POST-MAURYAN PERIOD: EARLY RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE

FOCUS ON STUPA SITES- SANCHI, AMRAVATI, BHARUT AND

NAGARJUNAKONDA

Sacred landscapes in Asia have generally been studied in terms of

architecture and imagery of monuments or with regard to chronology and
patronage and more recently within debates of generation of colonial
knowledge. A major sop of national pride, India as a source of Asian art
served strategically to reinforce a sense of unique territorial entity. The
period which we are going to focus on in this essay is the Post-Mauryan
period whose religious architecture is of marked distinction from that of
the Mauryan period. Pointing to a sharp contrast between the two, art
historian Niharranjan Ray describes the Mauryan art as essentially a
dignified and aristocratic court art; an art in the round, to be seen from all
sides, in which animals figured prominently, while Post-Mauryan art on the
other hand reflected popular tastes and patronage. It was largely relief art
and was by and large narrative in character; the human figure emerged as
an important part if the composition.

During c.200 BCE-300 CE, the increasing institutionalization of religious

activity and its ability to elicit patronage from different sections of the
society led to the beginnings of traditions of more permanent and elaborate
religious structures. The given period, also known as the Post-Mauryan
period saw an expansion in the number and scale of Buddhist monastic
complexes which included dwellings for monks, stupas and shrines. Of
these, the stupa is the most characteristic monument of Buddhist India
which depicts Buddhist architecture at its best and it is what we wish to
concentrate on in the course of the essay.

Most Buddhist stupa monastery sites were built over many centuries and
reveal the gradual evolution of sculptural and architectural style as well as
of religious thought and practice. The stupa began as a pre-Buddhist burial
mound and by the time of Ashoka the cult of the stupa had been taken up
by Buddhism. Symbolism of the stupa relates first of all to directionality
and the cosmos. Stupas are built on a hill, where their beneficial influence
can radiate to all four points of the compass. It stood for the axis-mundi
(centre of the universe), a world-mountain whose axis is defined by the
mast, and finally the symbolic body of Buddha himself, decorated (on gates
and railings only) with sculpted scenes from his life and Jataka stories of
his previous incarnations.

The stupa – monastery complexes were located close to urban centres and
along the major trade and pilgrimage routes. Most of the major stupa-
monastery complexes were located on the outskirts of the great cities of the
time- Sanchi outside Vidisha, Amravati outside Dharanikota (the
Satavahana capital) and Nagarjunakonda outside Vijayapuri (the Ikshvaku
capital). Bharut was also located on the outskirts of a city which has not yet
been identified with any site mentioned in the ancient texts.

The above mentioned sites offer the earliest sculptural representations of

important episodes in the Buddha’s life and of the Jataka stories. Sculpture
functioned mainly as ornamentation of the gateways and rails of the great
Buddhist sites at Bharhut and Sanchi. Sculptural remains at these places
represent different stages in the evolution of the art; those at Sanchi,
perhaps later in the series show the highest degree of excellence in contrast
to the Bharhut specimens which are archaic and uncertain in their
treatment of the theme. The reliefs at these sites represent two kind of
narration –monoscenic and continuous. Monoscenic narration depicts a
single major episode, which reminds the viewer of the entire story. In
continuous narration, several different scenes of the story were depicted in
sequence, usually without any break or a partition in between. Many of the
sculptural reliefs represent important scenes from the life of the Buddha. In
the early stages, the artists depicted these scenes without showing the
Buddha in bodily form. There were four key episodes frequently
represented, especially at important places of honour on the gateways- jati
(birth), sambodhi (enlightenment), dharmachakra pravartana (the first
sermon), and mahaparinibbana (death). To this list can be added two
others – avakranti (the descent), and the mahabhinishkramana (the great
departure).

There are some frequently occurring symbols that have uncertain

meanings like the Vedic vajra (thunderbolt), or Shiva’s trident and the
shrivatsa whose meaning is uncertain. The Buddha image starts appearing
both in relief and free-standing sculpture at Buddhist sites in the 2nd-3rd c.
CE. In its earliest stages Buddhist art didn't represent the Buddha directly.
Instead, his presence was alluded to through symbols such as the bodhi
tree, the wheel of law or his footprint. More exactly, it became a symbol of
his final release from the cycle of birth and rebirth -- the Parinirvana or the
"Final Dying."

