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700-200 BCEOUTLINE:

3. MAURYAN INDIA: EMBLEMS OF PEACE INSTONE• The first Indian Empire and religions of anti-materialism• Ashoka and Sanchi

Vocabularystambha/ lath: monumental pillarsstupa: Buddhist memorial mound that enshrines relics or marks a sacredsitetorana: a decorated entrance gate to aBuddhist shrinevihara: an Indian Buddhist monastery.

NOTE:• After Harappan cities ceased to be inhabited Aryan nomads invaded from eastern Iran, around 1500 BCE, establishing Indo-European language roots in

Sanskrit, as well as the beginnings of the caste system. They also brought beliefs that developed into the Vedas (~1500 BCE), sacred writings.• During the 6th century BCE three religions developed, Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism that all shared a belief in the transmigration of souls and that

there was an endless cycle of death and rebirth and these religions offerred ways to transcend the sorrow of temporalexistence.• Buddhism: founded by Siddhartha Gautama, prince of Madadha, in the 6th Century BCE. By the 3rd century CE it was a major religion in India.• Buddha lived c. 563-483 BCE and his religion would influence architecture in India, Sri Lanka, China, Tibet and southeast Asia. He had not prescribed

any particular architectural setting for worship. His remains were divided by his followers to ten places associated with his life. (Moffett)• Cities: 700 years after the decline of the Indus civilization cities began to reappear, especially in the many kingdoms of the north.• Warning! I’m finding a lot of variation on the dates.• India will pick up again in Chapter 6.

Title: Alexander’s Empire

Architect: Alexander Date: 323 BCE

Notes:• India was relatively isolated from Hellenistic trade routes with the east. Iron and copper mining at Pataliputra helped India emerge from isolation.• Buddhist architecture is the first to use stone as a building material in India. It comes after contact with Kandahar, [Arachosia/ Alexandria] founded by

Alexander. in the 4th cent. BCE. (Wiley)

Source: http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00maplinks/early/alexander/shepherd1923max.jpg, from Shepherd’s HistoricalAtlas

Medium: map Size: seescale

Alexander’s Empire

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Title: Alexander’s Empire

Architect: Alexander

Date: 323 BCE Source: http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/ pritchett/00maplinks/early/alexander/ alexander3.jpg

Medium: map Size: n/a

Notes:• we can see Alexander getting

as far asTaxila• The First Indian Empire and

Religions of Anti-materialism: The military leaders who created the first Indian empire, inspired by the example of the Greek invaders as well as the Persians before them, united the lands east of Taxila (near modern Islamabad) under the Mauryan dynasty soon after Alexander’s demise.

• However, the only lasting structures came from the new religions that took root during this period, especially Buddhism, which sponsored memorial mounds and monasteries.

• The connection between the Mauryans and the Greeks continued in diplomatic relations with the Seleucids, the largest of the Greek successor states to Alexander’s empire.

Alexander’s Empire

Title: Maurya Empire

Architect: Maurya dynasty

Date: 700-200BCE

Source: OUP

Medium: map Size: seescale

Notes:• Indian society, with as many

as 50 million people at the time of the Mauryan unification, maintained rigidly structured castes. The caste system of inherited social status began sometime after the Aryan transition in the 12th cent.BCE.

• Chandra Gupta, founded the Mauryan dynasty after his 305 BCE victory against the Seleucids (successor to Alexander in the region).

• Gupta, toward the end of his reign, abdicated his throne and converted to the Jain religion, which emphasized reincarnation while celebrating anti-materialism. Chandra Gupta was not known to have sponsored any enduring monuments to hisfaith.

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Date: undatedTitle: Silk Route

Notes:• a royal road connected Taxila in the north [near the Khyber Pass] with the capital, Pataliputra, in the east. This road will carry Buddhism east.

Source: britannica Medium: map Size: seescale

Title: Maurya Empire

Architect: Maurya dynasty

Date: 265BCE

Source: http://www.historydiscussion.net/history-of-india/5-major-causes-of-the-downfall-of-the-maurya-empire-explained/2431

Medium: map Size: n/a

Notes:• Chandragupta Maurya founded

the first great Indian empire in 321 BCE with his capital at Pataliputra/ Patna, reputed to be the largest city in the world at that time. (Thapar)

• Ashoka: The third ruler of the Mauryans, consolidated a realm that included most of (now) India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. His conversion to Buddhism led him to the contradiction of desiring to represent imperial dominion without celebrating its military basis.

