Art & Culture (Geolocation and related significance of art forms) by Rashid Yasin

Model Answer

Question #1. Discuss the distinct features of Dholavira site and provide evidence that led to the rise and fall of the Indus valley Civilization.

Approach:

•   Briefly introduce Dholavira site.(40 words)
•   Enlist distinct features of Dholavira site.(50 words)
•   Provide evidence that led to the rise and fall of the Indus valley Civilization( 120 words)
•   Conclusion ( 40 words)

Hints:

Dholavira is the most spectacular IVC site in India and the fifth largest in the subcontinent in terms of areal coverage (Mohenjo Daro 250 hectare (Ha), Harappa 150 Ha, Rakhigarhi 80–105 Ha, Ganeriwala 81 Ha and Dholavira 70 Ha). Dholavira is lesser known probably due to its remote location in the salt desert and also it was not studied until recently by using modern scientific techniques.

Distinct features of Dholavira site:

•   Largest excavated Harappan site in India which can be seen by the tourists.
•   Continuous settlement: Dholavira is unique because it records continuous settlement at one given place for over 1700 years from Pre?Harappan to Late Harappan period.
•   Urbanization features: The site has a fortified citadel, a middle town and a lower town with walls made of sandstone or limestone instead of mud bricks in many other Harappan sites.
•   Very advanced water conservation and harvesting system from building a series of connected reservoirs, stone and terracotta drainage pipes to wells.
•   Funerary architecture featuring tumulus — hemispherical structures like the Buddhist Stupas— as some of the unique features of the Dholavira site.
•   It shows excellent city planning, wide roads, architecture with geometric precisions, nine gates with unique designs, and craftsmanship.

Following features of Dholavira site provide evidences that led to the rise of the Indus valley Civilization:

• Similarity in process of urbanization & that of Harappa and Mohenjodaro: The city expanded very rapidly from 2900 BCE till 2400 BCE when the inhabitants of Dholavira switched over from use of mud bricks to stone bricks for making houses and fortification walls; they built Citadel, , Lower and Middle Town much like what are found in most other contemporary cities like Harappa and Mohenjo?Daro.
• Same sources of raw material: It is believed that traders of Dholavira used to source copper ore from present-day Rajasthan and Oman and UAE and export finished products from where the other IVC sites had sourced raw material.
• Prominent centre of non agricultural occupation: Remains of a copper smelter indicate Harappans, who lived in Dholavira, knew metallurgy. It was also a hub of manufacturing jewellery made of shells and semi-precious stones, like agate and used to export timber.
• Terracotta: Painted Indus black-on-red-ware pottery, square stamp seals, seals without Indus script, a huge signboard measuring about 3 m (9.8 ft) in length, containing ten letters of Indus script.
• Sculptures: One poorly preserved seated male figure made of stone has also been found, comparable to high quality two stone sculptures found at Harappa.
• Trade with Mesopotamia: beads peculiar to the Harappan workmanship have been found in the royal graves of Mesopotamia, indicating Dholavira used to trade with the Mesopotamians.

Following features of Dholavira site provide evidences that led to the fall of the Indus valley Civilization:

• Climate change: from 2000 BC, Dholavira entered a phase of severe aridity due to climate change and rivers like Saraswati started drying up. Because of a drought-like situation, people started migrating toward the Ganges valley or towards south Gujarat and further beyond in Maharashtra.
• Tectonic activity: In those times, the Great Rann of Kutch, which surrounds the Khadir Island on which Dholavira is located, used to be navigable, but the sea receded gradually due to tectonic activity and the Rann became a mudflat.
• Collapse of long distance trade: Its decline also coincided with the collapse of Mesopotamia, indicating the integration of economies. Harappans, who were maritime people, lost a huge market, affecting the local mining, manufacturing, marketing and export businesses once Mesopotamia fell.

Conclusion:

In its release, UNESCO termed Dholavira as one of the most remarkable and well-preserved urban settlements in South Asia dating from the 3rd to mid-2nd millennium BCE (Before Common Era). Since the excavation at the site, the ASI has developed a museum here. Dholavira, a village with a population of around 2,000, is the nearest human settlement at present. Near the ancient city is a fossil park where wood fossils are preserved.

Question #2. Gandhara art works are Buddhist in nature, while Mathura art works are secular. Discuss.

Approach:

•   Briefly introduce with Gandhara and Mathura art ( 30 words)
•   Discuss how Gandhara art is Buddhist in nature  while Mathura art is secular ( 190 words)
•   Conclusion ( 30 words)

Hints:

Indian art flourished in the three geographical regions of Gandhara, Mathura and down south in Amaravati. Schools of Gandhara and Mathura each independently evolved its own characteristic depiction. The use of different stones in the Kushana and Satavahana periods bring new styles in the art of sculpture.

Gandhara art

• After Alexander's invasion of India in 326 B.C., the Indo-Greek, Indo Scythian and Kushan kings ruled over its north-western territories and under their patronage emerged a distinct style of sculpture, popularly known as the Greco-Roman, Buddhist or Gandhara art.
• It was a combination of Hellenistic, West Asiatic and native elements. Greek and Roman techniques, modified according to Indian requirements, were employed in fashioning the Gandhara sculpture which truly represents Indian culture in a Western garb.
• Its area extended from Takshila to the Swat Valley in Pakistan and northwards to areas in Afghanistan.
• The Gandhara sculptors made images of Lord Buddha in the Greco-Roman style. The images of Buddha resembled Greek God Apollo. It gave more stress to the bodily features and external beauty.

Mathura art

• Whereas, Mathura School of art is purely indigenous style. Mathura art developed during the post Mauryan period (mainly during Shunga period) and reached its peak during the Gupta period (AD 325 to 600). Themes in the Mathura Art vary from Buddhist to Brahmanical to sometimes secular.  More stress was given to the inner beauty and facial emotions rather than bodily gestures.
• Under the Mathura Art, images of Vishnu and Shiva, Buddha, Yakshas, Yakshinis, Shaivite and Vaishnavite deities were found.
• In these sculptures, Buddha was depicted as Human and the main theme was Buddha and Bodhisattvas. Both the sitting and standing posture of Buddha's statues were carved out in the Mathura school.
• The art of Mathura also featured sexual imagery hence it was secular & not religious in nature.

Conclusion:

The schools of Gandhara and Mathura influenced each other, and the general trend was away from a naturalistic conception and toward a more idealized, abstract image.