Now we wish to focus on four distinct stupa sites which represent the early
Buddhist art and architecture of the Post-Mauryan period. These include
the Great Stupa at Sanchi, the Mahachaitya at Amravati, Bharhut and
Nagarjunakonda.

THE GREAT STUPA AT SANCHI

If you travel from Delhi to Bhopal by train, you will see the majestic
stupa complex on top of a hill, crowning it as it were. As you climb up the
hill, you can see the complex of structures: a large mound and other
monuments including a temple build in 5th century. While the mahachaitya
at Amravati is now just an insignificant little mound, totally denuded of its
former glory, the ‘Great stupa’ at Sanchi still survives. The credit goes to a
number of factors that helped to keep Sanchi as it was. Nineteenth century
Europeans were very interested in the stupa at Sanchi and it was also
suggested that the eastern gateway be taken to either Paris or London; but
the then rulers of Bhopal, Shahjehan Begum and Sultan Jehan Begum,
provided money for the conservation of the ancient site; hence the
advantage of being in a better state of preservation than many other
Buddhist stupa monastery sites.

Sanchi, located in the Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh, lies 10 k.m. from
the ancient urban site of Vidisha strategically located along the river Betwa
on the pivotal route connecting the urban centres of the Ganga basin with
those located further south across the Vindhiyas. The monastic complex is
located on top of a hill, with a cluster of monastic sites of which we are
going to focus majorly on the most important monument in Sanchi: the
Great Stupa No.1, which is one of the oldest stone structures in India. With
a massive hemispherical dome, the stupa stands majestically at a height of
16.4 m and a diameter of 36.5 m. Built originally as an earthen stupa by
Emperor Asoka in 3rd c B.C., it was rebuild and enlarged in 2nd c B.C. under
the Shungas. The early stupa at Sanchi was plain, but during the Shunga
period, the stupa was enlarged and faced with stones, decorated with
railings, staircase and a harmika at the top.
 The structure of the Great Stupa can be simply explained as cylindrical
walled makeup intersecting with a hemispherical dome. The dome is filled
with rubble, covered by a masonry exterior, and topped by a squared-off
platform (harmika) which encloses a royal parasol (chattra) atop a mast
(yasti.) In its full development, the dome is placed atop an elevated
platform with stairs leading clockwise from the ground level up to a
circular walkway, where the worshipper may circumambulate the dome.
Finally, the whole stupa is enclosed by a railing (vedika) and elaborate
gates (torana) are built in front of each of the four cardinal points. The
harmika and associated structures are derived from the chaitya - an early
tree-shrine, surrounded by a fence.

An important aspect we wish to focus upon is the art that has been
depicted at this site which interestingly depicts Lord Buddha symbolically
in the form of footprints, wheels, thrones, etc rather than by his own image.
The railings here are richly sculptured with different motifs and designs.
The gateways of Sanchi stupa are noteworthy as they contain ornamented
depiction of incidents from the life of the Buddha and his previous
incarnations described as Bodhisattvas in the Jataka tales. Being the last of
the additions to this remarkable stupa these elaborate and richly carved
four gateways or ‘Toranas’ are the finest e.g. of Buddhist architecture in
India and is something that we wish to take up in detail.

The first of the four gateways to be erected was the one at the Southern
Entrance, followed, in chronological order by the Northern, the Eastern and
the Western Gateways. The Southern Gateway reveals the birth of Gautam
Buddha in a series of dramatically rich carvings. The Northern Gateway
crowned by a wheel of law, illustrates the miracle associated with the
Buddha as told in the Jataka tales; one also finds the depiction of
Vessantara Jatakas here. The Eastern Gateway depicts the young prince,
Gautam, leaving his father's place, renouncing worldly life to seek
enlightenment. Susan Huntington in her work ‘The Art of Ancient India’
has reinterpreted this scene as depicting a ceremonial re-enactment of the
Great Departure, rather than the Great Departure itself. Her interpretation
should be understood in the context of Huntington's comprehensive re-
evaluation of aniconism in early Buddhist art. The Western Gateway
depicts the seven incarnations of the Buddha, four represented by trees
and three by stupas.
 The sculptures depicted at Sanchi include yakshas, yakshis, nagas and
nagis. Depictions of animals include that of lion, elephant, horse, bull, etc.
Monkeys are conspicuous by their absence. There are also some hybrid
animals like winged lion, centaurs, sea-monsters, etc. Among birds, geese
appear often with others like cranes, peacocks and parrots. Floral designs
include full-blown or half-blown lotus, suspended garlands, creepers and
floral pattern known as honey suckle ornament. Among trees, pipal appears
often. Human figures are not realistically depicted and there is certain
stiffness about them; some may even represent donors. At Sanchi, the birth
of Buddha is usually represented by Maya seated on a lotus. The most
developed form of the scene shows Maya flanked by two elephants holding
round pitchers in their trunks which is strikingly similar to the Gaja-
Lakshmi motif, so much so that Coomaraswamy thought that this was in
fact a representation of the goddess Lakshmi; but according to Upinder
Singh, given its prominent position in the gateway, it seems as if the
Buddhist traditions has given it a new meaning. The Buddha’s
enlightenment is represented by the bodhi tree, the first sermon at Sarnath
is represented by the wheel and the stupa symbolized Buddha’s death. The
conception is represented in scenes showing Maya asleep on a couch with a
white elephant at the top of the panel. Interestingly, this site is not
associated with any event in Buddha’s life and no relics have been found
within the Great Stupa.

