Stone craft in India has been in existence for a very long time. From the time of the polished sandstone lion edict of Sarnath to
the present time, this craft of stone has traveled a long distance. In its course it flowered, transformed and gave
expression to many styles known today as the Maurya, the Gandhara, the Gupta, the Chalukya, the Chola, the Vijayanagar,
the Orissa, the Hoysala, the Mogul, the Indo-Muslim art of the Deccan and the like. The rock-cut caves of Ajanta and Ellora and
of Udayagiri; the Chalukyan temple of Virupaksha, of Pattadakal, the great Chola temple of the Nayakas at Madurai, the Indo-Aryan
temples at Bhuvaneshwar, Puri and Konark, the Sun temple of Modhera, Gujarat and the Chandela temples of Khajuraho: these
ageless edifices present an endless variety of exquisite stone carvings. Today, the stone artisans draw much of their
inspiration from these monuments and statues. The glamorous delight of the Taj Mahal in Agra has captured the marble craft
of India. Most of the statues in the state of Orissa show similarity in form and details to the sculptures of the
Jagannath temple at Puri. Traditional motifs such as standing Deepalakshmis, courting apsaras (temptresses,) lotus blossoms
are all adopted as decorative stands for table lamps, ash-trays, or stone flower vases.
As it is found that the lively traditions of Indian sculptures date back to the 3rd century BC. It was during the time of first Indian Empire the Maurya dynasty. Most Probably, the art of carving found its origin in this period. This period is marked by the birth of sculptures. It is said that sculpture begins to gain characters and scenes from the stories from contemporary India. Mostly of three interconnected religions - Hinduism, Buddhism & Jainism.
Though it is found that Hindu temples are constructed with varied sizes, all temples shows a typical pyramidal spire crowning at the top. Such crowing can be seen in the Deccan temples of Kanchipuram, Madurai, Srirangam and Rameswaram and Varanasi in the North of India. The Khajuraho temples in Madhya Pradesh and Sun temple of Konark in Orissa are an example of excellent sculptures of India. Many of these temples are showing various carved figurines of deities on their exteriors and in some cases in interiors. Sanchi stupa has fabulous sculptures dating from the 4th century before the arrival of Christ. All these sculptures depict scenes from Buddha`s life and various folk deities respected among the people.
Buddhist monks are considered as the most notable creation in rock-cut architecture form of sculpture. One more example to illustrate their work is the temple constructed at Mammallapuram. Mauryan stone sculpture is at its best in the Lion Capital at the Sarnath in India. The architectural sculptures of Amaravati and Nagarjunakonda explain & illustrate about the social life of contemporary people and life of Buddha. The Hindu cave architecture is found at its zenith in Elephanta caves near Mumbai and Hindu and Jain rock temples of Ellora, especially the Kailasa temple constructed in the 8th century. The evidences of the Indian art creation of the past prove that Indian sculpture once was ranked one of the highest in the entire world. A characteristic of Indian sculpture is that it is primarily realistic in nature and the human forms appear in it more closely related with the surrounding. Flora and fauna has also found its presence in sculptures of India along with the innumerable respected deities. Indian art and sculptures are marked with the differences that make it stand apart from the sculpture from the rest of the world.
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