Indian Sculpture

Characteristics, History of Plastic Art in India.

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Indian Sculpture (3300 BCE - 1850)

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Asokan Pillar with Lion Capital

(c.250 BCE) Vaishali, Bihar,
India. Still standing after
more than 2,000 years.

Indian Art
For a brief survey of
painting, sculpture and
architecture, please see:
Art in India.

Characteristics
History
Indus Valley Civilization
Mauryan Sculpture: Pillars of Ashoka
Ajanta Caves
Kushan Empire Sculpture
Hindu Sculpture of the Gupta Empire
Elephanta Caves
Pallava and Pandya Sculpture from South India
Ellora Caves
Pala Buddhist Art
Chandela Stone Sculpture in Central India
Chola Bronze Sculpture of South India, Sri Lanka
Mughal Relief Sculpture
Related Articles on Asian Art

More About Art of the Indian Subcontinent

- Classical Indian Painting (Up to 1150 CE)
- Post-Classical Indian Painting (14th-16th Century)
- Rajput Painting (16th-19th Century)
Characteristics

King Chandragupta I and Queen

Kumaradevi featured on a coin
during the reign of their son
Samudragupta, 335380.
An exquisite example of Gupta
sculpture of the fourth century.

Cultural stonework in India - in the form of primitive cupule art - dates back
to the era of prehistoric art of the Lower Paleolithic, around 700,000 BCE see Bhimbetka Petroglyphs (Auditorium Cave and Daraki-Chattan Rock
Shelter, Madhya Pradesh). By the time of the Bronze Age, sculpture was
already the predominant form of artistic expression throughout the Indian
subcontinent, even though mural painting was also popular. Sculpture was
used mainly as a form of religious art to illustrate the principles of Hinduism,
Buddhism, or Jainism. The female nude in particular was used to depict the
numerous attributes of the gods, for which it was often endowed with
multiples heads and arms. There was certainly no tradition of individuality in
Indian sculpture: instead, figures were conceived of as symbols of eternal
values. In simple terms, one can say that - historically - Indian sculptors
have focused not on three-dimensional volume and fullness, but on linear
character - that is to say, the figure is designed on the basis of its outline,
and is typically graceful and slender. The origin of plastic art in India dates
back to the northwestern Indus valley civilization, which was noted primarily
for its terracotta sculpture - mainly small figurines - but also for the
pioneering bronze sculpture of the Harappan Culture. Other important
milestones in the history of sculpture include: the Buddhist Pillars of
Ashokaof the Mauryan period, with their wonderful carved capitals (3rd

century BCE); the figurative Greco-Buddhist sculpture of the Gandhara and

Mathura schools, and the Hindu art of the Gupta period (1st-6th century
CE).

Some of the many erotic images

carved in stone on the outside
of Lakshana Temple, Khajuraho.
The complex represents the
highpoint of Chandela sculpture
in Central India.