AMRAVATI STUPA

Amravati stupa, also known as MAHACHAITYA OR DEEPALADINNE was

one of the largest stupas built in Buddhist India. It was located in
Amravati near Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh and was made by a
representative of Emperor Ashoka. Built during the 2nd century BCE, the
stupa was discovered by a British archaeologist, Colonel Colin Mackenzie in
1797. The stupa was earlier a simple structure with limestone crossbars
and simple carvings, but when renovated by the Satavahana rulers, became
a highly marked architectural monument. In 1854, Walter Elliot, the
commissioner of Guntur (Andhra Pradesh), visited the site and collected
several sculptural panels and took them away to Madras. He also
discovered the western gateway and came to the conclusion that the
structure at Amravati was one of the largest and the most magnificent
Buddhist stupas ever built. Unfortunately, the Mahachaitya itself was
already largely destroyed when Colonel Mackenzie visited it in 1797. It was
discovered much before the scholars understood the value of the finds and
realised how critical it was to preserve things where they had been found
instead of removing them from the site .By then it had been a source for
building materials by local builders, and the stone was also being burned to
produce lime. The site was cleared completely in 1880; an enormous
number of loose sculptures, surviving narrative reliefs and decorative
plaques found their way over the years primarily either to England (and
eventually to the British Museum) or to the Madras Museum.

Sir Walter Elliot’s operations at Amravati began with his discovery of the
western gateway of the mahachaitya. The sculpted stones he found
included two lions that had flanked the entrance, the shaft of a monolithic
column and a miniature stupa that had probably surmounted it, portions of
other pillars that had formed the entrance and five slabs on the dome of the
stupa opposite the entrance. It was made of brick and consisted of circular
vedika which depicted Lord Buddha in a human kind. Dehejia says that the
human image of Buddha was introduced; however Amaravati’s narratives
“carry an added fascination in enabling us to view the actual transition in
the portrayal of the Buddha from emblematic traces of his presence to the
anthropomorphic image.”

The structure of the stupa consisted of a circular dome or Anda of 50 m in

diameter rising to a height of 30 m. At the top of the dome was a
Harmika covered with stone umbrella. One notable feature of this
stupa is the improvement in the architectural appearance by
providing a rectangular platform (Ayaka) to the base of the dome
at four cardinal points. On the rear side of this rectangular
platform a stair-case leading to the upper processional path was
provided, while the front side of the platform was used to provide a
base for a group of five Aryaka or worshipping pillars each nearly 6 m
in height which represented five celestial Buddha as well as five important
episodes in Buddha’s life namely, the birth, the great renunciation, the
enlightenment, the first sermon and the final extinction. Hence, unlike the
Toranas of the Sanchi stupa, here the railing is intercepted by four
door-ways called simha-dwaras just opposite the Aryaka pillars at
the cardinal points, each with a sculpture of sedentary lion o n the
entrance pillar of the door-way. Lions may have represented power
and strength and were meant to ward off evil spirits and protect the Stupa.

