ARTH183 1st Edition Lecture 5Outline of Last Lecture I. Gupta Period ContinuedA. Sculpture at Sarnatha. “Standing Buddha”b. “First Sermon”-First Sermon iconography-Signatures of Gupta styleII. Cave Temple Site in Deccan Region at AjantaA. Cave temples: history, use, patronage, techniqueB. “Interior of Chaitya Hall (Cave 19)”a. FormC. “Interior of Cave 4”a. Form (vihara)b. DecorationD. “Visvantara Jataka in Cave 17”a. Content/narrative (jataka), styleOutline of Current Lecture I. HinduismA. Definition/Description a. Polytheism-Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, The Great Goddessb. Beliefs-Samsara, karma, nirvana/moksha, BrahmanII. Early Hindu Art: UryagiriA. SignificanceB. “Cave 6” exterior wall carvings: Iconography and stylea. Vishnub. Durgac. GaneshaIII. Early Hindu Art: DeogarhThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.A. “Vishnu Temple”: Significance, forma. “Vishnu Reclining on the Serpent Ananta”: Iconography, styleCurrent LectureHinduismHinduism=a term created in the 19th century by the British to describe Indian religious beliefs; a complex body of beliefs that pre-dates Buddhism. Includes worship of local, minor deities and major ones and a set of philosophical beliefs. Hindu religious texts have a wide variety of subjects, including some contradictions. There are many ways to practice Hinduism-the variety of avenues for approaching god is compared to the many different ways one can go about climbing a mountain-A polytheistic religion where gods take on multiple different aspects and forms; often need close, careful iconographical reading to determine identities. There are 3 major deities with particular roles in the creation and continuation of the universe: Brahma (Creator), Vishnu (Protector), and Shiva (Destroyer, but not evil). Vishnu and Shiva both have major cults*Hindus believe in a universal life cycle (the universe is created, destroyed, created again, etc.)*The Great Goddess: Female deity, normally manifested in some other form; every other female goddess is considered one of her forms. 2 of these are Lakshmi (consort of Vishnu) and Parvati (consort of Shiva)-Buddhism rose as a reaction against Hindu beliefs, but it also has similarities: Ideas of samsara, karma, nirvana (also called moksha in Hinduism)*Hindus conceive of nirvana not as a snuffing out but as reunification with the Universal Godhead, Brahman (transcendent, formless deity that gives rise to the world of the senses)Early Hindu Art at UdayagiriLocated in the Gupta kingdom near Sanchi, this Gupta period cave temple site is important as the earliest site with a whole group of representations of Hindu deities; they may have started being created when Buddhists started doing so with their own religion.-“Cave 6.” Udayagiri. Gupta Dynasty, c. 401 C.E.: Exterior wall carvings of the cavetemple; a lot of the earliest works are images of Vishnu (primary deity of the Gupta kings), dated to the time of Chandragupta II. There is a row of carved niches flanking guardian figures (muscular, frightening figures meant to scare away and keep out evil) on either side of the door*Vishnu iconography: Male, wears garland of botanical elements (used to tie the universe together), conical headdress, draped garment around waist, has 4 arms (very common to see Hindu deities with multiple heads or arms) all doing/holding somethingdifferent…here, 2 hold on to the garland, and 2 rest on personifications of 2 of his attributes-a mace (shown as female) and a chakra (circular throwing weapon, shown as male). Vishnu also sometimes holds a conch shell.*Style: More conservative-frontal figure, evenly balanced weight, soft, fleshy body, wide open eyes and slight smile (somewhat like Kushan period Mathura style)-“Durga Slaying the Buffalo Demon”: Durga=terrifying form of the Great Goddess.Story concerns shape-shifting demon that all the male gods couldn’t defeat; their concentrated angry energy formed Durga, who killed the demon in its form as a buffalo. Each arm holds a different weapon, often shown radiating outward from her like spokes from a wheel. She stands on the dead demon’s head while she holds up its legs.*Style: Mostly frontal, pose suggests energy and strength (common for victorious deity images), soft and stocky body, looks directly out at viewer-“Ganesha”: Elephant-headed god who loves eating sweets and so has a big belly; the created son of Parvati who had his human head cut off by Shiva and then replaced with an elephant head. Worshipped as the overcomer of obstacles both physical and spiritual, so often worshipped first at the beginning of any spiritual practice-Already see an iconographic program established at Udayagiri even at this early stage: Pairing of Ganesha at beginning of series of figures, representing the beginning of a spiritual journey, with Durga, representing spiritual victory and victory over death, at the endEarly Hindu Art: Deogarh“Vishnu Temple.” Deogarh. Gupta Dynasty, ca. 530 C.E.: The earliest extant constructed Hindu temples are also from the Gupta period and located in the Gupta kingdom; a single cell, 1room temple with a superstructure (called a s ikhara -refers to anything above the main roofline).Had a square platform/foundation (plinth), staircases at each of the 4 cardinal directions, thick walls of interlocking stone (no use of mortar in India at this point), 4 small shrines at the cornersthat probably contained different incarnations of Vishnu and his family to be circumambulated and worshipped in turn.-Most Indian temples main entries are on the east, but some temples to Vishnu have them on the west. T-shaped, post-and-lintel construction doorways tend to be very complex; have rows of carved elements in concentric bands, flanking guardian figures*The figure represented above doorways in the middle of the lintel is often the main deity of the temple“Vishnu Reclining on the Serpent Ananta”: Story focused on Vishnu’s role in Creation of the universe; resting on the coils of the multi-headed serpent Ananta floating on the suface of the pre-Creation cosmic ocean, a lotus stem comes out Vishnu’s navel that blooms to reveal Brahma, who then creates the universe.-Vishnu wears garland, hat, has 4 arms; his consort Lakshmi holds his foot withthe personified attributes of the mace and chakra standing behind her and Brahma and