The Art of Mathura refers to a particular school of
Indian art, almost entirely surviving
in the form of sculpture, starting in the 2nd century BCE, which centered on the city of
Mathura
Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the states and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located south-east of Delhi; and about from the town of Vrindavan. In ancient ti ...
, in central northern
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, during a period in which
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
,
Jainism
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...
together with
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
flourished in India.
Mathura "was the first artistic center to produce devotional icons for all the three faiths",
[Srinivasan, 4] and the pre-eminent center of religious artistic expression in
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
at least until the
Gupta period
The Gupta Empire was an Indian empire during the classical period of the Indian subcontinent which existed from the mid 3rd century to mid 6th century CE. At its zenith, the dynasty ruled over an empire that spanned much of the northern Indian ...
, and was influential throughout the sub-continent.
Chronologically, Mathuran sculpture becomes prominent after
Mauryan art, the art of the
Mauryan Empire
The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary sourc ...
(322 and 185 BCE).
It is said to represent a "sharp break" with the previous Mauryan style, either in scale, material or style.
Mathura became India's most important artistic production center from the second century BCE, with its highly recognizable red sandstone statues being admired and exported all over India.
In particular, it was in Mathura that the distinctive Indian convention of giving sacred figures multiple body parts, especially heads and arms, first became common in art around the 4th century CE, initially exclusively in Hindu figures, as it derived from
Vedic
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed ...
texts.
The art of Mathura is often contrasted with the
Greco-Buddhist art
The Greco-Buddhist art or Gandhara art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between Ancient Greek art and Buddhism. It had mainly evolved in the ancient region of Gandhara, located in the northwestern fringe of t ...
of
Gandhara
Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...
, which developed from the 1st century CE.
In particular, there is a debate about the origin of the Buddha image and the role played by each school of art. Before the creation of an image of the Buddha, probably around the 1st century CE, Indian Buddhist art, as seen in
Bharhut or
Sanchi
Sanchi Stupa is a Buddhist art, Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the States and territories of India, State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometers from Raisen ...
, had essentially been
aniconic, avoiding representation of the Buddha, but rather relying on its symbols, such as the
Wheel of the Law or the
Bodhi tree.
Mathura continued to be an important centre for sculpture until
Gupta art of the 4th to 6th centuries, if not beyond. After this time much of the sculpture was of Hindu figures.
History
Early history

Some very early depictions of deities seem to appear in the art of the
Indus Valley civilisation
The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the Northwestern South Asia, northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 Common Era, BCE to 1300 BCE, and in i ...
, but the following millennium, coinciding with the
Indo-Aryan migration
The Indo-Aryan migrations were the migrations into the Indian subcontinent of Indo-Aryan peoples, an ethnolinguistic group that spoke Indo-Aryan languages. These are the predominant languages of today's Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, North India ...
during the
Vedic period
The Vedic period, or the Vedic age (), is the period in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age of the history of India when the Vedic literature, including the Vedas (–900 BCE), was composed in the northern Indian subcontinent, between the e ...
, is devoid of such remains.
It has been suggested that the
early Vedic religion focused exclusively on the worship of purely "elementary forces of nature by means of elaborate sacrifices", which did not lend themselves easily to anthropomorphological representations.
Various artefacts may belong to the
Copper Hoard culture (2nd millennium BCE), some of them suggesting anthropomorphological characteristics.
Interpretations vary as to the exact signification of these artifacts, or even the culture and the periodization to which they belonged.
Some examples of artistic expression also appear in abstract pottery designs during the
Black and red ware culture (1450–1200 BCE) or the
Painted Grey Ware culture
The Painted Grey Ware culture (PGW) is an Iron Age in India, Iron Age Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan Archaeological culture, culture of the western Gangetic plain and the Ghaggar-Hakra River, Ghaggar-Hakra valley in the Indian subcontinent, conve ...
(1200–600 BCE), with finds in a wide area, including the area of Mathura.
Most of the early finds at Mathura correspond to what is called the "second period of urbanization" in the middle of the 1st millennium BCE, after a gap of about a thousand years following the collapse of the
Indus Valley civilisation
The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the Northwestern South Asia, northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 Common Era, BCE to 1300 BCE, and in i ...
.
The anthropomorphic depiction of various deities apparently started in the middle of the 1st millennium BCE, possibly as a consequence of the influx of foreign stimuli initiated with the
Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley, and the rise of alternative local faiths challenging
Vedism, such as
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
,
Jainism
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...
and local popular cults.
Mauryan period
Mathura seems to have been a comparatively unimportant city of central northern
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
during the period of the
Maurya Empire
The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary source ...
(ca. 320–180 BCE), whose capital was in eastern India at
Pataliputra
Pataliputra (IAST: ), adjacent to modern-day Patna, Bihar, was a city in ancient India, originally built by Magadha ruler Ajatashatru in 490 BCE, as a small fort () near the Ganges river.. Udayin laid the foundation of the city of Pataliput ...
, but it was still called a "great city" by
Megasthenes.
Mauryan art and architecture flourished during that period in other cities such as
Pataliputra
Pataliputra (IAST: ), adjacent to modern-day Patna, Bihar, was a city in ancient India, originally built by Magadha ruler Ajatashatru in 490 BCE, as a small fort () near the Ganges river.. Udayin laid the foundation of the city of Pataliput ...
,
Kausambi,
Vidisha or
Amaravati
Amaravati ( , Telugu language, Telugu: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Guntur district on the right bank of the Krishna River, southwest of Vijayawada. The city derives its name from the nearby his ...
, but there are no known examples of stone sculpture or architecture at Mathura that can be securely dated to the Mauryan period.
Excavations have shown that the first construction consisted in a mud wall, dating to the end of the Maurya period, around the 3rd century BCE at the earliest.
It seems Mathura only rose to prominence as a cultural and urban center around 150–100 BCE.
Terracotta figurines (4th-2nd century BCE)

Although no stone sculpture or architecture from the Mauryan period are known in Mathura, some relatively high quality terracotta statuettes have been recovered from the Mauryan strata in excavations.
This would suggest that there was some level of artistic creation at Mathura during the period of the Maurya Empire.
["The relatively high quality of terracotta sculptures recovered from Maurya strata at Mathura suggests some level of artistic activity prior to the second century BCE." ] The creation of terracotta figurines is thought to have been much easier than sculpting stone, and therefore became the mainstream form of artistic expression.
In Mathura, the first statuette were found in strata dating to the late 4th-2nd centuries BCE, and their production, together with associated terracotta miniatures of votive tanks and shrines, seems to have continued for close to a thousand years.
Terracottas generally showed what appears to be female deities or mother goddesses, and from the 2nd century women in elaborate headdress.
The ancient
Vedic
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed ...
text of the ''
Shatapatha Brahmana
The Shatapatha Brahmana (, , abbreviated to 'SB') is a commentary on the Yajurveda, Śukla Yajurveda. It is attributed to the Vedic sage Yajnavalkya. Described as the most complete, systematic, and important of the Brahmanas (commentaries on the ...
'' describes such figurines as "broad-hipped, of smooth breast-region and slender waisted" and suggests that they are personifications of the earth, especially the earth goddesses
Prithivi and
Aditi, as "the container and supporter of the whole world", and the "repository of all Gods".
Their headdress is often decorated with lotus stalks, complete with conical lotus pistils with their seeds, which symbolize fecundity and beauty.
The lotus would remain an attribute of female deities in later periods.
Some terracotta statuettes also show a child or children clinging to the goddess, thereby emphasizing her role as a symbol of fecundity.
The cult of these female goddesses, characterized by small and easily manufactured figures, appears to have been essentially domestic.
Several figures of foreigners also appear in the terracottas from the 4th and 3rd century BCE, which are either described simply as "foreigners" or Persian or Iranian because of their foreign features.
["Iranian Heads From Mathura, some terracotta male-heads were recovered, which portray the Iranian people with whom the Indians came into closer contact during the fourth and third centuries B.C. Agrawala calls them the representatives of Iranian people because their facial features present foreign ethnic affinities." ] These figurines might reflect the increased
contacts of Indians with Iranian people during this period.
Several of these seem to represent foreign soldiers who visited India during the Mauryan period and influenced modellers in Mathura with their peculiar ethnic features and uniforms. One of the terracotta statuettes, a man nicknamed the "Persian nobleman" and dated to the 2nd century BCE, can be seen wearing a coat, scarf, trousers and a turban.
Terracotta figurine production evolved with the adoption of moulds in the 3rd–2nd century BCE.
File:Archaic Mother Goddess - Terracotta - Circa up to 4th Century BCE - Showcase 17-12 - Prehistory and Terracotta Gallery - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6450.JPG, Terracotta figurine, Mathura, 4th century BCE
File:Female Coiffure - Circa 2nd Century BCE - Showcase 18-11 - Prehistory and Terracotta Gallery - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6364.JPG, Terracotta female coiffure, Mathura, 2nd century BCE
Ethnic Head - Circa 2nd Century BCE - Showcase 18-11 - Prehistory and Terracotta Gallery - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6365.JPG, "Ethnic head", Mathura
Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the states and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located south-east of Delhi; and about from the town of Vrindavan. In ancient ti ...
, c. 2nd century BCE.
Persian Nobleman Clad in Coat Dupatta Trouser and Turban - Circa 2nd Century BCE - Showcase 18-11 - Prehistory and Terracotta Gallery - Government Museum - Mathura.jpg, "Persian Nobleman clad in coat dupatta trouser and turban", Mathura, c. 2nd Century BCE.
Early depictions of Indian deities (190–180 BCE)
The anthropomorphic depiction of various deities apparently started to appear in the middle of the 1st millennium BCE.
Panini and
Patanjali
Patanjali (, , ; also called Gonardiya or Gonikaputra) was the name of one or more author(s), mystic(s) and philosopher(s) in ancient India. His name is recorded as an author and compiler of a number of Sanskrit works. The greatest of these a ...
seem to mention depictions of
Shiva
Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...
,
Skanda,
Visaka,
Vāsudeva
Vāsudeva (; ), later incorporated as Vāsudeva-Krishna (, "Krishna, son of Vasudeva Anakadundubhi, Vasudeva"),"While the earliest piece of evidence do not yet use the name Krsna...." in At the time of the Heliodorus pillar dedication to Vāsu ...
-
Krishna
Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...
and
Arjuna
Arjuna (, , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, �ɾd͡ʒun̪ə is one of the central characters of the ancient Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He is the third of the five Pandava brothers, and is widely regarded as the most important and renowned among them. ...
.
In particularly, the worship of
Balarama
Balarama (, ) is a Hindu god, and the elder brother of Krishna. He is particularly significant in the Jagannath tradition, as one of the triad deities. He is also known as Haladhara, Halayudha, Baladeva, Balabhadra, and Sankarshana.
The fir ...
-
Samkarshana and Vāsudeva-Krishna seems to have originated in Mathura, where they were revered as members of the five
Vrishni heroes, and spread from there.
Before the introduction of stone sculpture, there may have been an older tradition of using clay or wood to represent Indian deities, which, because of their inherent fragility, have not survived.
["The folk art typifies an older plastic tradition in clay and wood which was now put in stone, as seen in the massive Yaksha statuary which are also of exceptional value as models of subsequent divine images and human figures." in ] Apart from the local terracotta figurines generally showing female fertility deities, there are no early remains of such representations of Indian deities. Probably the earliest known Indian depiction of these Mathuran deities is a rock painting found at
Tikla, around 170 kilometers south of Mathura, on the road from Mathura to
Tumain and
Ujjain.
This rock painting is dated to the 3rd–2nd century BCE, based on the paleography of the
Brahmi
Brahmi ( ; ; ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system from ancient India. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such as 'lath' or ...
inscription accompanying it.
Here, the deities are depicted wearing a
dhoti with a peculiar headdress, and are shown holding their attributes: a plow and a sort of mace for Balarama, and a mace and a wheel for Vāsudeva. A third smaller character is added, forming what can be called a
Vrishni trio, in the person of a female, thought to be the Goddess
Ekanamsha
Ekanamsha (; ) is a Hindu goddess. She is primarily identified with the illusory power of Vishnu as Yogamaya.
The goddess is believed to have been worshipped by the Vrishnis. Many "kinship triads", depicting Vasudeva Krishna, Balarama, and ...
, who seems to hold a ''
Chatra'' royal umbrella.
The "earliest unambiguous" images of these deities, is an indirect testimony appearing with the coinage of the
Indo-Greek
The Indo-Greek Kingdom, also known as the Yavana Kingdom, was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic-era Ancient Greece, Greek kingdom covering various parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwestern India.
The term "Indo-Greek Kingdom" ...
king
Agathocles
Agathocles ( Greek: ) is a Greek name. The most famous person called Agathocles was Agathocles of Syracuse, the tyrant of Syracuse. The name is derived from and .