Colonel Mackenzie in 1797 was responsible for starting the theory that the
stupa was surrounded by two rails--one inner and another outer. However,
the mistake was rectified as it was acknowledged that there was no inner
rail rather the inner circle of sculptures was the facing of the base of the
stupa'. The rail at Amaravati resembled its predecessors in the principal
features; but the plinth was richly carved with a frieze of running boys and
animals, grotesquely treated. The rectangular pillars were edged off into
shallow flutes and they were decorated with half lotus discs at the top and
the bottom, and circular discs in the middle inserted with a full-grown lotus
or a scene, in the usual manner. But the most typical characteristic about
these pillars is the complete absence of the large standing human
representations, occupying the entire surface of the uprights, such as the
graceful statues of Yakshas and Yaksinis of Bharhut, Bodh-Gaya and the
dancing girls of Mathura. They have entirely disappeared and their place is
occupied by greatly magnified and richly carved lotus discs, curling leaves
carefully corrugated, and an enormous variety of scenic sculptures. The
preference for group composition, as opposed to single figures, is very
obvious in the swarming of the space between the discs-which was
generally left bare and unadorned in the earlier days by vivid and animated
delineation of the Jatakas and other incidents.

Between the railing pillars were carved stone bars known as 'cross bars'.
Each cross bar had a round sculpted face. The three cross-bars were each
embellished with a beautiful lotus disc with concentric bands of petals, the
most elaborate of its kind ever made, and all different. The lotus may have
been an important symbol representing purity and goodness in a polluted
environment. The lotus plant usually grows in the murky water of swamps
and pools. Its sturdy stem grows up out of the water to support a pure,
often white flower which blooms above the water. Some slabs invariably
present us with another peculiar feature, viz., a dwarf figure standing on
each side of the gate, holding a tray on his head. Their constant occurrences
lead us to believe that in the original structure they represented statues in
the round, bearing trays to receive the offerings of the visitors. On the
whole the inner side of the rail, covered with scenes full of life and
movement, was decorated with greater beauty and elaboration than the
exterior.
With the decline of Buddhism in India, one sees that the stupa also faced
neglect and got buried under rubble. But the remains that are left suggest
that there existed a massive structure that represented the art and
architecture of the Buddhist India of the time.

BHARHUT STUPA

Bharhut stupa was discovered by major general Alexander Cunningham in

1873. The remains of the large stupa was found built of bricks; it was
surrounded by a stone vedika and the vedika was adorned with
monumental stone gateways (Toranas). It has been largely destroyed, and
most of the existing remains—railings and entrance gateways—are now in
the Indian Museum in Kolkata (Calcutta). The stupa was probably built at
the time of Asoka (c.250bce).It was originally built of brick, and it was
enlarged during 2nd century BCE, when a surrounding stone railing with
entrances on the four cardinal points was constructed. This railing bears a
wealth of fine relief carving on its inner face. About the beginning of the 1 st
century BCE, four stone gateways (Toranas), each elaborately carved, were
added to the entrances, an inscription on these gateways assigns the work
to king Dhanabhuti during the rule of the Shungas. The Bharhut style,
though at times archaic and primitive in its conception, marks the
beginnings of a tradition of Buddhist narrative relief and decoration of
sacred buildings that continued for several centuries. The sculptures
adoring the shrine are among the earliest and finest examples of the
developing style of Buddhist art in India. Sculptures similar to the Bharhut
remains are located throughout northern India, suggesting that the
Bharhut site was the main place for this style type.
The Toranas and vedika are clear stone adaptations of a wooden
architectural style. The flat planes, rather stiffly posed figures and precise,
elegant detailing of the ornamentation suggest continuance in stone of an
earlier tradition in wood. The stone railing, which imitates wooden post-
and-rail construction, is decorated with medallions and lunates, most of
them filled with the lotus ornament and some of them centered by the head
of a man or woman. Other railing medallions and the coping depict Jataka
stories and events of the Buddha’s life. Since these like at Amravati are
labelled, Bharhut sculpture is indispensable for an understanding of
Buddhist iconography. The composition is simple, even naïve with
overlapping figures used in an attempt to distinguish planes. Animals
appearing in the sculptures are treated with the sympathetic
understanding characteristic of Indian art at all periods. The richly sculpted
pillars, crossbars, and coping stones of Bharhut vedika is more lavish than
the relics of stupa II at Sanchi .The Bharhut sculptures are more deeply
carved than their Sanchi counterparts and imparts a great sense of
presence and three dimensionality to them. It popularly represents
subjects such as gajalakshmi.
The majority of pillars have rounded and half–rounded motifs while corner
or terminal uprights bear rectangular or single-figure designs. Bharhut
formulation appears remarkably sophisticated and refined. Several
different categories of beings appear on pillars from the Bharhut vedika,
each in a distinctive posture and characterized by individualizes attributes.
For example: there is a depiction of a Greek warrior. This indicates the
influence of Greeks who occupied the North West regions. Another pillar
shows a gracefully posed female figure, the woman is identified in an
inscription as the yaksini candra. This has budding flowers and is probably
a representation of a fertility cult. Several incidents, skilfully arranged
summarize the Jataka. There are also depictions of processions that bring
the relics to the stupa.
The concept of communicating an idea or a scene through a depictive
narrative style starts to develop during this period and can be seen at
Bharhut. The emphasis on the communication of the religious message, at
the expense of what might be called Realism is one of the most important
characteristics of the relief sculpture at Bharhut. The stupa at Bharhut is an
important example of Buddhist architecture representing an important
stage in the development of Buddhist iconography.