• Ashoka erected thousands of stupas, pillars and rocks bearing Buddhist edicts. (Thapar)

• Buddhism essentially becomes a state religion under Ashoka. (Wiley)

• The Mauryan empire: only lasted 137 years.

SANCHI

SARNATH

VAISHALI

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Title: Ashoka (r. 268-232 BCE) on his chariot; Ashoka's visit to the Ramagrama stupa

Architect: Mauryadynasty

Date: 3rd-2nd cent.BCE

Source: wikipedia

Medium: relief Size: n/a

Notes: from Sanchi Stupa 1 Southern gateway. For interpretation see: Ashoka in Ancient India by Nayanjot Lahiri, Harvard University Press, 2015 p. 295-296)

Yes, chariots facilitate empires

ASHOKA

Title: Mauryan dynasty’s palace, Pataliputra/ Patna

Architect: Maurya dynasty

Date: circa 4th century BCE Source: OUP

Medium: plan of hypostyle hall of the Mauryan dynasty’s palace

Size: seescale

Notes:• the architectural remains were the stone bases of over 80 wood

columns• Buildings other than temples were not built of enduring materials.

(Wiley)• The city of Pataliputra was so extensive that the city walls had 64

gates and 570 towers. (Gardner)

MAURYAN PALACE, PATALIPUTRA

Title: Pataliputra capital

Source: Department of Archaeology, Government of India.jpg, 1964 and it was in an exhibit at the De Young that year.

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Title: Mauryan dynasty’s palace, Kumrahar, Pataliputra/ Patna

Architect: Maurya dynasty Date: circa 4th century BCE Notes:

n/a

MAURYAN PALACE, PATALIPUTRA

Source: wikipediaa

Medium: photo of 1912 archeologicalexcavation Size: n/a

Title: Ashokan Pillar, Lauriya, Nandangarh

Architect: Maurya dynasty, built by Ashoka the Great, r. 269- 232 BCE Date: 246 BCE

Source: Pearson (right, historic photograph); below: https:// www.wikiwand.com/en/Pillars_of_Ashoka

Medium: sandstone Size: pillars 40-50’ high

axis mundi: a vertical element that goes through the center of the world connecting earth to heaven

ASHOKAN PILLAR

Frieze of geese, a link between heaven and earth

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ASHOKAN PILLARTitle: Geographic spread of known pillar capitals

Architect: Maurya dynasty

Date: circa 200 BCE Source:https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Pillars_of_Ashoka

Medium: stone Size: 40-50’high

Notes:• Ashoka carved his edicts onto stone

tablets, rocks, caves and these pillars(Wiley)

• we’ll look at Lauria (prior), Vaishali and Sarnath

• Chandra Gupta’s grandson, Ashoka, had conquered many of the people of the Indian subcontinent. “Now in 265 BCE after the final battle… he was suddenly…shocked by the horror of the suffering he had caused.. Ashoka abruptly turned the moment of triumph into one of renunciation… he vowed to [spread] the teachings of Buddha”

• During Ashoka’s reign, the Mauryan dynasty produced its major cultural contributions. Ashoka erected monumental columnsknownas stambhas, on which he inscribed his laws in several languages.

• He commissioned 256 stambha pillars to be erected in all corners of his empire, inscribing them with the benevolent message of dharma.

• The stambhas were monolithic, polished

sandstone, slightly tapered, sometimes over 49 ft high, approaching the scale of the obelisks of Hatshepsut. The columns belonged to the ancient tradition of establishing a vertical axis mundi as a cosmic sign of the union between heaven and earth.

Title: Ashokan Pillar, Vaishali

Architect: Maurya dynasty

Date: circa 200 BCE

Source: wikipedia

Medium: stone

Size: 40-50’high

Notes:• Ashoka raised his

pillars after retreating from the pursuit of warfare, in favor of consensus, and the pursuit of Buddhist dharma or non-violence.

• The pillars represent an axis mundi.