Other people named Agathocles include:
*Agathocles, a sophist, teacher of Damon
...
, who issued coins with the image of Indian deities in Indian style, together with legends in the Greek and
Brahmi script
Brahmi ( ; ; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system from ancient India. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such as ...
s, circa 180–190 BCE.
The coins were probably issued in an area not far west of Mathura, if not in Mathura itself, since they depict Vāsudeva, whose cult was famous in Mathura, and employ the Brahmi script, which was in use in the region, rather than the northwestern
Kharoshthi script.
The
Indo-Greeks may have played a major role in breaking the
Vedic
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed ...
tradition of representing deities through symbols only, rather than in human form, since
Greek art did not have any such restrictions.
The depictions of Indian deities, as witnessed by the Indo-Greeks transferred on their coinage, are generally thought to refer to Balarama-Samkarshana and Vāsudeva-Krishna, shown together with their rather unambiguous attributes, especially the
Gada mace and the
plow
A plough or (Differences between American and British spellings, US) plow (both pronounced ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses but modern ploughs ...
for the former, and the
Vishnu
Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...
attributes of the
Shankha
A Turbinella pyrum, shankha () has religious ritual importance in Hinduism.
In Hinduism, the shankha called panchajanya is a sacred emblem of the Hindu preserver deity Vishnu. It is still used as a trumpet in Hindu ritual, and in the past was us ...
(a pear-shaped case or conch) and the
Sudarshana Chakra wheel for the latter.
[ Osmund Bopearachchi, 2016]
Emergence of Viṣṇu and Śiva Images in India: Numismatic and Sculptural Evidence
/ref> The worship of these deities is known to have originated in Mathura before spreading to other areas of India,["No doubt, one may be tempted to associate the square copper coins of Agathocles displaying Sahkarshana and Väsudeva and bearing Brähmi as well as Greek inscription (Revue Numismatique, 1974, s.Vl, vol. XVI, pp. 8f) with Mathură, since that region was famous for the cult of Vāsudeva. But the cult could have become well-known also outside of Mathurā by the time of this Indo-Greek king or even in a much earlier age (Com. His. Ind., vol II, p. 883). However, the coins concerned should have been issued in an eastern area of the Indo-Greek kingdom, where Brāhmi, and not Kharoshthi, ( or Brähmi as well as Kharoshthi) was well-known. Such an area might have been not much to the west of Mathura" in ] especially since Krishna and his brother Balarama were born in Mathura to the Vrishni king Vasudeva
Vasudeva (; Sanskrit: वसुदेव ), also called Anakadundubhi (''anakas'' and ''dundubhis'' both refer to ''drums'', after the musicians who played these instruments at the time of his birth), is the father of the Hindu deities Krishna ( ...
. It is thought that local Indian images, predating the coins but now lost, may have served as models to the engravers. According to Osmund Bopearachchi, the parasol-like headdress of these deities is actually a misrepresentation of a shaft with a half-moon parasol on top ('' chattra''), as seen in later statues of Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...
s in Mathura
Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the states and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located south-east of Delhi; and about from the town of Vrindavan. In ancient ti ...
. Although the style is generally Indian, the boots or the scabbards may have been added by the Indo-Greeks. The heads of the deities are also adorned with billowing ribons.
A dancing goddess in Indian dress also appears on the coinage of Agathocles
Agathocles ( Greek: ) is a Greek name. The most famous person called Agathocles was Agathocles of Syracuse, the tyrant of Syracuse. The name is derived from and .
Other people named Agathocles include:
*Agathocles, a sophist, teacher of Damon
...
and Pantaleon, and she is often interpreted as Lakshmi
Lakshmi (; , , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, , ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity, beauty, fertility, sovereignty, and abundance. She along with Parvat ...
. According to Harry Falk, such acts of devotion towards foreign gods, as can also be seen in the dedication of the Heliodorus pillar
The Heliodorus pillar is a stone column that was erected around 113 BCE in central India in Besnagar (Vidisha), Madhya Pradesh. The pillar is commonly named after Heliodorus (identified by him as a Garuda-standard), who was an ambassador of the In ...
, was a logical practice for the Greeks, in order to appropriate the power of local deties: it "should not be regarded as a "conversion" to Hinduism, but rather as the result of a search for the most helpful local powers, upholding own traditions in a foreign garb."
Early stone sculpture in Mathura (180–70 BCE)
The period after 180 BCE has generally been called the "Sunga period", from the name of the Hindu Sunga Empire (c. 180–80 BCE) which replaced the Mauryan Empire
The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary sourc ...
in eastern India. This is now thought to be rather inadequate since the Sungas probably never ruled in Mathura: there is no literary, numismatic or epigraphic evidence of a Sunga presence in Mathura.
Following the demise of the Mauryan Empire and its replacement by the Sunga Empire in eastern India, numismatic, literary and epigraphic evidence suggest that the Indo-Greek
The Indo-Greek Kingdom, also known as the Yavana Kingdom, was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic-era Ancient Greece, Greek kingdom covering various parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwestern India.
The term "Indo-Greek Kingdom" ...
s, when they invaded India, occupied the area of Mathura for about a century from circa 160 BCE and the time of Menander I until approximately 60 BCE, with the Sungas remaining eastward of Mathura. An inscription in Mathura discovered in 1988, the " Yavanarajya inscription", mentions "The last day of year 116 of Yavana hegemony (''Yavanarajya'')", suggesting the presence of the Indo-Greeks in the 2nd–1st century BC in Mathura down to 57 BC. On the contrary, the Sungas, are thought to have been absent from Mathura, as no epigraphical remains or coins have been found, and to have been based to the east of the Mathura region. Coins of local Indian rulers of the Mitra dynasty, their names ending in "-mitra", but not using any regnal title such as "King", are also known from the same period and general area (150–50 BCE, mostly in the area of Sonkh), and were possibly engaged in a tributary relationship with the Indo-Greeks.[Indian Numismatic Studies K. D. Bajpai, Abhinav Publications, 2004, p.10]
/ref>
Stone art and architecture began being produced at Mathura at the time of "Indo-Greek hegemony" over the region. Some authors consider that Indo-Greek cultural elements are not particularly visible in these works, and Hellenistic influence is not more important than in other parts of India. Others consider that Hellenistic influence on Indian art, Hellenistic influence appears in the liveliness and the realistic details of the figures (an evolution compared to the stiffness of Mauryan art), the use of perspective from 150 BCE, iconographical details such as the knot and the club of Heracles
Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...
, the wavy folds of the dresses, or the depiction of bacchanalian
The Bacchanalia were unofficial, privately funded popular Roman festivals of Bacchus, based on various religious ecstasy, ecstatic elements of the Greek Dionysia. They were almost certainly associated with Rome's native cult of Liber, and proba ...
scenes:
The art of Mathura became extremely influential over the rest of India, and was "the most prominent artistic production center from the second century BCE". There is a remarkable unity in the style of artistic production across northern India during this early period, circa 150 BCE: the early style of Mathura is highly similar to contemporary examples found in Bharhut, Sanchi Stupa No. 2, Vidisha, Bhaja, Pauni, Amaravati
Amaravati ( , Telugu language, Telugu: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Guntur district on the right bank of the Krishna River, southwest of Vijayawada. The city derives its name from the nearby his ...
, Jaggayyapeta, Bhubaneswar
Bhubaneswar () is the capital and the largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. It is located in the Khordha district. The suburban region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Chakra ...
, Udayagiri (in Orissa
Odisha (), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is a state located in Eastern India. It is the eighth-largest state by area, and the eleventh-largest by population, with over 41 million inhabitants. The state also has the thir ...
), Pataliputra
Pataliputra (IAST: ), adjacent to modern-day Patna, Bihar, was a city in ancient India, originally built by Magadha ruler Ajatashatru in 490 BCE, as a small fort () near the Ganges river.. Udayin laid the foundation of the city of Pataliput ...
, Sarnath, Bhīta (near Allahabad
Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...
) and Kausambi.
Colossal anthropomorphic statues (2nd century BCE)
Some of the earliest works of art of the Mathura school are the Yakshas, monumental sculptures in the round of earth divinities that have been dated to the 2nd–1st century BCE. Yakshas seem to have been the object of an important cult in the early periods of Indian history, many of them being known such as Kubera
Kubera (, ) also known as Kuvera, Kuber and Kuberan, is the god of wealth, and the god-king of the semi-divine yakshas in Hinduism. He is regarded as Guardians of the directions, the regent of the north (''Dikpala''), and a protector of the ...
, king of the Yakshas, Manibhadra or Mudgarpani. The Yakshas are a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous or capricious, connected with water, fertility, trees, the forest, treasure and wilderness, and were the object of popular worship. Many of them were later incorporated into Buddhism, Jainism or Hinduism.
In the 2nd century BCE, Yakshas became the focus of the creation of colossal cultic images, typically around 2 meters or more in height, which are considered as probably the first Indian anthropomorphic productions in stone. The colossal size and quality of these statues shows that they cannot just have been the object of a rural popular cult, but were rather produced in urban workshops and worshipped in shrines by an affluent urban community. Although few ancient Yaksha statues remain in good condition, the vigor of the style has been applauded, and expresses essentially Indian qualities. They are often pot-bellied, two-armed and fierce-looking. The Parkham Yaksha
The Parkham Yaksha is a colossal statue of a Yaksha, discovered in the area of Parkham, in the vicinity of Mathura, 22.5 kilometers south of the city. The statue, which is an important artefact of the Art of Mathura, is now visible in the Mathura ...
, dated to circa 150 BCE on stylistic grounds and paleographical grounds, is monumental at 2.59 meters high. An inscription says "Made by Gomitaka, a pupil of Kunika. Set up by eight brothers, members of the Manibhadra congregation ("puga")." This inscription thus indicates that the statue represents the Yaksa Manibhadra. The Yashas are often depicted with weapons or attributes, such as the Yaksha Mudgarpani, dated circa 100 BCE, who in the right hand holds a '' mudgar'' mace, and in the left hand the figure of a small standing devotee or child joining hands in prayer.[Fig. 85 in ] It is often suggested that the style of the colossal Yaksha statuary had an important influence on the creation of later divine images and human figures in India. The female equivalent of the Yashas were the Yashinis, often associated with trees and children, and whose voluptuous figures became omnipresent in Indian art.
Some Hellenistic
In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...
influence, such as the geometrical folds of the drapery or the '' contrapposto'' walking stance of the statues, has been suggested. According to John Boardman, the hem of the dress in the monumental early Yaksha statues is derived from Greek art. Describing the drapery of one of these statues, John Boardman writes: "It has no local antecedents and looks most like a Greek Late Archaic mannerism", and suggests it is possibly derived from the Hellenistic art
Hellenistic art is the art of the Hellenistic period generally taken to begin with the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and end with the Roman Greece, conquest of the Greek world by the Romans, a process well underway by 146 BC, when the G ...
of nearby Bactria
Bactria (; Bactrian language, Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization in Central Asia based in the area south of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya) and north of the mountains of the Hindu Kush, an area ...
where this design is known. Under the Indo-Greeks, the cult of the Yakshas may also have been associated with the Bacchic cult of Dionysos. Since the time of Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
visiting a city called Nysa in northern India, the Greeks had identified local devotional practices as similar to their cult of Dionysos. They may have promoted a syncretic art which conflated Hellenistic Dionysiac imagery with the local cult of the Yakshas.
In the production of colossal Yaksha statues carved in the round, which can be found in several locations in northern India, the art of Mathura is considered as the most advanced in quality and quantity during this period. In later periods, from the turn of the millennium, Yashkas and Nagas evolved from being benevolent, powerful deities at the center of worship, to becoming frightening demonic creatures acting as subsidiary attendants in the major religions of Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism. They also became much smaller in size as they were dethroned by the new religions, suggesting the continuation of a cult at the domestic level.
Simple reliefs (circa 150–100 BCE)
Various reliefs in a style similar to those of Bharhut or Sanchi Stupa No. 2 can be found in Mathura, dating to approximately 150–100 BCE. A dedicatory inscription by Dhanabhuti at Mathura records the donation of railings and a gateway to the Buddhists samgha. It is now lost. The Dhanabhuti in the Mathura inscription could be the same person as King Dhanabhuti in the Bharhut inscription, about 322 kilometers away, and this could suggest some cultural, religious and artistic connection between the two areas. Reliefs are usually rather simple and consist in medallions on railings or balusters, structural elements of stone barriers or "vedikas" probably established around large stupa
In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...
s which have not remained to this day.
The "Mehrauli Yakshi", one of the highest quality work among early sculpture, was found in Mehrauli in the cultural area of Mathura. The high-relief and skillfully carved sculpture shows a female nature divinity, called a Yakshini
Yakshinis or Yakshis (, , Prakrit languages, Prakrit: ) are a class of female nature spirits in Hinduism, Hindu, Buddhism, Buddhist, and Jainism, Jain religious mythologies that are different from Hindu deities, Devas and Asuras and Gandharva ...