NAGARJUNAKONDA STUPA

Nagarjunakonda, meaning the hill of Nagarjuna, was named after the

Buddhist scholar and savant Acharya Nagarjuna. It was a great religious
center promoting Brahmanical and Buddhist faiths, moulding the early
phases of art and architecture affiliated with them. It was an extensive
Buddhist establishment nourishing several sects of Buddhism that
culminated into the full-fledged Mahayana pantheon.
The stupas here were made of brick, a few were made of stone rubble and
one had brick-rim enclosing rubble and earth packing. Most of the stupas
here had wheel-shaped bases; the no. of spokes varied from 4-10 and
usually varied according to the size of the stupa. Some stupas had a
swastika instead of a wheel inset into their base. The shape of the stupa
was axial, with a massive circular fence whose four entrances brought the
worshiper directly to the four projections of the stupa's base on which five
pillars were erected. These pillars and projections, called Ayaka-pillars and
platforms, are found almost exclusively in Andhran stupa architecture like
in the case of the Mahachaitya at Amravati. These pillars are five in number
and each pillar represents the variant stages of Buddha’s Life which
represents Jati- Birth, Sambodhi -Enlightenment, Dharmachakra pravartana
–the First Sermon, Mahaparinibbana –Death, Avakranti–the conception,
Mahabhinishkramana –the Great Departure.

The sculptures are found on the fence and gates, and on stone relief slabs
that were stacked in rows against the body of the stupa itself. Although the
relief sculptures depict stupas with railings, very few actual railing
fragments have been found, and they are all plain and uninscribed. The
chief scenes portrayed in the sculptures recovered from these Andhra
stupas represent the five great miracles or the chief events in the life of the
Buddha namely the Nativity, Renunciation, Sambodhi, First Sermon, and
the Buddha's Death. These five incidents are portrayed over and over again,
either as beautifully executed bas-relief scenes or else mere conventional
symbols such as a tree, wheel and stupa.

There are records of inscriptions of Ikshvaku kings gifting to the Hindu

temples and the Buddhist monks. This may state the secular nature of the
rulers of that time. But taking into account a sculptural evidence of
Nagarjunakonda which is the ‘The king crushing the Naga’ i.e. Snake which
one could say as a definitive element which states a not so positive terms
with Hinduism obvious enough by the Buddhist clan. Traces of Roman
influence are also manifest in a few of the sculptures and in the two golden
medallion in Nagarjunakonda , this proves the sea - borne link between
Rome and South India right in the second and third century.

To conclude, one can say that the stupas at Nagarjunakonda are a perfect
example of a plain Andhra stupa. The Andhra Buddha images have massive
bodies and wear robes with accentuated folds. The representation of the
Buddha in anthropomorphic form did not, however completely replace the
older convention of depicting him in symbolic form. As one can see at
Nagarjunakonda, relief panels depicting the Buddha in symbolic and
anthropomorphic form occur side by side.

Hence, we can conclude by saying that the given sites represent the Post-
Mauryan Buddhist architecture at its best. The intricate and elaborate
surface decoration and the shallowness of the relief carvings at sites such
as Sanchi, Bharhut and Amravati suggest that these represented a
translation of the woodcarver’s art into stone. On the scale of maturity, the
reliefs of Sanchi, Bharhut, Amravati and Nagarjunakonda show progressive
development. The sculptures of Amravati are a bit more mature than those
at the central Indian sites – the relief scenes are less crowded and the
frontality of the figure is less pronounce. Therefore one can say that the
architectural and sculptural features of stupas of the Post-Mauryan period
shared certain common features, but there were also some distinct regional
traditions as is explained in the essay.