history of the Gandhara Art

Gandhara Art

The home of the Gandhara school of art is the territory in and
around Peshawar in northwestern India. The best of the Gandhara
sculpture was produced during the first and
second centuries A.D. It originated during the
reign of Indo-Greek rulers but the real patrons
of this school of art were the Sakas and the
Kushanas, particularly Kanishka. Gandhara art
was a blend of Indian and Graeco-Roman
elements. Specimens of Gandhara sculpture have
been found in Taxila, Peshawar and in several
places of northwest India. The Gandhara school
made sculptures of the Buddha in various sizes,
shapes and postures. The reliefs depict Buddha’s
birth, his renunciation and his preaching. The
salient features of Gandhara art are:Moulding human body in a realistic manner with minute
attention to physical features like muscles, moustache and
curtly hair.
- Thick drapery with large and bold fold lines.
- Rich carving, elaborate ornamentation and symbolic
expressions The main theme was the new form of Buddhism – Mahayanism
– and the evolution of an image of Buddha.
A large number of monasteries were also built from first to
fourth centuries A.D. Ruins of about fifteen monasteries were found
in and around Peshawar and Rawalpindi. The Buddhist stupas
erected during this period had Graeco-Roman architectural impact.
The height of the stupa was raised and ornamentation was added to
the structure of the stupa. These changes made the stupa more
attractive

Mathura School of Art

The school of art that developed at Mathura in modern Uttar
Pradesh is called the Mathura art. It flourished in the first century
A.D. In its early phase, the Mathura school of art developed on
indigenous lines. The Buddha images exhibit the spiritual feeling in
his face which was largely absent in the Gandhara school. The
Mathura school also carved out the images of Siva and Vishnu along
with their consorts Parvathi and Lakshmi. The female figures of
yakshinis and apsaras of the Mathura school were beautifully carved.

Successors of Kanishka and end of Kushana Rule

The successors of Kanishka ruled for another one hundred
and fifty years. Huvishka was the son of Kanishka and he kept the
empire intact. Mathura became an important city under his rule.Like Kanishka he was also a patron of Buddhism. The last important
Kushana ruler was Vasudeva. The Kushana empire was very much
reduced in his rule. Most of his inscriptions are found in and around
Mathura. He seems to have been a worshipper of Siva. After
Vasudeva, petty Kushan princes ruled for sometime in northwestern
India
The Sangam Age constitutes an important chapter in the history
of South India. According to Tamil legends, there existed three
Sangams (Academy of Tamil poets) in ancient Tamil Nadu popularly
called Muchchangam. These Sangams flourished under the royal
patronage of the Pandyas. The first Sangam, held at Then Madurai,
was attended by gods and legendary sages but no literary work of
this Sangam was available. The second Sangam was held at
Kapadapuram but the all the literary works had perished except
Tolkappiyam. The third Sangam at Madurai was founded by
Mudathirumaran. It was attended by a large number of poets who
produced voluminous literature but only a few had survived. These
Tamil literary works remain useful sources to reconstruct the history
of the Sangam Age.