, holding on the branches of a tree in the '' Salabhanjika'' pose, with a long double braid of hair descending down to the girdle. The sculpture probably used to adorn the railing of a sacred site, such as a Stupa
In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...
. She is dated to 150 BCE, and prefigures by more than a century the ''Salabhanjika'' Yakshinis of Sanchi
Sanchi Stupa is a Buddhist art, Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the States and territories of India, State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometers from Raisen ...
. It is at the same time one of the most artistically beautiful and earliest of the Yakshi sculptures, with detailed patterning contrasting with the smoothness of the skin, standing at the beginning of a long tradition of Yashi sculptures in Mathura and India as a whole. There are many similarities with the Yakshis found in Bharhut, although the Mehrauli Yakshi has rounder volumes, characteristic of the Mathura style and technical proficiency in carving.
Some other sculpted figures also are dated to circa 150 BCE, due to their similarity with equivalent figures in Bharhut. This is the case of a male Chauri-bearer with its sharp lines and stiff expression, held at the Mathura Museum. Sir John Marshall considered the early reliefs of Mathura and Bharhut as part of the same tradition, calling it the "Bharhut-Mathura School", while the reliefs of Sanchi
Sanchi Stupa is a Buddhist art, Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the States and territories of India, State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometers from Raisen ...
were a second tradition, calling it the "Malwa School of Sanchi".
File:Mathura elephant and riders 2nd century BCE.jpg, upright=1.3, Crossbar medallion with elephant and riders, Gayatri Tila, Mathura, circa 150 BCE.
File:Male Bust - Shunga Period - Jamalpur - ACCN 00-I-15 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6094.JPG, Male Chauri bearer, Mathura, c.150 BCE.[ Male a Chauri-bearer discussed in ]
File:Yaksha Carrying Human Figure and Mudgar - 2nd Century BCE - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6089.JPG, Yaksha holding a '' mudgar'' mace and a child. 100 BCE.
File:Crossbar with Female Head in Lotus Medallion - Circa 2nd Century BCE - ACCN L22 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6113.JPG, Crossbar with female head in lotus medallion, circa 2nd Century BCE, Mathura.
File:Railing Pillars And Cross Bar Showing Bodhi Tree and Wheel of Law - 1st Century BCE - Mahadev Ghat Bharatpur Mound - ACCNS 16-1516 84-10 14-15-438 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6074.JPG, Buddhist railing with Bodhi tree and Wheel of Law. 1st century BCE
File:Crossbar - Sunga Period - ACCNs 38-2837 L-21 33-2322 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6178.JPG, Railing crossbars, 2nd-1st century BCE.
File:Male Horse Rider - Circa 1st Century BCE - ACCN 00-L2 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6116.JPG, Crossbar medallion with horse rider. 2nd-1st century BCE.
File:Vyala Yaksha - Circa 1st Century BCE - ACCN 42-2944 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6175.JPG, An anguiped, also seen in Hellenistic and Roman art, c. 1st century BCE.
Complex narrative reliefs (circa 100 BCE)
By 100 BCE, the reliefs represent more complex scenes, defining, according to Sonya Rhie Quintanilla, an age of "iconic diversification and narrative maturation", as shown by the Kankali Tila architrave representing centaurs
A centaur ( ; ; ), occasionally hippocentaur, also called Ixionidae (), is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse that was said to live in the mountains of Thessaly. In one version o ...
worshipping a Jain stupa, the dance of Nilanjana, and the renunciation of Rsabhanata, or the Katra architrave representing Brahmins with pots in a sacred precinct. Another relief from the same period shows a Linga
A lingam ( , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. The word ''lingam'' is found in the Upanishads and epic literature, wher ...
inside a railing on platform and under a pipal tree, being worshipped by Gandharvas, an early depiction of the phallic cult in Shivaism.
Several of these reliefs are the first known examples of Jain sculpture. These reliefs show more depth, and a greater richness in their composition. These examples of narrative reliefs, although few remain, are as refined and intricate as the better known narrative reliefs of Bharhut, Sanchi
Sanchi Stupa is a Buddhist art, Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the States and territories of India, State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometers from Raisen ...
or Amaravati
Amaravati ( , Telugu language, Telugu: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Guntur district on the right bank of the Krishna River, southwest of Vijayawada. The city derives its name from the nearby his ...
. The centaurs appearing in the Mathura reliefs, as in other places such as Bodh Gaya
Bodh Gayā is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple complex, situated in the Gaya district in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Bihar. It is famous for being the place where Gautam ...
, are generally considered as Western borrowings.
File:Centaur architrave Kankali Tila Mathura 100 BCE.jpg, Kankali Tila
''Kankali Tila'' (also Kankali mound or Jaini mound) is a mound located at Mathura in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The name of the mound is derived from a modern temple of Hindu goddess Kankali. The famous Jain stupa was excavated here ...
architrave with Centaurs worshipping a Jain Stupa
In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...
, Mathura, circa 100 BCE
File:Katra architrave, Mathura 100 BCE.jpg, The Katra architrave, possibly representing Brahmin
Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...
s and the cult of the Shiva
Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...
Linga
A lingam ( , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. The word ''lingam'' is found in the Upanishads and epic literature, wher ...
, Mathura, circa 100 BCE
Indo-Scythian period (circa 60 BCE–90 CE)
From around 70 BCE, the region of Mathura fell to the Indo-Scythian
The Indo-Scythians, also known as Indo-Sakas, were a group of nomadic people of Iranian peoples, Iranic Scythians, Scythian origin who migrated from Central Asia southward into the present-day regions of Afghanistan, Eastern Iran and the northwe ...
Northern Satraps under Hagamasha, Hagana and then Rajuvula. During this time, Mathura is described as "a great center of Śaka culture in India". Little is known precisely from that period on terms of artistic creation. The Indo-Scythian Rajuvula, ruler of Mathura, created coins which were copies of the contemporary Indo-Greek
The Indo-Greek Kingdom, also known as the Yavana Kingdom, was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic-era Ancient Greece, Greek kingdom covering various parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwestern India.
The term "Indo-Greek Kingdom" ...
ruler Strato II
Strato II Soter (, ''Strátōn B΄ ho Sotḗr''; epithet means "the Saviour") also known as Stratha, was an Indo-Greek king. He ruled to 10 CE according to Bopearachchi. R. C. Senior suggests that his reign ended perhaps a decade earlier. He ma ...
, with effigy of the king and representation of Athena
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...
on the obverse. Indo-Scythians are known to have sponsored Buddhism, but also other religions, as visible from their inscriptions and archaeological remains in northwestern and western India, as well as from their contributions to pre-Kushana sculpture in Mathura.
End of 1st century BCE
Some works of art dated to the end of the 1st century BCE show very delicate workmanship, such as the sculptures of Yakshis. A the very end of this period the Indo-Scythian ruler Rajuvula is also known for the famous Mathura lion capital which records events of the Indo-Scythian dynasty as well as their support of Buddhism. It is also an interesting example of the state of artistic attainment in the city of Mathura at the turn of our era. The capital portrays two lions reminiscent of the lions of the Pillars of Ashoka
The pillars of Ashoka are a series of Monolith, monolithic columns dispersed throughout the Indian subcontinent, erected—or at least inscribed with Edicts of Ashoka, edicts—by the 3rd Mauryan Emperor Ashoka the Great, who reigned from to ...
, but in a much cruder style. It also displays at its center a Buddhist triratana symbol, further confirming the involvement of Indo-Scythian rulers with Buddhism. The triratna is contained in a flame palmette, an element of Hellenistic iconography, and an example of Hellenistic influence on Indian art.
The fact that the Mathura lion capital is inscribed in Kharoshthi, a script used in the far northwest around the area of Gandhara
Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...
, attests to the presence of northwestern artists at that time in Mathura.
File:Railing Pillar with Woman and Onlookers LACMA M.85.2.2 (1 of 7).jpg, Yakshi with onlookers, dated 20 BCE.
File:Railing Pillar with Woman and Onlookers LACMA M.85.2.2 (2 of 7).jpg, Yakshi with onlookers (detail), dated 20 BCE.
File:Railing Pillar with Woman and Onlookers LACMA M.85.2.2 (3 of 7).jpg, Yakshi with onlookers (detail), dated 20 BCE.
File:Railing Pillar with Woman and Onlookers LACMA M.85.2.2 (6 of 7).jpg, Yakshi with onlookers (detail), dated 20 BCE.
Mathura sculpture styles in the 1st century CE
The abundance of dedicatory inscriptions in the name of Sodasa, the Indo-Scythian
The Indo-Scythians, also known as Indo-Sakas, were a group of nomadic people of Iranian peoples, Iranic Scythians, Scythian origin who migrated from Central Asia southward into the present-day regions of Afghanistan, Eastern Iran and the northwe ...
ruler of Mathura, and son of Rajuvula (eight such inscriptions are known, often on sculptural works), and the fact that Sodasa is known through his coinage as well as through his relations with other Indo-Scythian rulers whose dates are known, means that Sodasa functions as a historic marker to ascertain the sculptural styles at Mathura during his rule, in the first half of the 1st century CE. These inscriptions also correspond to some of the first known epigraphical inscriptions in Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
. The next historical marker corresponds to the reign of Kanishka
Kanishka I, also known as Kanishka the Great, was an emperor of the Kushan dynasty, under whose reign (–150 CE) the empire reached its zenith. He is famous for his military, political, and spiritual achievements. A descendant of Kujula Kadp ...
under the Kushans, whose reign began circa 127 CE. The sculptural styles at Mathura during the reign of Sodasa are quite distinctive, and significantly different from the style of the previous period circa 50 BCE, or the styles of the later period of the Kushan Empire
The Kushan Empire (– CE) was a Syncretism, syncretic empire formed by the Yuezhi in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. It spread to encompass much of what is now Afghanistan, Eastern Iran, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbe ...
in the 2nd century CE.
In-the-round statuary
Several examples of in-the-round statuary have been found from the period of Sodasa, such as the torsos of " Vrishni heroes", discovered in Mora, about 7 kilometers west of Mathura.[Dated 15 CE in ] These statues are mentioned in the Mora Well Inscription nearby, made in the name of the Northern Satraps Sodasa circa 15 CE, in which they are called '' Bhagavatam''. The statue fragments are thought to represent some of the five Vrishni heroes, possibly ancient kings of Mathura later assimilated to Vishnu
Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...
and his avatars, or, equally possible, the five Jain heroes led by Akrūra, which are well attested in Jain texts. In fact, the cult of the Vrishnis may have been cross-sectarian, much like the cult of the Yakshas.
The two uninscribed male torsos that were discovered are both of high craftsmanship and in Indian style and costume. They are bare-chested but wear a thick necklace, as well as heavy hearrings. The two torsos that were found are similar with minor variations, suggesting they may have been part of a series, which is coherent with the Vrishni interpretation. They share some sculptural characteristics with the Yaksha statues found in Mathura and dating to the 2nd and 1st century BCE, such as the sculpting in the round, or the clothing style, but the actual details of style and workmanship clearly belong to the time of Sodasa. The Vrishni statues also are not of the colossal type, as they would only have stood about 1.22 meters complete. The Mora Vrishnis function as an artistic benchmark for in-the-round statues of the period.
File:1st Jaina Tirthankara Rishabhanatha Torso - Circa 1st Century CE - ACCN 00-B-36 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 4958.JPG, 1st Jaina Tirthankara Rishabhanatha torso - Circa 1st Century
File:Four Fold Jain Image with Suparshvanath and Three Other Tirthankaras - Circa 1st Century CE - ACCN 00-B-67 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6023.JPG, Four-fold Jain image with Suparshvanath and three other Tirthankara
In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (; ) is a saviour and supreme preacher of the ''Dharma (Jainism), dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a ''Tirtha (Jainism), tirtha'', a fordable passage across ''Saṃsā ...
s - Circa 1st Century CE
File:Goat-headed Jain Mother Goddess - Circa 1st Century CE - ACCN 00-E-2 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 5991.JPG, Goat-headed Jain Mother Goddess, circa 1st Century CE
Jain reliefs
Many of the sculptures from this period are related to the Jain religion, with numerous relief showing devotional scenes, such as the Kankali Tila tablet of Sodasa in the name of Sodasa. Most of these are votive tablets, called ayagapata.[The Jain stûpa and other antiquities of Mathurâ by Smith, Vincent Arthu]
Plate XIV
/ref>
Jain votive plates, called " Ayagapatas", are numerous, and some of the earliest ones have been dated to circa 50–20 BCE. They were probably prototypes for the first known Mathura images of the Buddha. Many of them were found around the Kankali Tila
''Kankali Tila'' (also Kankali mound or Jaini mound) is a mound located at Mathura in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The name of the mound is derived from a modern temple of Hindu goddess Kankali. The famous Jain stupa was excavated here ...