ASHOKAN PILLAR

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Title: Ashokan Pilllar, Vaishali

Architect: Maurya dynasty Date: 246 BCE

Source: photograph by Rajeev Kumar

Medium: sandstone Size: n /a Notes:• The carvings are based on Persian originals.

ASHOKAN PILLAR

ASHOKAN PILLAR

Title: Ashokan Pillar, Sarnath

Architect: Maurya dynasty

Date: circa 200 BCE, rediscovery 1905

Source: wikipedia

Medium: Polished sandstone

Size: n/a

Note: Sarnath was the site of Buddha’s first sermon., where the Wheel (chakra) of Law (dharma) was set in motion.

Not far from the stambha at Sarnath (the site of the Buddha’s first sermon), Ashoka constructed a monumental stupa, a hemispherical mound to commemorate the holy site. The perfectly rounded stupa type evolved as the typical Buddhist monument for containing relics and symbolizing religious concepts. Ashoka’s special site at Sanchi lies at the exact geographical center of the Mauryan Empire. Ashoka planned the largest of the three major stupas as a reliquary for some of the ashes of the Buddha. Like the Mesopotamian ziggurats and earlier tumuli, the stupas of Ashoka involved the piling of materials and then the refining of the mass with stairways and terraces.

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Title: Lion’s capital, Sarnath

Architect: Maurya dynasty

Date: circa 200 BCE

Museum: Archeological Museum, Sarnath

Medium: Polished sandstone

Size: 7’ high

Notes:• The capital resembled those in Achaemenid Persepolis.[stylized back-

to-back animals]• Above a lotus with drooping petals is a frieze with symbolic reliefs:

chakra wheels and sacred animals, topped by four lions pointing inthe cardinal directions, that used to support achakrawheel.

• Sarnath is the site of Buddha’s first sermon.• It shows four addorsed (back to back) lions, above four animals and

four chariot wheels, above an inverted lotus blossom. The lion also alludes to kingship(Stokstad)

• There used to be a wheel on top. (Wiley)• among the oldest large scale sculptures in South Asia. The open

mouths may announce the spreading of Buddha’s message. (Gardner)

ASHOKAN PILLAR

Title: National flag of the Republic of India (adopted on 22July 1947) withAshoka Chakra from Lion capital, from an Ashokan pillar: Dome of the Sansad Bhavan (Parliament Building of India)

Architect: Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker, British: designed in 1912-3.Construction 1921-7.

Designer of flag:Pingali Venkayya(1876-1963)

Date: flag adopted 1947

Photograph: iStock

Note: One of the Ashokan pillars, the four lions of Sarnath –The Lion Capital of Ashoka, hasbeen adapted asthe State Emblem of India.This pillar hasaninverted lotus flower as the platform with four lion sculptures sitting with their backs to each other and facing into the four directions. The four lionssymbolize King Ashoka’s rule and empire over four directions ormore aptly four adjoining territories.The lions signify supremacy, self-assurance, courageand pride. Just above the flower there are other illustrations including an elephant, a bull, a lion and a galloping horse which are separated by a spokedchariotwheelswith 24 spokesalso calledwheelof the law ('Dharma chakra'). (theindiareview.com)

INFLUENCE OF ASHOKAN PILLAR

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Source: wikipedia, from Indian Architecture, Buddhist and Hindu

Medium: reconstruction drawing by Percy Brown (1872-1955)

Size: n/a

Title: Stupas and Monasteries at Sanchi

Architect: Mauryas

Date: published in 1956 Bombay, India, first published 1900

Notes:

SAN CHIthe vihara monastery SANCHI

stupa 3 –Little Stupa

Temple 18

chaitya: (India) a traditional village memorial erected over the grave of an honored person.

chaitya hall: A structure built to enclose such a memorial and permit circulation around it.

Title: Ashoka’s Buddhist enclave, Sanchi, India

Architect: Maurya dynasty

Date: begun circa 2nd century CE

Source: OUP

Medium: plan

Size: see scale

THE GREAT STUPA, SANCHI

LEGEND1-the Great Stupa 2-the Second Stupa3the chaitya hall (sanctuary, center right, right of stupa)4 the vihara monastery (top)5 temple “17” ca. 400 CE (right of stupa)Notes:

• Sanchi was rediscovered in the 19th century.• Two major stupas stood within a walled temenos.

