Building painting and Books

Puranas written in simple sanskrit contain stories about gods and goddesses, details on how gods and goddesses were to be worshipped and accounts about the creation of the world and about the kings.

In that poem, a monsoon cloud is imagined to be a messenger between two lovers who are separated from one another.

Ilango Adigal was a Chera Prince. Ilango Adigal was born in the Chera dynasty, which is now located in the modern state of Kerala. He was the brother of the Chera king Senaguttuvan.

Silappadikaram is a story of a merchant named Kovalan, who lived in Puhar and fell in love with a courtesan named Madhavi, neglecting his wife Kannagi. Later according to the epic, Kovalan and Kannagi left Puhar and went to Madurai, where he was wrongly accused of theft by the court jeweller of the Pandya king. The king sentenced Kovalan to death. Kannagi who still loved him, was full of grief and anger at this injustice and destroyed the entire city of Madurai.

The Mahabharata is about a war fought between the Kauravas and Pandavas, who were cousins.The Ramayana is about Rama, a prince of Kosala, who was sent into exile. His wife Sita was abducted by the king of Lanka, named Ravana, and Rama had to fight a battle to get her back.

The Mauryas were famous for their art and architecture. The pillar at Sarnath is very famous historical monument. The Sanchi Stupa is another famous piece of Mauryan architecture. It was built with bricks. It was built by Ashoka and enlarged later on.

It is made of iron, 7.2. meter high, about 1500 years ago. An inscription on the pillar mentions a ruler named Chandra, who probably belonged to the Gupta dynasty.

Valimiki is recognized as the author of the Sanskrit Ramayana. He was a Hindu sage who lived around the beginning of the firts millenium BC. He is referred to as the 'adikavi' the original creator of the Hindu slokas.

It states that day and night were caused by rotation of the earth on its axis, even though it seems as if the sun is rising and setting everyday

Aryabhatta a mathematician in the times of Samudragupta stated that day and night were caused by the rotation of the earth on its axis, even though it seems as if the sun is rising and setting everyday. He developed a scientific explanation for eclipses and found way of calculating the circumference of a circle.

Garbhagriha is the sanctum sanctorum of a temple. The idol of main deity is established in this small portion of the temple, which is situated in the centre of the temple. Shikahara where the presiding deity is enshrined is the most prominent and visible part of a Hindu temple of North India. In South India, it is called ’vimana’.

The Amaravati Stupa is famous for its Buddhist art and architecture. This stupa was built in the pre Mauryan period. The architecture is decorated with carved panels, with stories of Buddha depicted on them.

Ravana was the king of Lanka. In order to free his wife from Ravana, Rama waged a war against him. This conflict is considered as victory of Dharma over evil and is celebrated in the form of Dusshera in India.

Jataka stories were the stories related to Buddha prior to his birth. Jatakas occupy great importance in Buddhist literature and they occur in many of the canonical Pitakas. They have been extensively used in the form of frescoes at many Buddhist works and railings at Sanchi.

The Ajanta caves have attractive paintings on the walls. The detailed work on the caves is outstanding. The themes of the paintings on the Ajanta caves depict the life of Lord Buddha. The paintings of Ajanta date from the late Gupta period to early Chalukya period.

Puranas were Hindu religious scriptures. They were written in simple Sanskrit verse, and meant to be heard by everybody, including women and Shudras. The Puranas were probably recited in temples by priests; people came to listen them.

They contained stories about gods and goddesses, such as Vishnu, Shiva, Durga or Parvati and detailed accounts on how these deities were to be worshipped. The Puranas gave details about the creation of the world and about the kings.

The path, known as Pradakshina path, was laid around the stupa. This was surrounded with railings and devotees walked around the stupa on this path to show their devotion.

At the centre of the stupa a small box is placed. According to historians, the small box may contain bodily remains (such as teeth, bone or ashes) of the Buddha or his followers, of things they used as well as precious stones or coins. This box is known as a relic casket. It was covered with earth.

On the pillar a ruler’s name Chandra is mentioned. According to historians, the ruler probably belonged to the Gupta dynasty.

The Stupas are a good example of Buddhist art. Some of its main features are:

• It consists of a circular base with supporting a massive solid dome.
• The whole of the Stupa is encircled by a path known as pradakshina path. This path was surrounded with railing.
• Entrance to the path was through gateways. In Sanchi stupa there are four gateways.

Aryabhata was a mathematician and astronomer. He wrote a book in Sanskrit known as Aryabhatiyam. In this book, he stated that day and night were caused by the rotation of the earth on its axis. He also formulated a scientific explanation for eclipses. He also found a way of calculating the circumference of a circle, which is nearly as accurate as the formula used now-a-days.

Since it was expensive to build these stupas or temples, which were usually built by kings and queens. There were different stages in the construction of these buildings:

• A place was carefully chosen for the new building.
• Good quality stone was found, quarried and transported to the chosen place.
• Here, these rough blocks of stones were shaped and carved into pillars and panels for walls, floors and ceilings. Finally, these were placed in precisely the right position.

The stupas and the building of temples were usually decided by the queens or the kings, as it was an expensive affair. Some of the important steps followed during the construction of temples or stupas were –

• A good quality stone had to be found, quarried and transported to the place that was often carefully chosen for a new building.
• Rough blocks of stone had to be shaped and carved into pillars and panels for walls, floors and ceilings.
• All these things had to be placed in precisely a correct and religiously right position.
• The names of the queen and king, and several other persons were inscribed on the pillars, railings and wall of buildings.

A monolith is a monument or natural feature consisting of a single massive stone or rock. A monolithic temple is thus a rock-cut temple, carved from a single large rock, and excavated and cut to imitate a wooden or masonry temple with wall decorations and works of art. Carving out of monolithic temples is known to have been started during the Pallava dynasty. The Pancha Rathas is one of the nine monolithic temples at Mahabalipuram, and is a fine example of monolith Indian rock-cut architecture dating back to late 7th century. The Kailash Temple at Ellora is another singular monolithic temple since it was excavated from the top down rather than by the usual practice of carving into the scarp of a hillside. This temple was created through a single, huge top-down excavation 100 feet deep, down into the volcanic basaltic cliff rock.

Stupas and temples were usually built by the kings and queens as it was an expensive affair. The kings and queens probably spent money from their treasury to pay the craftsmen who worked to build these splendid structures. Besides, when devotees came to visit the temple or the stupa, they often brought gifts, which were used to decorate the buildings. For example, an association of ivory workers paid for one of the beautiful gateways at Sanchi. Among the others who paid for decorations were merchants, farmers, garland makers, perfume sellers, smiths, and hundreds of men and women who were known only by their names which were inscribed on pillars, railings and walls.