Jain stupa in Mathura.
Notable among the design motifs in the ayagapatas are the pillar capitals displaying "Persian-Achaemenian" style, with side volutes, flame palmettes, and recumbent lions or winged sphinxes.
File:Parsvanatha ayagapata, Mathura circa 15 CE.jpg, The Jina Parsvanatha ayagapata, Mathura circa 15 CE, Lucknow Museum.
File:"Sihanamdika ayagapata", Jain votive plate, Kankali Tila, Mathura dated 25-50 CE.jpg, "Sihanāṃdikā ayagapata", Jain votive plate, dated 25-50 CE.
File:Holi relief, Mathura, c1st century CE.jpg, Jain votive plaque with Jain stupa, the "Vasu Śilāpaṭa" ayagapata, 1st century CE, excavated from Kankali Tila, Mathura.
File:Jain Narrative Relief Panel, mid 2nd century BCE.-1st century CE (18.4 x 61.6 cm) Brooklyn Museum 87.188.5.jpg, upright=1.5, Jain relief showing monks of the '' ardhaphalaka'' sect. Early 1st century CE.
File:Jain decorated tympanum from Kankali Tila, Mathura, 15 CE.jpg, Jain decorated tympanum from Kankali Tila, Mathura, 15 CE.
File:Persian Achaemenian style capitals in Mathura 15-50 CE.jpg, " Persian Achaemenian" style capitals appearing in ayagapatas, Mathura, 15-50 CE.
File:Jina Parsvanatha ayagapata, Mathura circa 15 CE.jpg, The Jina Parsvanatha (detail of an ayagapata), highly similar to the Isapur Buddha, Mathura circa 15 CE, Lucknow Museum.
File:Sculpture panel showing a Jain stupa and torana, Mathura 75-100 CE.jpg, ''Sivayasa Ayagapata'', with Jain stupa fragment, Kankali Tila
''Kankali Tila'' (also Kankali mound or Jaini mound) is a mound located at Mathura in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The name of the mound is derived from a modern temple of Hindu goddess Kankali. The famous Jain stupa was excavated here ...
, 75-100 CE.
Grapevine and garland designs (circa 15 CE)
A decorated doorjamb, the Vasu doorjamb, dedicated to deity Vāsudeva
Vāsudeva (; ), later incorporated as Vāsudeva-Krishna (, "Krishna, son of Vasudeva Anakadundubhi, Vasudeva"),"While the earliest piece of evidence do not yet use the name Krsna...." in At the time of the Heliodorus pillar dedication to Vāsu ...
, also mentions the rule of Sodasa, and has similar carving to the Mora doorjamb, found in relation with the Mora well inscription in a similar chronological and religious context. The decoration of these and many similar doorjambs from Mathura consists in scrolls of grapevines. They are all dated to the reign of Sodasa, circa 15 CE and constitute a secure dated artistic reference for the evaluation of datation of other Mathura sculptures. It has been suggested that the grapevine design had been introduced from the Gandhara area in the northwest, and maybe associated with the northern taste of the Satrap
A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median kingdom, Median and Achaemenid Empire, Persian (Achaemenid) Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic period, Hellenistic empi ...
rulers. These designs may also be the result of the work of northern artists in Mathura. The grapevine designs of Gandhara are generally considered as originating from Hellenistic art
Hellenistic art is the art of the Hellenistic period generally taken to begin with the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and end with the Roman Greece, conquest of the Greek world by the Romans, a process well underway by 146 BC, when the G ...
.
File:Vasu doorjamb horizontal.jpg, The Vasu doorjamb, dedicated to Vāsudeva
Vāsudeva (; ), later incorporated as Vāsudeva-Krishna (, "Krishna, son of Vasudeva Anakadundubhi, Vasudeva"),"While the earliest piece of evidence do not yet use the name Krsna...." in At the time of the Heliodorus pillar dedication to Vāsu ...
"in the reign of Sodasa", Mathura
Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the states and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located south-east of Delhi; and about from the town of Vrindavan. In ancient ti ...
, circa 15 CE. Mathura Museum, GMM 13.367
File:Mora doorjamb designs Mathura, 1st century CE.jpg, Reliefs of the Mora doorjamb with grapevine design, Mora, near Mathura
Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the states and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located south-east of Delhi; and about from the town of Vrindavan. In ancient ti ...
, circa 15 CE. State Museum Lucknow, SML J.526. Similar scroll designs are known from Gandhara, from Pataliputra, and from Greco-Roman art.
File:Garland bearers and Romaka Jataka 25-50 CE Mathura Museum.jpg, Garland bearers and Buddhist "Romaka" Jataka
The ''Jātaka'' (Sanskrit for "Birth-Related" or "Birth Stories") are a voluminous body of literature native to the Indian subcontinent which mainly concern the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. Jataka stories we ...
, in which the Buddha in a previous life was a pigeon
Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...
. 25-50 CE. Similar garland-bearer designs are known from Gandhara, from Amaravati and from Greco-Roman art.
Calligraphy (end 1st century BCE – 1st century CE)
The calligraphy of the Brahmi script
Brahmi ( ; ; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system from ancient India. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such as ...
had remained virtually unchanged from the time of the Maurya Empire
The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary source ...
to the end of the 1st century BCE. The Indo-Scythians, following their establishment in northern India introduced "revolutionary changes" in the way Brahmi was written. In the 1st century BCE, the shape of Brahmi characters became more angular, and the vertical segments of letters were equalized, a phenomenon which is clearly visible in coin legends and made the script visually more similarly to Greek. In this new typeface, the letter were "neat and well-formed". The probable introduction of ink and pen writing, with the characteristic thickenned start of each stroke generated by the usage of ink, was reproduced in the calligraphy of stone inscriptions by the creation of a triangle-shaped form at the beginning of each stroke. This new writing style is particularly visible in the numerous dedicatory inscriptions made in Mathura, in association with devotional works of art. This new calligraphy of the Brahmi script was adopted in the rest of the subcontinent of the next half century. The "new-pen-style" initiated a rapid evolution of the script from the 1st century CE, with regional variations starting to emerge.
First images of the Buddha (from circa 15 CE)
From around the 2nd-1st century BCE at Bharhut and Sanchi
Sanchi Stupa is a Buddhist art, Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the States and territories of India, State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometers from Raisen ...
, scenes of the life of the Buddha, or sometimes of his previous lives, had been illustrated without showing the Buddha himself, except for some of his symbols such as the empty throne, or the ''Chankrama'' pathway.["This aniconic tradition was shortly to disappear and the iconic types of the Buddha made their sudden appearance apparently simultaneously in the so-called Hellenic school of Gandhara and the Indian school of Mathura." ] This artistic device ended with the sudden appearance of the Buddha, probably rather simultaneously in Gandhara
Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...
and Mathura
Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the states and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located south-east of Delhi; and about from the town of Vrindavan. In ancient ti ...
, at the turn of the millennium.
Possibly the first known representation of the Buddha (the Bimaran casket and the Tillya Tepe Buddhist coin are other candidates), the "Isapur Buddha" is also dated on stylistic grounds to the reign of Sodasa, circa 15 CE; he is shown on a relief in a canonical scene known as ''"Lokapala
(, ), Sanskrit, Pāli, and Lhasa_Tibetan, Tibetan for "guardian of the world", has different uses depending on whether it is found in a Hinduism, Hindu or Buddhism, Buddhist context. In Hinduism, ''lokapāla'' refers to the Guardians of the ...
s offer Alms Bowls to the Buddha Sakyamuni"''. The symbolism of this early statue is still tentative, drawing heavily on the earlier, especially Jain, pictural traditions of Mathura, still far from the exuberant standardized designs of the Kushan Empire
The Kushan Empire (– CE) was a Syncretism, syncretic empire formed by the Yuezhi in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. It spread to encompass much of what is now Afghanistan, Eastern Iran, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbe ...
. It is rather unassuming and not yet monumental compared to the Buddha sculptures of the following century, and may represent one of the first attempts to create a human icon, marking an evolution from the splendid aniconic tradition of Buddhist art in respect to the person of the Buddha, which can be seen in the art of Sanchi
Sanchi Stupa is a Buddhist art, Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the States and territories of India, State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometers from Raisen ...
and Bharhut. This depiction of the Buddha is highly similar to Jain images of the period, such as the relief of Jina Parsvanatha on an ayagapata, also dated to circa 15 CE.
It is thought that the images of Jain saints, which can be seen in Mathura from the 1st century BCE, were prototypes for the first Mathura images of the Buddha, since the attitudes are very similar, and the almost transparent very thin garment of the Buddha not much different visually from the nakedness of the Jinas. Here the Buddha is not wearing the monastic robe which would become characteristic of many of the later Buddha images. The cross-legged sitting posture may have derived from earlier reliefs of cross-legged ascetics or teachers at Bharhut, Sanchi
Sanchi Stupa is a Buddhist art, Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the States and territories of India, State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometers from Raisen ...
and Bodh Gaya
Bodh Gayā is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple complex, situated in the Gaya district in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Bihar. It is famous for being the place where Gautam ...
. It has also been suggested that the cross-legged Buddhas may have derived from the depictions of seated Scythian kings from the northwest, as visible in the coinage of Maues
Maues (Greek language, Greek: ; (epigraphic); Kharosthi: , , called , on the Taxila copper plate; also called , in the Mathura lion capital inscription,) was the first Indo-Scythian king, ruling from 98/85 to 60/57 BCE. He invaded Indi ...
(90–80 BCE) or Azes (57–10 BC).["It has also been suggested that the early seated Buddha images owe something to the first-century BC representations of seated kings, as seen on coins of the northwest (nos 27 and 28)." Maues sitting cross-legged and Azes sitting cross-legged in ]
There has been a recurring debate about the exact identity of these Mathura statues, some claiming that they are only statues of Bodhisattavas, which is indeed the exact term used in most of the inscriptions of the statues found in Mathura. Only one or two statues of the Mathura type are known to mention the Buddha himself. This could be in conformity with an ancient Buddhist prohibition against showing the Buddha himself in human form, otherwise known as aniconism in Buddhism, expressed in the ''Sarvastivada
The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (; ;) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (third century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy in the First Millennium CE, 2018, p. 60. It was particular ...
vinaya
The Vinaya (Pali and Sanskrit: विनय) refers to numerous monastic rules and ethical precepts for fully ordained monks and nuns of Buddhist Sanghas (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). These sets of ethical rules and guidelines devel ...
'' (rules of the early Buddhist school of the Sarvastivada
The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (; ;) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (third century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy in the First Millennium CE, 2018, p. 60. It was particular ...
): ''""Since it is not permitted to make an image of the Buddha's body, I pray that the Buddha will grant that I can make an image of the attendant Bodhisattva. Is that acceptable?" The Buddha answered: "You may make an image of the Bodhisattava""''. However the scenes in the Isapur Buddha and the later Indrasala Buddha (dated 50-100 CE), refer to events which are considered to have happened ''after'' the Buddha's enlightenment, and therefore probably represent the Buddha rather than his younger self as a Bodhisattava, or a simple attendant Bodhisattva.
=Other reliefs
=
The Buddhist "Indrasala architrave", dated 50–100 CE, with a scene of the Buddha at the Indrasala Cave being attended by Indra
Indra (; ) is the Hindu god of weather, considered the king of the Deva (Hinduism), Devas and Svarga in Hinduism. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes
Indra is the m ...
, and a scene of devotion to the Bodhi Tree on the other side, is another example of the still hesitant handling of the human icon of the Buddha in the Buddhist art of Mathura. The Buddhist character of this architrave is clearly demonstrated by the depiction of the Bodhi Tree inside its specially built temple at Bodh Gaya
Bodh Gayā is a religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple complex, situated in the Gaya district in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Bihar. It is famous for being the place where Gautam ...
, a regular scene of Buddhism since the reliefs of Bharhut and Sanchi
Sanchi Stupa is a Buddhist art, Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the States and territories of India, State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometers from Raisen ...
. The depiction of the Buddha in meditation in the Indrasala Cave is also characteristically Buddhist. The Buddha already has the attributes, if not the style, of the later "Kapardin" statues, except for the absence of a halo.
=Vedic deities
=
Besides the hero cult of the Vrishni heroes or the cross-sectarian cult of the Yakshas, Hindu art only started to develop fully from the 1st to the 2nd century CE, and there are only very few examples of artistic representation before that time. The three Vedic gods Indra
Indra (; ) is the Hindu god of weather, considered the king of the Deva (Hinduism), Devas and Svarga in Hinduism. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes
Indra is the m ...
