Mauryan Architecture

Mauryan Architecture

• Imperial => patronised by state treasury
• Pillar
• Stupa
• Other => King and other persons also patronised it.
• Pottery
• Sculpture
• Cave

Pillar

note: Adorsed animal => most important animal 

• Sarnath Pillar
• formula for animals in clock wise direction: BHEL
• addorsed animal: lion
• Rampurva Pillar, bihar
• addorsed animal: bull
• Lauriya Nandangarh, bihar
• addorsed animal: lion
• Purpose of Mauryan Pillars
• it use to serve Imperial sermon, order, and commands. =>Before Kalinga war
• Spread doctrine of Dhamma , to celebrate important life events of buddha=> After Kalinga war
• Before Kalinga war asoka followed military conquest after war he followed cultural conquest.

Achaemenia( present iran) Pillar	Mauryan Pillar
Same era, both of them highly polished,
Made in pieces + joined together later.	carved out of rock & made up of single stone & in one go

Caves

• Mauryas started to polish and decorating caves
• made artistic gateways=> outside or entrance of caves.
• Ashoka patronised carving cave for AJEEVIKA sect.
• Lomus Rishi Caves in Nagarjuni Hills/ Barabar Hills near gaya
• Rock Cut Dhauli elephant Sculpture in Odisha

Stupa

•  purpose: worship of buddha.
• Sanskrit word which means Heap of sand
• Tradition of stupa making was existing from the vedic time itself; but the shape and size of stupa increased enormously when Gautham Buddha died.
• Initially nine stupas where constructed on relics of Buddha.
• Rajgrih
• Vaishali
• Kapilvastu
• Allakappa
• Ramagram
• vethapid
• Pipalvina
• Pava
• Kushinagar
• Stupa making reached it's climax during Ashoka's period and according to a popular belief ashoka constructed 84000 stupas. 
• Ashoka followed a policy CALM AND GLAD 
• according to this policy one of the goal of ashoka was to provide the new converts with the tools to help with their new faith.
• Before his death he directed to erect number of stupas to make the heart of many CALM AND GLAD.
• As written in the AVADANA SUTRA that if a practitioner builds STUPA he will not be reborn in remote location and extreme poverty.
• Ashoka believed in the same and started constructing same
• Dharmachakraparivarthan=> turning the wheel of religion.
• Dhamma (Pali word) = Dharma(Sanskrit word)
• Vedikas are boundary wall of stupa where many JATAKA STORY are engraved.
• didactic small mythological story
• Chadanta Jatak
• Vidurpandita Jaktak
• Ruru Jatak
• Sibi Jatak
Sculpture 
• Object of worship in folk religion was Yaksh and Yakshini => worshipped through out india.
• in this period maximum number of sculpture related to them
• Yakshini was more common and every religion of that time mentions about worship of YAKSHINI
• for eg: there were 24 yakshini for each theerthankar in Jainism, in Hinduism in SAPTMATRIKA PUJA, the Tamil epic SILAPPATHIKARAM also talks about worship of Yakshini.
• the sculpture of Yakshini popular in buddhism is ka. Salbanjika. => Yakshini holding branch of Sal Tree.(can be seen in every stupa gate) => Shows Happiness, luck, Auspicious occasions.
• Didarganj Yakshini => most famous + in London museum obtained from bihar + still intact
• Yaksh Sculpture from Parkham => near gwalior
Pottery
• Note: IVC: burned, Red ware,
• Note: Vedic Pottery : Grey ware. , inferior to IVC, unburned
• Pottery making reached climax in mauryan period
• name of the pottery: NBPW (northern black polished ware)
• Levigation technique is employed make NBPW. by which finely levigated alluvial clay collected and made pottery with it and it is highly polished which gave it black colour => hence best quality