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Notes:• Ashoka also sponsored thousands of Buddhist memorial mounds in the form of domical stupas.• Ashoka spread his architectural patronage to all parts of the Mauryan realm. His religion, Buddhism, developed into the most significant spiritual

innovation to affect the Vedic traditions in India during the ancient period.• Ashoka and Sanchi: Materializing the Immaterial: Ashoka felt that his great task as emperor was the maintenance and disseminationof

Buddhist dharma. He pursued this ethic restoring the roads and hostels, planting medicinal herbs, founding hospitals, and banning animal sacrifices and slaughter. He relied on Buddhism as a strategy for social harmony.

• stupa is from Sanskrit, meaning to heap.

THE MAHASTUPA OR GREAT STUPA/ STUPA No. 1, SANCHITitle: Pilgrim’s path at base of the Great Stupa, Sanchi

Architect: Maurya dynasty

Date: 3rd cent.BCE; enlarged acent. later

Source: britannica

Medium: originally plaster over rubble; brick and rubble and faced with gilded stucco with rails of white stone.

Size: 20m.initially, later 36 m. w., 16.5 m. h.

Title: Elements of Architecture: Stupa (Great Stupa, Sanchi)

Note:• Stupa: derived from the cairn, a tomb of piled stones over the deceased’s ashes.The stupa is solid, contains relics and symbolizes Buddhist concepts.• The stupa is a religious monument enclosing relic chambers derived from burial mounds;• the torana separates the profane and sacred worlds.• the hemispherical form reflecting the simplicity of the circle in plan as well, creates a symbolic link to the cyclical nature of existence.• The fence, 9’ high has rounded horizontal rails in stone that replicate wood forms.

Source: Pearson

THE STUPA

- chattris, represents the protection by the Bodhi Tree

- vedika

- anda, the dome of heaven

yasti -

harmika – railing at the summit -

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Title: Stupa Two, Sanchi

Architect: Maurya dynasty Date: circa 200 CE

Notes: this is the way the first stupas looked; an architectural representation of the Buddha and therefore worthy of veneration.

Source: wikipedia

Medium: mud and brick

Size: n/a

SANCHI

Title: Stupa Three, Sanchi

Architect: Maurya dynasty Date: circa 200 CE

Notes: a freestanding gate, one umbrella

Source: wikipedia

Medium: brick

Size: n/a

SANCHI

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Title: Stupa Three, Sanchi

Architect: Maurya dynasty Date: circa 200 CE

Notes: a freestanding gate, one umbrella

Source: Khan Academy

Medium: brick

Size: n/a

Date: circa 200 CE

Title: Chetiyagiri Vihara/ monastery Architect:

Maurya dynasty, founded by Ashoka Notes:

Enlarged over 500years.

Source: wikipedia

Medium: a monastery, with a stupa form ontop Size: n/a

SANCHI

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Source: wikipedia fr. the Ministry of Culture

Medium: plan

Size: see scale, the same area as the priorplan

SANCHI

Title: Ashoka’s Buddhist enclave, Sanchi, India

Architect: Maurya dynasty

Date: begun circa 2nd century CE

Notes: n/a

Temple 17 Temple 40

Temple 18

Title: Buddhist Temple No. 17, Sanchi

Architect: Gupta period Date: 5th cent. CE

Notes:

Source: wikipedia

Medium: tetrastyle prostyle temple

Size: n/a

SANCHI

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Title: Buddhist Temple No. 18, Sanchi

Architect: Mauryan

Date: now considered earlier than noted left

Source: reconstruction drawing by Percy Brown (1872-1955)

Medium: n/a Size: n/a

Notes:• a small stupa would be at the apse-

like end of rectangularhall.• Closely spaced pillars create aisles or

ambulatories. (Fletcher)

SANCHI

Title: Temple 40

Architect: Maurya dynasty

Date: circa 200 CE

Source: wikipedia

Medium: reconstruction drawing by Percy Brown (1872-1955)

Size: n/a

Notes: n/a

SANCHI

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Title: Great Stupa, Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh, India

Architect: Maurya dynasty, built by King Ashoka

Date: Erected 3rd century BCE; enlarged circa150-50 BCE

Note: representative of the central Indian stupa type.