, Brahma
Brahma (, ) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the triple deity, trinity of Para Brahman, supreme divinity that includes Vishnu and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 212– ...
and Surya
Surya ( ; , ) is the Sun#Dalal, Dalal, p. 399 as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchaya ...
were actually first depicted in Buddhist sculpture, as attendants in scenes commemorating the life of the Buddha, even when the Buddha himself was not yet shown in human form but only through his symbols, such as the scenes of his Birth, his Descent from the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, or his retreat in the Indrasala Cave. These Vedic deities appear in Buddhist reliefs at Mathura from around the 1st century CE, such as Indra attending the Buddha at Indrasala Cave, where Indra is shown with a mitre
The mitre (Commonwealth English) or miter (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, see spelling differences; both pronounced ; ) is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of ...
-like crown, and joining hands.
=Early "Kapardin" statuary (end of 1st century CE)
=
The earliest types of "Kapardin" statuary (named after the "kapardin", the characteristic tuft of coiled hair of the Buddha) showing the Buddha with attendants are thought to be pre-Kushan, dating to the time of the "Kshatrapas" or Northern Satraps. Various broken bases of Buddha statues with inscriptions have been attributed to the Kshatrapas. A fragment of such a stele was found with the mention of the name of the donor as a "Kshatrapa lady" named Naṃda who dedicated the Bodhisattva image "for the welfare and happiness of all sentient beings for the acceptance of the Sarvastivada
The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (; ;) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (third century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy in the First Millennium CE, 2018, p. 60. It was particular ...
s", and it is considered as contemporary with the famous "Katra stele".
One of these early examples shows the Buddha being worshipped by the Gods Brahma
Brahma (, ) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the triple deity, trinity of Para Brahman, supreme divinity that includes Vishnu and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 212– ...
and Indra
Indra (; ) is the Hindu god of weather, considered the king of the Deva (Hinduism), Devas and Svarga in Hinduism. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes
Indra is the m ...
.
The famous "Katra Bodhisattava stele" is the only fully intact image of a "Kapardin" Bodhisattva remaining from the Kshatrapa period, and is considered as the foundation type of the "Kapardin" Buddha imagery, and is the "classical statement of the type".
In conclusion, the canonical type of the seated Bodhisattva with attendants commonly known as the "Kapardin" type, seems to have developed during the time the Indo-Scythian
The Indo-Scythians, also known as Indo-Sakas, were a group of nomadic people of Iranian peoples, Iranic Scythians, Scythian origin who migrated from Central Asia southward into the present-day regions of Afghanistan, Eastern Iran and the northwe ...
Northern Satraps were still ruling in Mathura, before the arrival of the Kushans. This type continued during the Kushan period, down to the time of Huvishka, before being overtaken by fully-dressed types of Buddha statuary depicting the Buddha wearing the monastic coat "Samghati".
Kushan period (ca. 90–300 CE)
Mathura became part of the Kushan Empire
The Kushan Empire (– CE) was a Syncretism, syncretic empire formed by the Yuezhi in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. It spread to encompass much of what is now Afghanistan, Eastern Iran, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbe ...
from the reign of Vima Kadphises (90–100 CE) and then became the southern capital of the Kushan Empire. Free-standing statues of the Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),*
*
*
was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...
are mass-produced around this time, possibly encouraged by doctrinal changes in Buddhism allowing to depart from the aniconism
Aniconism is the cultural absence of artistic representations ('' icons'') of the natural and supernatural worlds, or it is the absence of representations of certain figures in religions. The prohibition of material representations may only extend ...
that had prevailed in the Buddhist sculptures at Mathura, Bharhut or Sanchi
Sanchi Stupa is a Buddhist art, Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the States and territories of India, State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometers from Raisen ...
from the end of the 2nd century BCE. The Greco-Buddhist art
The Greco-Buddhist art or Gandhara art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between Ancient Greek art and Buddhism. It had mainly evolved in the ancient region of Gandhara, located in the northwestern fringe of t ...
of Gandhara appears to have fully developed around this time too, also under the rule of the Kushans, following on earlier imagery such as the Bimaran casket or the Butkara seated Buddha at the Butkara Stupa in Swat
A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations.
SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...
. In 2008 a second sculpture in the distinctive Mathura red sandstone was excavated at Taxila
Taxila or Takshashila () is a city in the Pothohar region of Punjab, Pakistan. Located in the Taxila Tehsil of Rawalpindi District, it lies approximately northwest of the Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area and is just south of the ...
in Gandhara (modern Pakistan).
Dynastic art of the Kushans in Mathura
The Kushans vigorously promoted royal portraiture, as can be seen in their dynastic sculptures from Bactria
Bactria (; Bactrian language, Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization in Central Asia based in the area south of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya) and north of the mountains of the Hindu Kush, an area ...
to the region of Mathura
Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the states and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located south-east of Delhi; and about from the town of Vrindavan. In ancient ti ...
. Monumental sculptures of Kushan rulers, particularly Vima Kadphises and Kanishka I
Kanishka I, also known as Kanishka the Great, was an emperor of the Kushan dynasty, under whose reign (–150 CE) the empire reached its zenith. He is famous for his military, political, and spiritual achievements. A descendant of Kujula Kadp ...
has been found in the ruins of the Temple of Mat in Mathura. The statues are characterized by their frontality and martial stance, with Kanishka being shown holding firmly his sword and a huge mace. They are wearing heavy coats and heavy riding boots typical of the clothing of Central Asian nomads at that time, irrespective of the warm climate of India. The coats are richly decorated with hundreds of pearls, which probably symbolize wealth. These grandiose displays of Kushan dynastic power were accompanied by surperlative regnal titles: the statue of Kanishka is inscribed in Brahmi script
Brahmi ( ; ; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system from ancient India. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such as ...
with the sentence "The Great King, King of Kings, Son of God, Kanishka".
To some extent, as the Kushans progressively adapted to life in India, their dress progressively became lighter, and representation less frontal and more natural, although they generally retained characteristic elements of their nomadic dress, such as the trousers and boots, the heavy tunics, and heavy belts.
File:Vima_Kadphises_statue_Mathura_Museum.jpg, Monumental statue of Vima Kadphises, 1st century CE, Mathura Museum
File:Chastana with costume details.jpg, Statue of the Saka Prince Chastana, with costume details. 2nd century CE. Mathura Museum
File:Kushan_devotee_Mathura.jpg, Kushan devotee, Mathura Museum
File:Kushan man in pointed cap.jpg, Saka or Kushan Prince in pointed cap. Mathura Museum
"Kapardin" Bodhisattva statuary (2nd century CE)
Buddhism and Buddhist art are already gained prominence in Mathura during the 1st century CE under the patronage of the Northern Satraps. The Kushans adopted the anthropomorphic image of the Buddha, and developed it into a standardized mode of representation, using "confident and powerful imagery" on a grand scale.
The early representation of the Buddha by the Kushans are those of the "Kapardin" Bodhisattva type, "Kapardin" referring to the coiled hair tuft on top of his head. The Buddha is shown with his appearance after Renunciation from princely life, after having abandoned his turban and his jewellery, but before enlightenment and Buddhahood, as he is only wearing a regular shawl and a dhoti, rather than the later "samghati" monastic dress. When inscribed, these statues invariably mention the "Bodhisattva" rather than the Buddha, except for one or two very rare examples. It is thought that the focus on Bodhisattva images may have been in conformity with an ancient Buddhist prohibition against showing the Buddha himself in human form, otherwise known as aniconism in Buddhism, expressed in the ''Sarvastivada
The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (; ;) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (third century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy in the First Millennium CE, 2018, p. 60. It was particular ...
vinaya
The Vinaya (Pali and Sanskrit: विनय) refers to numerous monastic rules and ethical precepts for fully ordained monks and nuns of Buddhist Sanghas (community of like-minded ''sramanas''). These sets of ethical rules and guidelines devel ...
'' (rules of the early Buddhist school of the Sarvastivada
The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (; ;) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (third century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy in the First Millennium CE, 2018, p. 60. It was particular ...
): ''""Since it is not permitted to make an image of the Buddha's body, I pray that the Buddha will grant that I can make an image of the attendant Bodhisattva. Is that acceptable?" The Buddha answered: "You may make an image of the Bodhisattava""''.
Statues of the "Kapardin" type inscribed with dates range from the year 2 of Kanishka
Kanishka I, also known as Kanishka the Great, was an emperor of the Kushan dynasty, under whose reign (–150 CE) the empire reached its zenith. He is famous for his military, political, and spiritual achievements. A descendant of Kujula Kadp ...
, to year 39 (129–166 CE). One dated example of statuary from that period is the Bala Bodhisattva, which, although discovered in Sarnath is thought to have been transported from the workshops of Mathura. The statue clearly embodies the state of artistic attainment under the rule of Kushan ruler Kanishka
Kanishka I, also known as Kanishka the Great, was an emperor of the Kushan dynasty, under whose reign (–150 CE) the empire reached its zenith. He is famous for his military, political, and spiritual achievements. A descendant of Kujula Kadp ...
. The Bala Boddhisattva is also nearly identical in style with other known statues from Mathura but definitely dated with its inscription. This is also the case of the Kimbell seated Bodhisattva, inscribed "4th year of Kanishka" and described as a Bodhisattva in its dedicatory inscription. Inscribed "Kapardin Bodhisattva" statues are unknown beyond "Year 39 of Kanishka" (166 CE), and after that time, the Gandharan type with monastic robe covering both shoulders would become prevalent well into the Gupta period
The Gupta Empire was an Indian empire during the classical period of the Indian subcontinent which existed from the mid 3rd century to mid 6th century CE. At its zenith, the dynasty ruled over an empire that spanned much of the northern Indian ...
, inscriptions now being made in the name of the Buddha, rather than the Bodhisattva.
The style of these statues is somewhat reminiscent of the earlier monumental Yaksha statues, usually dated to a few centuries earlier. On the contrary, despite other known instances of Hellenistic influence on Indian art, very little in Hellenistic style, if anything at all, can be seen in this type of statue. Especially the Greco-Buddhist art
The Greco-Buddhist art or Gandhara art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between Ancient Greek art and Buddhism. It had mainly evolved in the ancient region of Gandhara, located in the northwestern fringe of t ...
of Gandhara
Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...
seems to have had little to no influence.
Apart from the seated Buddha triads of Mathura, several seated Buddha triads in an elaborate style are also known from Gandhara
Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...
, which also belong to the early Kushan period, such as the '' Brussels Buddha'' which may be dated to the year 5 of Kanishka.
File:Head of Kapardin Buddha, Art of Mathura.jpg, The coiled tuft of hair, known as "Kapardin".
File:Seated_Buddha,_Ramnagar_Ahicchatra_(Mathurā)._National_Museum-New_Delhi_Dated_year_32.jpg, Seated Bodhisattva, inscribed "Year 32" of Kanishka
Kanishka I, also known as Kanishka the Great, was an emperor of the Kushan dynasty, under whose reign (–150 CE) the empire reached its zenith. He is famous for his military, political, and spiritual achievements. A descendant of Kujula Kadp ...
(159 CE), Mathura.
File:Anyor Buddha, Mathura.jpg, The "Anyor Buddha": one of the two known "Kapardin" statues mentioning "the Buddha": "''Susha (...) gave this Buddha image''",
File:Standing Buddha in Abhaya Mudra and Head Enriched by Halo with Scalloped Border - Govind Nagar - Early Kushan Period - ACCN 71-105 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 5967.JPG, Standing Buddha of the "Kapardin" type. Early Kushan period.
File:Buddhist_Triad_Peshawar_Museum.jpg, Type of the '' Brussels Buddha'', a similar Buddhist triad from Gandhara
Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...
, probably also dating to the year 5 of Kanishka.
Buddha coinage (Circa 130 CE)
From his capital of Mathura or alternatively from the capital of his territories of the northwest, Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...
, Kanishka
Kanishka I, also known as Kanishka the Great, was an emperor of the Kushan dynasty, under whose reign (–150 CE) the empire reached its zenith. He is famous for his military, political, and spiritual achievements. A descendant of Kujula Kadp ...
issued the first known representation of the Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),*
*
*
was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...
on a coin, and actually one of the first known representations of the Buddha that can be dated precisely, in this case, to the reign of Kanishka (127–150 CE). The Bimaran casket is usually dated to 50 CE, but with less certainty than the Kanishka coin.
Only six Kushan coins of the Buddha are known in gold (the sixth one is the centerpiece of an ancient piece of jewellery, consisting of a Kanishka Buddha coin decorated with a ring of heart-shaped ruby stones). All these coins were minted in gold under Kanishka I, and are in two different denominations: a dinar
The dinar () is the name of the principal currency unit in several countries near the Mediterranean Sea, with a more widespread historical use. The English word "dinar" is the transliteration of the Arabic دينار (''dīnār''), which was bor ...
of about 8 gm, roughly similar to a Roman aureus, and a quarter dinar of about 2 gm. (about the size of an obol). The Buddha is represented wearing the monastic robe, the '' antaravasaka'', the '' uttarasanga'', and the overcoat '' sanghati''. In general, the representation of the Buddha on these coins is already highly symbolic, and quite distinct from the more naturalistic and Hellenistic images seen in early Gandhara sculptures. On several designs a mustache is apparent. The palm of his right hand bears the Chakra
A chakra (; ; ) is one of the various focal points used in a variety of ancient meditation practices, collectively denominated as Tantra, part of the inner traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism.
