhara school, spread through Chinese Turkestan to the Far Fast and influenced even the arts of China and Japan.
Somewhat later than the flourishing period of the schools of sculpture described above, beautiful stupas were erected in the lower valley of the Krishna river, at Amaravati, Jagayyapeta and Nagarjunikonda. Not only were the railings of the Amaravati stupa made of marble, but the dome itself was covered with slabs of the same material. It must have produced a marvelous effect, when intact. Unfortunately, the entire stupa is in ruins, and the fragments of its railing have been removed, partly to the British Museum, London, and partly to the Government Museum at Madras. The sculptures of all the stupas resemble one another and are marked by striking differences in style from those of Northern India. Hence they are classed as belonging to a new school, viz. that of Amaravati. The figures at Amaravati are characterised by slim, blithe features and they are represented in most difficult poses and curves. But the scenes are mostly overcrowded, and although there is a distinct charm in individual figures, the general effect is not very pleasing. Yet there is no doubt that the technique of art had reached a high degree of development. The plants and flowers, particularly the lotuses, are most admirably represented in this school. The image of Buddha occurs here and there, but the Blessed One is often represented by a symbol. It thus points to the period of transition between Bharhut, Bodh-Gaya and Sanchi on the one hand and Mathura and Gandhara on the other.
At Nagajunikonda, important relics of the period have recently been discovered as a result of excavations made by the Archaeological Survey of India. The finds include a stupa, two Chaityas and a monastery. Near the stupa were found slabs of limestone illustrating scenes from Buddha’s life. The panel represents the nativity and seven footprints of Buddha on the piece of cloth held by the deities, who were present to welcome the arrival of the Blessed One.
The period under review (c. 200 BC to AD 320) is not so rich in architecture as in sculptures. There were, of course, beautiful temples and monasteries, and the famous tower of Kanishka at Purushapur (Peshawar) was one of the wonders of Asia. But all these have perished without leaving any trace behind. Excepting the stupa referred to above, there is only one class of buildings which merit serious attention as works of art. These are the caves hewn out of solid rock, of which hundreds have been found in different parts of India. The caves of the Asokan period were plain chambers, but now the addition of pillars and sculptures made them beautiful works of art. Some of the caves were used as monasteries, i.e. residences of monks. These were quite plain and consisted of a central hall with small cells on all sides. Others were used as Chaityas or halls of worship. A Chaitya was a fine work of art. The fully developed specimen consisted of a long rectangular hall with apsidal end (i.e. the side opposite the entrance was semicircular and not straight). Two long rows of pillars divided the hall into a nave (big central part) and two side aisles (narrow parts at the two sides). A small stupa called a Dagoba, stood near the apsidal end. The front wall was decorated with elaborate sculptures, and there were three small doorways leading to the nave and the side aisles. But a big horseshoe window above the central doorway admitted a volume of light which illumined the Dagoba at the far end. When worshippers assembled in comparative darkness in the nave (central part) before the bright Dagoba in front, the effect must have been very solemn and impressive.
There are many such Chaitya caves at Nasik, Bhaja, Bedsa, Karle and other places in the Bombay Presidency. The Karle cave is unanimously regarded as the finest specimen on account of the beauty of the sculptures on the front wall, the remarkable rows of pillars inside the hall, and the fine proportion of the different parts of the building.
In addition to the pillars inside these caves, we have also several free-standing pillars, as for example that at Besnagar which was dedicated as a Garudadhvaja by the Greek ambassador, Heliodoros. They are in many cases monoliths (in the case of rock-cut caves they are necessarily so) but they lack the wonderful polish, the fine proportions and the grand capitals which characterise the best pillars of Asoka. In this respect there was undoubtedly a decline. But in sculptures and the construction of stupas and caves there was wonderful progress. It is perfectly true that the fine figures of certain animals which we see on the pillars of Asoka have no parallel in subsequent times, but the loss is made up by the delineation of human figures and the evolution of the wonderful image of Buddha.
