Gupta Age Art & Culture

Guptas

Guptas were Bramhanical by Religion (Hindus) with special devotion to Vishnu. They showed exemplary tolerance for both Buddhism and Jainism. Gupta Coins – king on one side & goddess on the other.

Gupta Age

• Golden Age of Indian Architecture
• Described as ‘classic’ in sense of degree of perfection it achieved
• Also marked as the climax stage of Buddhist caves & monasteries esp. in western central India
• Nagara & Dravidian styles of Temple making evolved during this period
• Mural paintings of Ajanta, which mainly depicted life stories of Buddha as in Jtaka stories belong to this period

Sculpture

• One new school was added i.e. Sarnath school of sculpture
• Noteworthy example is Sultanganj Buddha (7.5 ft in height) – (Near Bhagalpur in Bihar)
• Buddha images in Sarnath have plain transparent drapery covering both shoulders
• Halo around the head has very little ornamentation

Gupta Temple Architecture

• Gupta period marks the beginning of Indian temple architecture.
• Manuals were written regarding how to form temples.
• The Gupta temples were of five main types:

Type 1

• Square building with flat roof
• Shallow pillared porch
• Sanctum (garbhagriha) at the center of the temple
• A single entrance & porch (Mandapa)
• Mandapa appears to originate 1^st from here
• Vishnu Varaha temples at Eran (MP)

Type 2

• Square temple with a squat tower (shikhara) above;
• Pillared approach, a high platform at the base
• ladkhan at Aihole (Karnataka)

Type 3

• An elaboration of the first type
• Addition of an ambulatory (paradakshina) around the sanctum
• Sometimes a second story is present
• Dasavatara temple (Deogarh, Jhansi)
• Most unique achievement of this stage was “Curvilinear tower” i.e. “Shikhara”.
• “Nagara Style” temple making is said to be the success of third stage of temple making.

Type 4

• Rectangular temple with an apsidal back
• Barrel-vaulted roof above
• Ex. Kapoteswara temple at Cezarla (Andhra Pradesh)

Type 5

• Circular temples with shallow rectangular projection
• Maniyar Math shrine at Rajgir, Bihar

Gupta Literature

• Sanskrit became primary language in Gupta period
• Ramayana & Mahabharata were compiled during this period

Gupta Science & Technology