The concept of the chakra arose in Hinduism. B ...
mark, and his brow bear the urna. An aureola
An aureola or aureole (diminutive of Latin ''aurea'', "golden") is the radiance of luminous cloud which, in paintings of sacred personages, surrounds the whole figure.
In Romance languages, the noun Aureola is usually more related to the d ...
, formed by one, two or three lines, surrounds him. The full gown worn by the Buddha on the coins, covering both shoulders, suggests a Gandharan model rather than a Mathuran one, and the style is clearly Hellenistic.
Kanishka also issued other types of Buddhist coinage, representation a "Shakyamuni Buddha" standing and walking, as well as a seated "Maitreya Buddha". It should be noted however that Maitreya is a Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...
and not a Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),*
*
*
was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...
according to the Buddhist cannon.
Buddha statues in "Samghati" monastic dress (mid-2nd century onward)
The last known inscribed "Kapardin Bodhisattava" statue is dated to the year 39 of the era started by Kanishka (166 CE). From around that time, the art of Mathura adopted the image of the Buddha with the monastic robe covering both shoulders, a likely derivation from the art of Gandhara. Statues from the art of Gandhara, dating to the 1st–2nd century CE, have been found in Mathura, such as the Saptarishi Tila statue, suggesting they may have influenced local art.
When inscribed, these standing statues mention the "Buddha" rather than the "Bodhisattva". Several are dated to the 2nd century CE, and became the prevalent Buddha type, displaying characteristics which would later be seen in Gupta art, especially with the ever thinner monastic dress seemingly sticking to the body of the Buddha. These statues of the Buddha display characteristics and attitudes seen in the Greco-Buddhist art
The Greco-Buddhist art or Gandhara art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between Ancient Greek art and Buddhism. It had mainly evolved in the ancient region of Gandhara, located in the northwestern fringe of t ...
of Gandhara
Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...
: the head of the Buddha is surrounded by a halo, the clothing covers both shoulders, the left hand hold the gown of the Buddha while the other hand form an Abbhiya mudra, and the folds in the clothing are more typical of the Gandharan styles.[Hellenism in Ancient India, Gauranga Nath Banerjee, p.96-98](_blank)
/ref>
In many respect, the standing Buddha of Mathura seems to be a combination of the local sculptural tradition initiated by the Yakshas with the Hellenistic designs of the Buddhas from the Greco-Buddhist art
The Greco-Buddhist art or Gandhara art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between Ancient Greek art and Buddhism. It had mainly evolved in the ancient region of Gandhara, located in the northwestern fringe of t ...
of Gandhara.
From this period, the quality of the sculptures starts to decrease, possibly owing to the progressive decline of the Kushan Empire.
File:Buddha in Abhaya Mudra - Kushan Period - ACCN 15-514 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6057.JPG, "Maholi Buddha": an early experiment with the "Samghati" type, using a checkered design, circa 150 CE.
File:Indian Museum Sculpture - Subjugation of Nalagiri, 2c, Mathura (9220813720).jpg, The Buddha in checkered monastic dress in the "Subjugation of Nalagiri", Bhutesvara Yakshis, 2nd century CE, Mathura.
File:Anyor Buddha of year 51.jpg, "Anyor Buddha" in Gandhara style, with inscription "year 51" (178 CE). Mathura.
File:Buddha Refuses Anupama - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 5938.JPG, "Buddha Refuses Anupama", late Kushan.
File:Buddha in Meditation - ACCN 34-2537 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 5929.JPG, The Buddha in meditation, late Kushan. Mathura.
First known Mahayana inscriptions and sculptures (153 CE)
The earliest known inscription related to the Mahayana
Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main ex ...
branch of Buddhism also appears around this time, with the inscribed pedestal of a standing Bodhisattva with the first known occurrence of the name of " Amitabha Buddha" in the "year 26 of Huvishka" (153 CE). The remains of the statue were found in Govindnagar, on the outskirts of Mathura. The relevant passage of the inscription unambiguously reads "''Bu-ddha-sya A-mi-tā-bha-sya''" in Brahmi script
Brahmi ( ; ; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system from ancient India. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such as ...
.
File:Buddhist decorated tympanum from Jamalpur Tila, Mathura, 150 CE.jpg, Decorated tympanum showing the Bodhisattva Maitreya
Maitreya (Sanskrit) or Metteyya (Pali), is a bodhisattva who is regarded as the future Buddhahood, Buddha of this world in all schools of Buddhism, prophesied to become Maitreya Buddha or Metteyya Buddha.Williams, Paul. ''Mahayana Buddhism: Th ...
, from Jamalpur Tila, Mathura, 150 CE.
File:Maitreya, Mathura, Kusana period, Musée Guimet.jpg, Bodhisattva Maitreya
Maitreya (Sanskrit) or Metteyya (Pali), is a bodhisattva who is regarded as the future Buddhahood, Buddha of this world in all schools of Buddhism, prophesied to become Maitreya Buddha or Metteyya Buddha.Williams, Paul. ''Mahayana Buddhism: Th ...
(water bottle on left thigh), Mathura, 2nd century CE.
Ornate Bodhisattvas (2nd–4th century CE)
A later type of ornate Bodhisattvas is known, seen in seated or standing statuary, which seems closely related to the bejeweled princely types of Bodhisattvas seen in the art of Gandhara. A dated statue of this type bears an inscription in the "Year 28 of the Kushan Emperor Vasishka", who ruled circa 247–265 CE. The jewelry of these Bodhisattva statues includes heavy necklaces, ornate turbans, bejeweled armbands, a string across the chest with small reliquaries. The types of princely ornaments of these statues were adopted for the depiction of Hindu gods Vishnu
Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...
or Surya
Surya ( ; , ) is the Sun#Dalal, Dalal, p. 399 as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchaya ...
in the following period.
File:Sanchi Bodhisattva with inscription of Year 28 of Kushan King Vasishka.jpg, Ornate Bodhisattva with inscription of "Year 28 of Kushan King Vasishka".
File:MET DP701395.jpg, Bejewelled Bodhisattva, 3rd–early 4th century.
File:Bodhisattva Holding Lotus Flowers - Kushan Period - Govind Nagar - ACCN 76-38 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5730.JPG, Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara holding lotus flower.
Other sculptural works
The Mathura sculptures incorporate many Hellenistic elements, such as the general idealistic realism, and key design elements such as the curly hair, and folded garment:
Specific Mathuran adaptations tend to reflect warmer climatic conditions, as they consist in a higher fluidity of the clothing, which progressively tend to cover only one shoulder instead of both. Also, facial types also tend to become more Indianized. Banerjee in ''Hellenism in ancient India'' describes "the mixed character of the Mathura School in which we find on the one hand, a direct continuation of the old Indian art of Barhut and Sanchi
Sanchi Stupa is a Buddhist art, Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the States and territories of India, State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometers from Raisen ...
and on the other hand, the classical influence derived from Gandhara".
In some cases however, a clear influence from the art of Gandhara can also be felt, as in the case of the Hellenistic statue of Herakles strangling the Nemean lion, discovered in Mathura, and now in the Kolkota Indian Museum, as well as Bacchanalian
The Bacchanalia were unofficial, privately funded popular Roman festivals of Bacchus, based on various religious ecstasy, ecstatic elements of the Greek Dionysia. They were almost certainly associated with Rome's native cult of Liber, and proba ...
scenes. Although inspired from the art of Gandhara, the portraiture of Herakles is not perfectly exact and may show a lack of understanding of the subject matter, as Herakles is shown already wearing the skin of the lion he is fighting.
The numerous Bacchanalian scenes with wine drinking and amorous carrousal, also echo similar scenes in the art of Gandhara, and seem to be related to the Dionysiac cult, but represent the Indian god Kubera
Kubera (, ) also known as Kuvera, Kuber and Kuberan, is the god of wealth, and the god-king of the semi-divine yakshas in Hinduism. He is regarded as Guardians of the directions, the regent of the north (''Dikpala''), and a protector of the ...
. Sculptured Bacchanalian panels seem to have functioned as supporting pedestals for offering bowls, as seen from the circular indent carved in the middle of the top area. They were likely set up in or near Buddhist shrines.
File:Vasantsena (cropped).jpg, Bacchanalian
The Bacchanalia were unofficial, privately funded popular Roman festivals of Bacchus, based on various religious ecstasy, ecstatic elements of the Greek Dionysia. They were almost certainly associated with Rome's native cult of Liber, and proba ...
scene. Mathura
File:Bacchanalian Kubera - Circa 1st Century CE - Pali Khera - ACCN 00-C-2 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 5958.JPG, Bacchanalian/ Kubera
Kubera (, ) also known as Kuvera, Kuber and Kuberan, is the god of wealth, and the god-king of the semi-divine yakshas in Hinduism. He is regarded as Guardians of the directions, the regent of the north (''Dikpala''), and a protector of the ...
scene. A man in Scythian/ Kushan costume appears behind Kubera in this scene (on the right)
File:Nāga between two Nāgīs, inscribed in the year 8 of Emperor Kanishka 135 CE.jpg, Image of a Nāga
In various Asian religious traditions, the Nāgas () are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...
between two Nāgīs, inscribed in "the year 8 of Emperor Kanishka". 135 CE.
File:Life of the Buddha Mathura.jpg, A Mathura relief showing the complete life of the Buddha, from birth to death. The clothing is Gandharan. 2nd Century CE
File:Mathura Herakles.jpg, The Mathura Herakles. A statue of Herakles strangling the Nemean lion discovered in Mathura. For a recent photograph se
Early 2nd century CE.
File:Bhutesvara_Yakshis_Mathura_reliefs_2nd_century_CE_front.jpg, Bhutesvara Yakshis, Mathura ca. 2nd century CE. On the reverse are sculpted scenes of the life of the Buddha, wearing the monastic dress.
Hindu art at Mathura under the Kushans
Hindu art started to develop from the 1st to the 2nd century CE, and there are only very few examples of artistic representation before that time. Almost all of the first known instances of Hindu art have been discovered in the areas of Mathura and Gandhara
Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...
. Still, Hindu images from the pre-Gupta period are very few at Mathura, and archaeological evidence suggest that Mathura remained mainly a center of Buddhist, rather than Vaishnava
Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, '' Mahavishnu''. It is one of the major Hindu denominations along wit ...
, activity even during the Gupta period itself.
Hindu art found its first inspiration in the Buddhist art of Mathura. The three Vedic gods Indra
Indra (; ) is the Hindu god of weather, considered the king of the Deva (Hinduism), Devas and Svarga in Hinduism. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes
Indra is the m ...
, Brahma
Brahma (, ) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the triple deity, trinity of Para Brahman, supreme divinity that includes Vishnu and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 212– ...
and Surya
Surya ( ; , ) is the Sun#Dalal, Dalal, p. 399 as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchaya ...
were actually first depicted in Buddhist sculpture from the 2nd–1st century BCE, as attendants in scenes commemorating the life of the Buddha, even when the Buddha himself was not yet shown in human form but only through his symbols, such as the scenes of his Birth, his Descent from the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, or his retreat in the Indrasala Cave. During the time of the Kushans, Hindu art progressively incorporated a profusion of original Hindu stylistic and symbolic elements, in contrast with the general balance and simplicity of Buddhist art. The differences appear in iconography rather than in style. It is generally considered that it is in Mathura, during the time of the Kushans, that the Brahmanical deities were given their standard form:
Cult images of Vāsudeva
Cult images of Vāsudeva
Vāsudeva (; ), later incorporated as Vāsudeva-Krishna (, "Krishna, son of Vasudeva Anakadundubhi, Vasudeva"),"While the earliest piece of evidence do not yet use the name Krsna...." in At the time of the Heliodorus pillar dedication to Vāsu ...
continued to be produced during the period, the worship of this Mathuran deity being much more important than that of Vishnu
Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...
until the 4th century CE. Statues dating to the 2nd and 3rd century show a possibly four-armed Vāsudeva standing with his attributes: the wheel, the mace and the conch, his right hand saluting in '' Abhaya mudra''. Only with the Gupta period, did statues focusing on the worship of Vishnu
Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...
himself start to appear, using the same iconography as the statues of Vāsudeva, but with the right hand holding a ''bijapuraka'' citrus instead of making the '' abhaya mudra'' gesture, and with the addition of an aureole starting at the shoulders.[For English summary, see page 80 ]
A few triads are known from Mathura, dated to the 1st–2nd century CE, showing Vāsudeva and Saṃkarṣaṇa with their attributes, together with a female standing in the middle, thought to be Ekanamsha
Ekanamsha (; ) is a Hindu goddess. She is primarily identified with the illusory power of Vishnu as Yogamaya.
