12. Indian Heritage: Fine Art, Performing Art, Architecture, Literature (Indus to British Era)

CORE Key Points at a Glance

1. 1

   Indus Valley Civilization (c. 2600–1900 BCE)

   • Produced the earliest known Indian urban art
   • "Dancing Girl" bronze figurine from Mohenjo-daro — cast by lost-wax technique
   • "Priest-King" steatite sculpture — 17.5 cm, trefoil-patterned robe
   • Geometric painted pottery from Harappa — most numerous art objects
   • Demonstrates sophisticated craft traditions 4,500 years ago
2. 2

   Mauryan Art (322–185 BCE)

   • Monolithic Ashokan pillars — 12–15 metres tall, bell-shaped capitals
   • Sarnath lion capital (c. 250 BCE) — now India's national emblem
   • "Mauryan polish" — mirror-like finish on stone using sand
   • Rock-cut cave architecture at Barabar Hills, Bihar (donated to Ajivika monks)
3. 3

   Gupta Period (320–550 CE) — "Golden Age"

   • Classical Sanskrit literature peaked: Kalidasa's Abhijnanasakuntalam, Raghuvamsha, Meghaduta
   • Vishakhadatta's Mudrarakshasa — political drama of Chandragupta's rise
   • Ajanta cave paintings reached their zenith (Cave 1: Bodhisattva Padmapani, c. 475 CE)
   • Nagara temple style crystallised — Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh (c. 500 CE)
4. 4

   Two Classical Temple Styles

   • Nagara (North India) — curvilinear shikhara; e.g., Kandariya Mahadeva, Khajuraho (1025 CE)
   • Dravida (South India) — pyramidal vimana with gopurams; e.g., Brihadeeswara Temple, Thanjavur (1010 CE)
   • Hybrid Vesara style developed in the Deccan (Chalukya, Hoysala)
5. 5

   Buddhist Art — Three Phases

   • Early aniconic phase: Buddha symbolised by footprints, umbrella, Bodhi tree — Sanchi Stupa, 3rd century BCE
   • Transitional: Gandhara school with Greco-Roman influence, 1st–3rd century CE
   • Iconic: Mathura school — purely Indian tradition, red sandstone
6. 6

   Ajanta Caves (2nd century BCE–7th century CE)

   • 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave temples in Aurangabad, Maharashtra
   • Murals depict Jataka tales using mineral pigments on dry plaster
   • UNESCO World Heritage Site — inscribed 1983
7. 7

   Mughal Architecture (1526–1857)

   • Synthesised Persian, Central Asian, and Indian styles
   • Humayun's Tomb, Delhi (1572) — first garden tomb in India
   • Taj Mahal, Agra (1653) — built by Shah Jahan for Mumtaz Mahal; UNESCO 1983
   • Red Fort, Delhi (1648); Fatehpur Sikri (1585, Akbar's capital for 14 years)
8. 8

   8 Classical Dance Forms (Sangeet Natak Akademi)

   • Bharatanatyam (Tamil Nadu), Kathak (North India), Odissi (Odisha), Kuchipudi (Andhra Pradesh)
   • Manipuri (Manipur), Mohiniyattam (Kerala), Sattriya (Assam), Kathakali (Kerala)
   • All rooted in Natyashastra — Bharata Muni, 2nd century BCE–2nd century CE
   • Natyashastra codifies nava rasas: 9 emotional essences of performing arts
9. 9

   Sangam Literature (c. 3rd century BCE–3rd century CE)

   • India's earliest secular literary corpus — composed in Tamil
   • Eight anthologies (Ettuthokai) — love poetry (Akam) classified by landscape (tinai system)
   • Ten idylls (Pattuppattu) — heroic poetry (Puram): war, death, kingship
   • Tolkappiyam (c. 3rd century BCE) — oldest surviving grammar for any Indian language
10. 10

    Hindustani and Carnatic Music

    • Two classical traditions — both rooted in ancient raga-tala system
    • Hindustani: Persian-Indian synthesis post-13th century; Amir Khusrau credited with khayal form, tabla, sitar
    • Carnatic: closer to Vedic roots; codified by the "Trinity" — Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar, Syama Sastri (18th–19th century)
    • Major Hindustani gharanas: Agra, Gwalior, Jaipur, Kirana, Patiala
11. 11

    Colonial Period Literature

    • Bengali Renaissance: Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay — Anandamath (1882), source of "Vande Mataram"
    • Rabindranath Tagore — Nobel Prize 1913 for Gitanjali; first Asian Nobel laureate
    • Tagore also composed Jana Gana Mana (national anthem) and Amar Sonar Bangla (Bangladesh anthem)
    • Urdu flourished: Mirza Ghalib (1797–1869) and Allama Iqbal (1877–1938)
12. 12

    Bhakti Literary Tradition (12th–17th Century)

    • Created vernacular literature across India — democratised devotion
    • Key poets: Mirabai (Rajasthani), Kabir (Hindi/Awadhi), Surdas (Braj Bhasha), Tulsidas (Ramcharitmanas, 1574–77, Awadhi)
    • South: Namdev and Tukaram (Marathi), Purandaradasa (Kannada), Alvar saints' Nalayira Divya Prabandham (Tamil)
    • Challenged caste hierarchies through vernacular devotional expression
13. 13

    Indo-Islamic Architecture

    • Key innovations: pointed arches, true arches (replacing corbelling), true domes, minarets
    • Extensive use of mortar and plaster — structural revolution in Indian building
    • Evolved from Qutb Minar complex (1193 CE, Delhi Sultanate) through Lodhi tombs
    • Culminated in Mughal masterpieces of the 16th–17th century