THE GREAT STUPA, SANCHI

Note: Stupas were the first sacred Buddhist buildings; the Great Stupa at Sanchi is its earliest surviving example. The core of The Great Stupa probably originates from the 3rd century B.C. Here, as in many Indian stupas, the original building was encased in a mass of earth and stone for when it was enlarged it was the custom not to commit the sacrilege of destroying the original monument.(http://www.pitt.edu/~asian/week-5/week-5.html)

Title: The Great Stupa, Sanchi, India

Architect: Maurya dynasty Date: 3rd cent. BCE and later additions Source:http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/india/sanchi/sanplan2.html

Medium: elevation and plan Size: seescale

Note:• stairs and toranas• The stupa was an actual tomb, placed over the remains of the

historical Buddha or other holy person. A stupa also acts as a symbol to commemorate a sacred place such as sites where important events took place in Buddha's mortal life.

• The stupa played a crucial role in Buddhist beliefs for it is the very symbol of nirvana, or final redemption, the goal of Buddhism.

• Stupas are mounds of rubble and brick faced with stone, covered with white stucco partly gilded and surmounted by a three (or more) part umbrella symbolizing the three most basic aspects of Buddhism -- the Buddha himself, Buddha's Law and the Monastic Order.

• The rail around the umbrella shaft is thought to reflect the ancient concept of marking off a precinct around a sacred tree, symbolic of vitality and fertility.

• On the base around the hemispherical dome is a narrow path along which processions moved. A second path is at ground level where pilgrims could circumambulate clockwise symbolic of walking the Path of Life around the World Mountain, following an ancient Indian rite of following the path of sun while making offerings and ritual performances. The path is enclosed within a tall stone railing which isolates this sanctuary from the outside world.http://www.pitt.edu/~asian/week-5/week-5.html

• all are welcome, but this is private worship

THE GREAT STUPA, SANCHI

circular plan symbolizes the wheel

pradaksina patha – paved path

the plan is a mandala – a diagram of the cosmos.

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SAN CHITitle: Great Stupa at Sanchi

Architect: Mauryas

Date: published in 1956 Bombay, India,first published 1900

Source: wikipedia, from Indian Architecture, Buddhist and Hindu

Medium:reconstruction drawing by Percy Brown (1872-1955)

Size: seescale

Notes:The Great Stupa at Sanchi stands on ahill rising out of the plain in Central India. It is a burial mound; its form dates to prehistoric times. This monumental form, as used for the burial of princes, had the shape of a large hemisphere.At an early date, thiskind of tombdeveloped into a commemorative monument, and was adopted by Buddhists as one of their main symbols and as the center of their religious compounds. (http://www.pitt.edu/~asian/week-5/week-5.html) Note the bent axis at each entry gate., to reduce outer distractions.

Source: wikipedia

Medium: brick and rubble and faced with gilded stucco with rails of white stone.

Size: 8.5 m. high

Note:• Access to the path is gained through four monumental gateways, toranas, some ten meters in height and set at the cardinal

directions. The uprights and crossbars are lavishly carved with stories from the life of Buddha; with jataka tales, edifying legends in which Buddha is shown as pious and wise; and with large guardian figures called yakshas and yakshis, anc ient gods and goddess of fertility. These lively sculpted panels contrast dramatically with the massive character of the stupa and railing, emphasizing their narrative content. http://www.pitt.edu/~asian/week-5/week-5.html)

• each torana has scenes from Buddha’s life (loosely interpreted) and the Jataka tales, of Buddha’s past lives.

THE GREAT STUPA,

SAN CHI– SOUTH TORANA

Title: The Great Stupa, Sanchi, India

Architect: Maurya dynasty, donated under the rule of King Satakarni-II

Date: 3rd cent. BCE and later additions

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Title: Ruins of the Southern Gateway, The Great Stupa, Sanchi, India

Architect: Maurya dynasty, donated under the rule of King Satakarni-II

Date: begun circa 2nd century CE, photo 1875

Source: wikipedia

Medium: photo by Joseph Beglar

Size: n/a

Note: the pillar capital at left.