The goddess is believed to have been worshipped by the Vrishnis. Many "kinship triads", depicting Vasudeva Krishna, Balarama, and ...
.
Some sculptures during this period suggest that the "Vyūha doctrine" ''(Vyūhavāda'', "Doctrine of the emanations") was starting to emerge, as images of ''" Chatur-vyūha"'' (the "four emanations of Vāsudeva") are appearing. The famous "Caturvyūha" statue in Mathura Museum is an attempt to show in one composition Vāsudeva
Vāsudeva (; ), later incorporated as Vāsudeva-Krishna (, "Krishna, son of Vasudeva Anakadundubhi, Vasudeva"),"While the earliest piece of evidence do not yet use the name Krsna...." in At the time of the Heliodorus pillar dedication to Vāsu ...
as the central deity together with the other members of the Vrishni clan of the Pancharatra system emanating from him: Samkarsana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha, with Samba
Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...
missing. The back of the relief is carved with the branches of a Kadamba tree, symbolically showing the genealogical relationship being the different deities. The depiction of Vāsudeva and later Vishnu was stylistically derived from the type of the ornate Bodhisattvas, with rich jewelry and ornate headdress.
Absence of Gopala-Krishna life scenes
On the other hands, reliefs depicting the life story of Krishna, the ''Krishna-lilas'' scenes, are extremely rare or possibly inexistent during the Kushan period: only one such relief is known, showing the father Vasudeva
Vasudeva (; Sanskrit: वसुदेव ), also called Anakadundubhi (''anakas'' and ''dundubhis'' both refer to ''drums'', after the musicians who played these instruments at the time of his birth), is the father of the Hindu deities Krishna ( ...
carrying his son Krishna across the waters of the Yamuna
The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Bandarpunch peaks of the Low ...
, but even its interpretation is contested, and the date may be attributable to the post-Gupta period. During this time, statues pertaining to Gopala-Krishna, the other main component of the amalgamated Krishna
Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...
, are absent from Mathura, suggesting the near absence of this cult in northern India down to the end of the Gupta period (6th century CE). The first major depictions of the legendary life of Gopala-Krishna appear in the sculptures of Badami in southern India from the 6th-7th century CE.
File:Surya - Kushan Period - Kankali Mound - ACCN 12-269 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5839.JPG, Sun God Surya
Surya ( ; , ) is the Sun#Dalal, Dalal, p. 399 as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchaya ...
in Indo-Scythian
The Indo-Scythians, also known as Indo-Sakas, were a group of nomadic people of Iranian peoples, Iranic Scythians, Scythian origin who migrated from Central Asia southward into the present-day regions of Afghanistan, Eastern Iran and the northwe ...
dress, also revered in Buddhism, 2nd century CE, Kankali Tila
''Kankali Tila'' (also Kankali mound or Jaini mound) is a mound located at Mathura in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The name of the mound is derived from a modern temple of Hindu goddess Kankali. The famous Jain stupa was excavated here ...
.
Shiva Linga worshipped by Kushan devotees Mathura circa 2nd century CE.jpg, Shiva
Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...
Linga
A lingam ( , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. The word ''lingam'' is found in the Upanishads and epic literature, wher ...
worshipped by Indo-Scythian, or Kushan devotees, 2nd century CE.
File:Karttikeya and Agni - Circa 1st Century CE - Katra Keshav Dev - ACCN 40-2883 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5717.JPG, War God Karttikeya
Kartikeya (/Sanskrit phonology, kɑɾt̪ɪkejə/; ), also known as Skanda (Sanskrit phonology, /skən̪d̪ə/), Subrahmanya (/Sanskrit phonology, sʊbɾəɦməɲjə/, /ɕʊ-/), Shanmukha (Sanskrit phonology, /ɕɑnmʊkʰə/) and Murugan ...
and Fire God Agni
Agni ( ) is the Deva (Hinduism), Hindu god of fire. As the Guardians of the directions#Aṣṭa-Dikpāla ("Guardians of Eight Directions"), guardian deity of the southeast direction, he is typically found in southeast corners of Hindu temples. ...
, Kushan Period, 1st century CE
File:The Hindu God Shiva LACMA M.69.15.1 (3 of 3).jpg, The Hindu God Shiva, 3rd century CE. Mathura or Ahichchhatra.
File:Standing Goddess Sashti Between Two Warriors Skanda and Visakha - Circa 2nd Century CE - ACCN 00-F-13 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5789.JPG, Kushan-era image of Shashthi between Skanda and Vishakha, c. 2nd century CE
File:CoinOfHuvishkaWithOisho.JPG, Three-faced four-armed Oesho with attributes, often identified with Shiva
Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...
, on a coin of Huvishka.
Jain art at Mathura under the Kushans
File:Mathura (Uttar pradesh), tirthankara parshvanatha, II sec.JPG, Parshvanatha, Kushan Period
File:Goat-faced God Harinaigamesha - Kushan Period - ACCN 2547 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 5995.JPG, Goat-faced God Harinaigamesha, Kushan Period, Mathura
File:Goat-headed God Naigamesha Presiding Deity of Childbirth among Ancient Jainas - ACCN 15-1115 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6067.JPG, Jain god of Childbirth Naigamesha, 1st-3rd century CE.
File:Zina in Meditation - Kushan Period - ACCN 00-863 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 5978.JPG, Jina in Meditation, Kushan Period, Mathura
File:Tirthankara Head - Kushan Period - ACCN 18-1536 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6040.JPG, Tirthankara
In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (; ) is a saviour and supreme preacher of the ''Dharma (Jainism), dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a ''Tirtha (Jainism), tirtha'', a fordable passage across ''Saṃsā ...
Head, Kushan Period, Mathura
File:Uttar pradesh, epoca kusana, testa di tirthankara, 150-200 ca..JPG, Tirthankara
In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (; ) is a saviour and supreme preacher of the ''Dharma (Jainism), dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a ''Tirtha (Jainism), tirtha'', a fordable passage across ''Saṃsā ...
Head, Kushan Period, Mathura
Gupta Empire period (4–6th century)
Following the decline of the Kushan Empire and the occupation of northern India by the Gupta Empire
The Gupta Empire was an Indian empire during the classical period of the Indian subcontinent which existed from the mid 3rd century to mid 6th century CE. At its zenith, the dynasty ruled over an empire that spanned much of the northern Indian ...
under Samudragupta (r.c. 335/350-375 CE), the art of Mathura continued to prosper and evolve. The Mathura school became one of the two major schools of Gupta Empire
The Gupta Empire was an Indian empire during the classical period of the Indian subcontinent which existed from the mid 3rd century to mid 6th century CE. At its zenith, the dynasty ruled over an empire that spanned much of the northern Indian ...
art, together with the school of Benares
Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges, Ganges river in North India, northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hinduism, Hindu world.*
*
*
* The city ...
, with Mathura school remaining the most important and the oldest. It is characterized by its usage of mottled red stone from Karri in the Mathura district, and its foreign influences, continuing the traditions of the art of Gandhara
Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...
and the art of the Kushans in Mathura.
The art of Mathura continued to become more sophisticated during the Gupta Empire, between the 4th and 6th centuries CE. The pink sandstone sculptures of Mathura evolved during the Gupta period (4th to 6th century CE) to reach a very high fineness of execution and delicacy in the modeling, displaying calm and serenity. The style becomes elegant and refined, with a very delicate rendering of the draping and a sort of radiance reinforced by the usage of pink sandstone. Artistic details tend to be less realistic, as seen in the symbolic shell-like curls used to render the hairstyle of the Buddha, and the ornate halos around the head of the Buddhas. The art of the Gupta is often considered as the pinnacle of Indian Buddhist art, achieving a beautiful rendering of the Buddhist ideal.
Gupta art is also characterized by an expansion of the Buddhist pantheon, with a high importance given to the Buddha himself and to new deities, including Bodhisattvas
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, ''Enlightenment in Buddhism, bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal n ...
such as Avalokitesvara or divinities of Bramanical inspiration, and less focus on the events of the life of the Buddha which were abundantly illustrated through Jataka
The ''Jātaka'' (Sanskrit for "Birth-Related" or "Birth Stories") are a voluminous body of literature native to the Indian subcontinent which mainly concern the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. Jataka stories we ...
stories in the art of Bharhut and Sanchi
Sanchi Stupa is a Buddhist art, Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the States and territories of India, State of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometers from Raisen ...
(2nd–1st centuries BCE), or in the Greco-Buddhist art
The Greco-Buddhist art or Gandhara art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between Ancient Greek art and Buddhism. It had mainly evolved in the ancient region of Gandhara, located in the northwestern fringe of t ...
of Gandhara
Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...
(1st–4th centuries CE).
The Gupta art of Mathura was very influential throughout northern India, accompanied by a reducing of foreign influences. It was also extremely influential in the development of Buddhist art
Buddhist art is visual art produced in the context of Buddhism. It includes Buddha in art, depictions of Gautama Buddha and other Buddhas and bodhisattvas in art, Buddhas and bodhisattvas, notable Buddhist figures both historical and mythical, ...
almost everywhere in the rest of Asia.
File:MET DT237.jpg, Standing Buddha, late 5th century
File:Standing Buddha, Gupta dynasty, 320-485, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, India, sandstone - Freer Gallery of Art - DSC05111.JPG, Standing Buddha, Gupta dynasty, 320–485, Mathura
File:Standing Buddha Set-up by Buddist Monk Yasadinna - 434 CE - Govind Nagar - ACCN 76-25 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5548 (retouched).jpg, Standing Buddha, inscribed Gupta Era year 115 (434 CE), Mathura.
File:Buda Gupta Guimet 01.JPG, Head of a Buddha, 6th century.
Hindu art at Mathura under the Guptas
Under the Guptas, Mathura remained primarily a center of Buddhist artistic activity and worship, but a few Hindu sculptures started to appear. The first known creation of the Guptas relating to Hindu art at Mathura is an inscribed pillar recording the installation of two Shiva
Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...
Linga
A lingam ( , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. The word ''lingam'' is found in the Upanishads and epic literature, wher ...
s in 380 CE under Chandragupta II
Chandragupta II (r.c. 375–415), also known by his title Vikramaditya, as well as Chandragupta Vikramaditya, was an emperor of the Gupta Empire. Modern scholars generally identify him with King Chandra of the Iron pillar of Delhi, Delhi iron ...
, Samudragupta's successor.
Development of the iconography of Vishnu
Until the 4th century CE, the worship of Vāsudeva-Krishna seems to have been much more important than that of Vishnu. With the Gupta period, statues focusing on the worship of Vishnu
Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...
start to appear, in the form of an evolution based on the earlier statues of Vāsudeva-Krishna. Many of the statues of Vishnu appearing from the 4th century CE, such as the ''Vishnu Caturanana'' ("Four-Armed"), use the attributes and the iconography of Vāsudeva-Krishna, but add an aureole starting at the shoulders.
Other statues of Vishnu show him as three-headed (possibly with an implied fourth head in the back), the '' Vaikuntha Chaturmurti'' type, where Vishnu or his human emanation Vāsudeva-Krishna is shown with a human head, flanked by the muzzle of a boar (his avatar Varaha
Varaha (, , "boar") is the avatar of the Hinduism, Hindu god Vishnu, in the form of a wild boar, boar. Varaha is generally listed as third in the Dashavatara, the ten principal avatars of Vishnu.
In legend, when the demon Hiranyaksha steals ...
) and the head of a lion (his avatar Narasimha
Narasimha (, , or , ), is the fourth avatara of the Hindu god Vishnu in the Satya Yuga. He incarnated as a part-lion, part-man and killed Hiranyakashipu, ended religious persecution and calamity on earth, and restored dharma. Narasimha has th ...
), two of his most important and ancient avatars, laid out upon his aureole. A fourth avatar is sometimes shown in the back of the sculptures of Kashmir
Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...
, showing the avatar Trivikrama, but never in the statuary of Mathura. Recent scholarship considers that these "Vishnu" statues still show the emanation Vāsudeva Krishna as the central human-shaped deity, rather than the Supreme God Vishnu himself.
A further variation is Vishnu as three-headed cosmic creator, the '' Visnu Visvarupa'', showing Vishnu with a human head, again flanked by the muzzle of a boar the head of a lion, but with a multitude of beings on his aureole, symbol of the numerous creations and emanations resulting from his creative power. These sculptures can be dated to the 5th century CE.
Incorporation of Lakshmi
In the 3rd–4th century CE, Lakshmi
Lakshmi (; , , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, , ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity, beauty, fertility, sovereignty, and abundance. She along with Parvat ...
, which had been an independent Goddess of prosperity and luck, was incorporated in the Vaishnava
Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, '' Mahavishnu''. It is one of the major Hindu denominations along wit ...
pantheon as the consort of Vishnu
Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...
. She thus became the Hindu goddess of wealth, good fortune, prosperity and beauty.
File:Inscribed Pillar - Recording Installation of Two Shiva Lingas by Udita Acharya in the Reign of Chandragupta Vikramaditya - 380 CE - Rangeshwar Temple - ACCN 29-1931 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5503.JPG,
File:Vishnu of Mathura, 5th century.jpg, Vishnu
Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...
''Caturanana'' ("Four-Armed"), 5th century, Mathura
File:Bust of Brahma - Circa 6th Century CE - Mathura - Uttar Pradesh - Indian Museum - Kolkata 2013-04-10 7756.JPG, Bust of Brahma
Brahma (, ) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the triple deity, trinity of Para Brahman, supreme divinity that includes Vishnu and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 212– ...
, Circa 6th Century CE
File:Vishnu, Gupta artefacts 07, National Museum, New Delhi.jpg, Vishnu, gupta period, mathura
File:Narasimha, the Man-Lion Avatar of Vishnu LACMA M.81.90.20.jpg , Narasimha
Narasimha (, , or , ), is the fourth avatara of the Hindu god Vishnu in the Satya Yuga. He incarnated as a part-lion, part-man and killed Hiranyakashipu, ended religious persecution and calamity on earth, and restored dharma. Narasimha has th ...
, early 6th century,Mathura
File:Trivikram Vishnu - Gupta Period - ACCN 70-58 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5411.JPG, Trivikrama ("Three strides") Vishnu, Mathura, Gupta period.
Jain art under the Guptas
File:Seated Jain Tirthankara - Circa 5th Century CE - ACCN 00-B-1 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5400.JPG, Seated Jain Tirthankara
In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (; ) is a saviour and supreme preacher of the ''Dharma (Jainism), dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a ''Tirtha (Jainism), tirtha'', a fordable passage across ''Saṃsā ...
, circa 5th Century CE, Mathura.
File:Shrine with Four Jinas (Rishabhanatha (Adinatha)), Parshvanatha, Neminatha, and Mahavira) LACMA M.85.55 (1 of 4).jpg, ''Chaumkha'', LACMA, circa 6th Century CE
File:Rishabhanatha - First Jain Tirthankara - Circa 6th Century CE - Katra Keshav Dev - ACCN 12-2-68 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5404.JPG, Rishabhanatha, circa 6th Century CE
File:Uttar pradesh, jaina tirthankara parshvanatha con cappuccio di serpenti, vi secolo.jpg, Parshvanatha, circa 6th Century CE
Colossal Head of Jina - Gupta Period - Kankali Mound - ACCN 00-B-61 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5453.JPG, Colossal Head of Jina, Gupta Period, Jain temple of Kankali Tila
''Kankali Tila'' (also Kankali mound or Jaini mound) is a mound located at Mathura in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The name of the mound is derived from a modern temple of Hindu goddess Kankali. The famous Jain stupa was excavated here ...
File:Sarvatobhadra Jain - Circa 6-7th Century CE - ACCN 00-B-65 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5442.JPG, ''Chaumkha'', Mathura Museum, circa 6th Century CE
Decline with the invasion of the Alchon Huns (6th century CE)
The decline of the Gupta Empire
The Gupta Empire was an Indian empire during the classical period of the Indian subcontinent which existed from the mid 3rd century to mid 6th century CE. At its zenith, the dynasty ruled over an empire that spanned much of the northern Indian ...
was accompanied by the invasions and the wide-scale destructions of the ''Hunas'' Alchon Huns circa 460–530 CE, and an ensuing disorganization of society. These events mark the end of Classical Indian civilisation.[The First Spring: The Golden Age of India by Abraham Eral]
pp. 48–
/ref> The art of Mathura suffered greatly from the destructions brought by the Hunas, as did the art of Gandhara in the northwest, and both schools of art were nearly wiped out under the rule of the Huna Mihirakula.
Medieval period (7th–16th century)
The Medieval period
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...
followed, in which Hindu art became largely prevalent in the art of Mathura and India as a whole. It was accompanied by the decline of Buddhism in the Indian subcontinent.
In many ways, Gupta art had represented the zenith of the art of Mathura, with its beautiful and elegant creations. In the medieval period, efforts were made at emulating Gupta art, but the technical level in sculpture decreased significantly.["The art in the Gupta age had reached its zenith achieving the highest aim in harmonising the beauty with spirit. The Medieval artist for some time strived hard to follow the Gupta idiom but could not successfully handle the chisel" in ] Many of the qualities found in Gupta art start to vanish during this period, such as the spituality of the sculptures, their elegant slimness and suppleness. As the country disintegrated, so did the arts, the artistic rendering becoming coarse, formal and stereotyped. Some decadent effects are obtained by the increase in ornament, the enlargement of crowns, the multiplication of arms and the profusion of attendant deities. The rendering of the human figure becomes rather artificial and highly stylized, relying heavily on the curbed Tribhanga pose.
Hindu art in the Medieval period
File:Balarama - Early Mediaeval Period - Maholi - ACCN 18-1515 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5791.JPG, Balarama
Balarama (, ) is a Hindu god, and the elder brother of Krishna. He is particularly significant in the Jagannath tradition, as one of the triad deities. He is also known as Haladhara, Halayudha, Baladeva, Balabhadra, and Sankarshana.
The fir ...
from Mathura, Early Medieval period (8th-13th century CE).
File:Sarvatobhadra Shiva Linga Representing Brahma Vishnu Maheshwar and Surya - Circa 9th Century CE - ACCN TAN-2008 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5307.JPG, Sarvatobhadra Shiva Linga Representing Brahma Vishnu Maheshwar and Surya, Circa 9th Century CE
File:Architectural Fragment with Divine Figures - Circa 10th Century CE - ACCN 74-10 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5000.JPG, Architectural Fragment with Divine Figures, circa 10th century CE
File:Decorative Door Jamb - Medieval Period - ACCN 00-R-1 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5030.JPG, Decorative Door Jamb - Medieval Period
File:Durga - Mediaeval Period - Manasi Ganga - ACCN 87-4 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5088.JPG, Durga, Medieval Period
File:Fire God - Medieval Period - Radhakund - ACCN 00-D-24 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5297.JPG, Fire God, Medieval Period
File:Four-armed Seated Vishnu in Meditation - Mediaeval Period - Pannapur - ACCN 14-379 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5275.JPG, Four-armed Seated Vishnu
Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...
in Meditation, Mediaeval Period
File:Standing Surya - Mediaeval Period - ACCN 84-60 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5137.JPG, Standing Surya, Medieval Period
File:Standing Twin Vishnu - Circa 10th Century CE - Gokul Barrage - ACCN 93-31 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5272.JPG, Standing Twin Vishnu, Circa 10th Century CE
File:Ten-armed Ganesha - Mediaeval Period - Rataul - ACCN 88-12 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5285.JPG, Ten-armed Ganesha, Medieval Period
Jain art in the Medieval period
Jain art continued to be quite active during the period, with several known and dated works of art.
File:1st Jain Tirthankara Rishabhanatha - Circa 8th Century CE - Barsana - ACCN 18-1504 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5082.JPG, 1st Jain Tirthankara Rishabhanatha, Circa 8th Century CE, Barsana
File:Ambika - Mediaeval Period - ACCN 00-D-7 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5409.JPG, Ambika, Medieval Period
File:Jain Goddess Chakreshwari - Kankali Mound - Circa 10th Century CE - ACCN 00-D-6 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5387.JPG, Jain Goddess Chakreshwari, Kankali Mound, Circa 10th Century CE
File:Jain Tirthankar Parshwanath - 1014 CE - Kagarol - ACCN 40-2874 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5075.JPG, Jain Tirthankara Parshwanath, inscribed 1014 CE, Kagarol
File:Jain Tirthankara Neminath - Circa 12th Century CE - ACCN 00-B-77 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5079.jpg, Jain Tirthankara Neminath, Circa 12th Century CE
Sack of Mathura by Mahmud of Ghazni (1018 CE)
In 1018, Mahmud of Ghazni
Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Sabuktigin (; 2 November 971 – 30 April 1030), usually known as Mahmud of Ghazni or Mahmud Ghaznavi (), was Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire, ruling from 998 to 1030. During his reign and in medieval sources, he is usuall ...
, ruler of the Ghaznavid Empire
The Ghaznavid dynasty ( ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a Persianate Muslim dynasty of Turkic peoples, Turkic ''mamluk'' origin. It ruled the Ghaznavid Empire or the Empire of Ghazni from 977 to 1186, which at its greatest extent, extended from the Oxus ...
, laid waste to the city of Mathura, which was "ruthlessly sacked, ravaged, desecrated and destroyed". In particular, Al-utbi mentioned in work Tarikh-e-yamini, that Mahmud Ghaznavi destroyed a "great and magnificent temple" in Mathura. According to Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah, writing an "History of Hindustan" in the 16th-17th century, the city of Mathura was the richest in India, and was consecrated to Vāsudeva-Krishna. When it was attacked by Mahmud of Ghazni, "all the idols" were burnt and destroyed during a period of twenty days, gold and silver was smelted for booty, and the city was burnt down.
Despite the destructions, some level of artistic production continued afterward, as some Jain statues for example are dated to several decades after the 1018 sack of the city.
Early modern to modern period (16th–21st century)
The art of Mathura in the Early modern period
The early modern period is a Periodization, historical period that is defined either as part of or as immediately preceding the modern period, with divisions based primarily on the history of Europe and the broader concept of modernity. There i ...
was going through a lower period of activity, with comparatively fewer remaining works of art.
File:Balarama - Circa 18th Century CE - ACCN 80-6 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5347.JPG, Balarama
Balarama (, ) is a Hindu god, and the elder brother of Krishna. He is particularly significant in the Jagannath tradition, as one of the triad deities. He is also known as Haladhara, Halayudha, Baladeva, Balabhadra, and Sankarshana.
The fir ...
, circa 18th Century CE
File:Krishna Lifting Govardhan Mound - Circa 19th Century CE - ACCN 88-147 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5351.JPG, Krishna Lifting Govardhan Mound, circa 19th Century CE
File:Lakshmi Narayan Seated on Garuda - Bronze - Circa 18th Century CE - ACCN 47-3345 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6611.JPG, Lakshmi Narayan Seated on Garuda - Bronze - Circa 18th Century CE
File:Lord Krishna Killing to Kaliyanaga Demon - Bronze - Modern Age - ACCN 85-182 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6620.JPG, Lord Krishna Killing to Kaliyanaga Demon, Bronze, Modern Age
File:Man Milking Cow with Calf - Bronze - Modern Age - ACCN 83-181 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6539.JPG, Man Milking Cow with Calf, Bronze, Modern Age
File:Stupa - Bronze - Modern Age - ACCN 34-2478 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6584.JPG, Stupa, Bronze, Modern Age
File:Kartikeya - Modern Period - ACCN TAN-63 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-23 5061.JPG, Kartikeya
Kartikeya (/Sanskrit phonology, kɑɾt̪ɪkejə/; ), also known as Skanda (Sanskrit phonology, /skən̪d̪ə/), Subrahmanya (/Sanskrit phonology, sʊbɾəɦməɲjə/, /ɕʊ-/), Shanmukha (Sanskrit phonology, /ɕɑnmʊkʰə/) and Murugan ...
, Modern Period
See also
* Indian art
* Architecture of India
Indian architecture is rooted in the History of India, history, Culture of India, culture, and Indian religions, religion of India. Among several architectural styles and traditions, the best-known include the many varieties of Hindu temple a ...
* Indo-Greek art
* Gupta art
* Mauryan art
* Kushan art
Kushan art, the art of the Kushan Empire in northern India, flourished between the 1st and the 4th century CE. It blended the traditions of the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara, influenced by Hellenistic artistic canons, and the more Indian Mathura ...
* Hoysala architecture
Hoysala architecture is the building style in Hindu temple architecture developed under the rule of the Hoysala Empire between the 11th and 14th centuries, in the region known today as Karnataka, a States and territories of India, state of Indi ...
* Vijayanagara architecture
Vijayanagara architecture of 1336–1565 CE was a notable building idiom that developed during the rule of the imperial Hindu Vijayanagara Empire. The empire ruled South India, from their regal capital at Vijayanagara, on the banks of the Tung ...
* Greco-Buddhist art
The Greco-Buddhist art or Gandhara art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between Ancient Greek art and Buddhism. It had mainly evolved in the ancient region of Gandhara, located in the northwestern fringe of t ...
* Chola art and architecture
* Pallava art and architecture
* Badami Chalukya architecture
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{Mathura Museum
Indian art
Indian Buddhist sculpture
art
Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...