THE GREAT STUPA, SANCHI – SOUTH

TORANA

Source: wikipedia

Medium: stone Size: n/a

Title: South Torana, The Great Stupa, Sanchi, India

Architect: Maurya dynasty, donated under the rule of King Satakarni-II Date: begun circa 2nd cent.CE

THE GREAT STUPA, SANCHI – SOUTH TORANA

King Ashoka visits Ramagrama, to take relics of the Buddha from the Nagas, but in vain.

War over the Buddha’s Relics, kept by the city of Kushinagar, lowest level of torana

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Source: wikipedia, from Indian Architecture, Buddhist and Hindu

Medium: reconstruction drawing by Percy Brown (1872-1955)

Size: n/a

Title: Conjectural reconstruction of the main gate of Kusinagara circa 500 BCE adapted from a relief at the Southern Gateway of the Great Stupa at Sanchi

Architect: n/a

Date: published in 1956 Bombay, India, first published 1900

Notes:

THE GREAT STUPA, SANCHI – SOUTH TORANA

Source: wikipedia

Medium: stone.

Size: 8.5 m. high

THE GREAT STUPA, SANCHI – WEST TORANA

Title: West Torana, The Great Stupa, Memorial to Buddha, begun by Ashoka, Sanchi, India

Architect: Maurya dynasty

Date: circa mid-3rd century CE

Note: Torana gates were added later in the 2ndcentury AD, and faced the cardinal directions.

The walled precinct allowed for processional or devotional circling of the stupa, called pradakshina.

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Title: North torana gate of the Great Stupa at Sanchi

Architect: Maurya dynasty

Date: circa 200CE, photo 1861

Source: wikimedia

Medium: photo by James Waterhouse

Size: Size: 8.5 m. high

Note: n/a

THE GREAT STUPA, SANCHI – NORTH TORANA

Title: North torana gate of the Great Stupa at Sanchi

Architect: Maurya dynasty

Date: circa 200 CE

Source: wikimedia

Medium: stone

Size: 8.5 m. high

Note: n/a

THE GREAT STUPA, SANCHI – NORTH

TORANA

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Title: Siddhartha’s Great Departure, detail, crossbar of the the East Torana, the Great Stupa, Sanchi

Architect: Maurya dynasty

Date: circa 200 CE

Source:https://www.sutori.com/item/anonymous-siddhartha-s-great-departure-detail-from-the-crossbar-of-the-the-east

Medium: stone

Size: 8.5 m. high

Note:

• Early South Asian visual narratives did not show Buddha in human form. The footprints at the far right of the central transom indicated Buddha without showing his body, and show where he dismounted.

• The reliefs frequently employ continuous narrative, such as in this one. Here the prince slips out of the palace to go on his spiritual quest. Here a riderless horse reappears and indicates the Buddha.

• the tree means we have come to the forest. (Stokstad)

THE GREAT STUPA, SANCHI – EAST

TORANA

Title: East Torana of the Great Stupa at Sanchi

Architect: Maurya dynasty

Date: Early Andhra period, mid-1st century BCE

Source: wikipedia

Medium: Stone

Size: height35' (10.66 m)

Note: toranas are gateways, that are highly ornamented.

TORANA GATE, GREAT STUPA,

SANCHI –EAST

TORANA

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Title: Yakshi bracket figure, detail from great Stupa, Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh, India (on the East Torana of the Great Stupa at Sanchi)

Architect: Maurya dynasty

Date: 1st century BCE to early century CE

Photograph source: Pearson

Medium: stone

Size: height approx. 60" (152.4 cm)

Yakshi (female)/ yaksha (male): nature spirits associated with fertility and abundance; found in both Buddhist and Hindu settings.

Note:• Architectural sophistication came later in the second

century CE with the carved railings and gateways.• After Ashoka, the Mauryan dynasty began to lose its grip

over the empire.

THE GREAT STUPA, SANCHI –EAST TORANA

Title: Yaksha capital, detail from great Stupa, Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh, India (on the West Torana of the Great Stupa at Sanchi)

Architect: Maurya dynasty

Date: 1st century BCE to early century CE

Photograph source: photo by Biswarup Ganguly

Medium: stone

Size: n/a

Yakshi (female)/ yaksha (male): nature spirits associated with fertility and abundance; found in both Buddhist and Hindu settings.

Note: n/a

THE GREAT STUPA, SANCHI

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End of Chapter 4