1. Gardner’s Art Through the Ages,
12e
Chapter 6
Paths to Enlightenment:
The Art of South and Southeast Asia
before 1200
Chapter 25
Sultans, Kings, Emperors and Colonists:
The Art of South and Southeast Asia after 1200
1

2. South and Southeast Asia
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3. Key Ideas
• Indian art stresses the interconnectedness of all the
arts: architecture, painting, and sculpture.
• Buddhist & Hindu philosophies form a background
to Indian artistic thought.
• A vibrant school of manuscript painting using
brilliantly applied watercolors flourishes in India.
3

4. History
• History of invasion & assimilation.
• Layers of disparate populations – 18 official languages,
Hindus, Muslims, Jains, Buddhists, Christians, Sikhs, tribal
religions
• Arts are critical
• Rulers have been major patrons to enhance civic/religious
life & themselves
• Monuments are a combination of arts, with 1 artist as
leader of project w/ single vision
• Design may be determined by religious advisor who
worked with lead artist
• Highly organized approach to artistic training -
apprenticeship
4

5. Figure 6-2 Robed male figure, from Mohenjo-daro,
Pakistan, ca. 2600–1900 BCE. Steatite, 6 7/8” high.
National Museum of Pakistan, Karachi.
5

6. Figure 6-3 Seal with seated figure in yogic posture, from Mohenjo-daro, Pakistan, ca. 2600–1900 BCE. Steatite coated
with alkali and baked, approx. 1 3/8” X 1 3/8”. National Museum, New Delhi. 6

7. Philosophy of Buddhism
• Life is full of suffering with an endless cycle of birth &
rebirth
• Goal is to end the cycle & achieve oneness with the
supreme spirit, usually by accumulating spiritual merit
through good works, charity, etc.
Iconography:
o Lion = symbol of Buddha’s loyalty
o Wheel = Buddha’s law
o Lotus = symbol of Buddha’s pure nature.
o Columns surround by wheel = Buddha’s teaching
o Empty Throne = Buddha or reminder of his presence
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8. Characteristics of Buddhist Art
Architecture:
• Place of worship = stupa (reliquary; mound-shaped shrine
w/ no interior)
• Pray while walking clockwise (easterly) around it. Cosmic
symbolism.
• Symbol of Mt. Meru, mountain at center of the world &
axis connecting earth & heavens
• 3 umbrellas at top symbolizing 3 jewels of Buddhism:
Buddha, Law, Community of Monks. Square around is
sacred tree surrounded by fence.
• Gates at 4 points of compass (toranas)
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9. Characteristics of Buddhist Art
Painting/Sculpture:
• Little negative space
• Compact pose
• Seated (usually) in lotus position w/ wheel on souls of feet
• Drapery is regional – tight-fitting over 1 shoulder (Central
India); heavy robes over both shoulder (NW, Pakistan,
Afghanistan – Hellenistic influence)
• Frontal, symmetrical, w/ nimbus/halo around head
• Helpers (bodhisattvas) nearby
• Meditative mood
• Hand gestures (mudras) tell actions/feelings
• Hair bun (ushnisha); curl on forehead (urna); no jewelry –
rejection of court life
• Base – predella (may show donors figures)
• Nature spirits – yakshas (males) & yakshis (females)
9

10. Figure 6-4 Lion capital of column erected by Ashoka at
Sarnath, India, ca. 250 BCE. Polished sandstone, approx.
7’ high. Archaeological Museum, Sarnath.
10

11. Figure 6-5 Great Stupa, Sanchi, India, third century BCE to first century CE (View from the east).
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12. Figure 6-7 Yakshi, detail of eastern gateway, Great Stupa, Sanchi, India, mid first century BCE to early first century CE.
12

13. Figure 6-8 Interior (left), section (top right), and plan
(bottom right) of chaitya hall, Karle, India, ca. 100 CE.
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14. Figure 6-9 Meditating Buddha, from Gandhara, Pakistan,
second century CE. Gray schist, 3’ 7 1/2” high. Royal
Scottish Museum, Edinburgh.
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15. Figure 6-10 The life and death of the Buddha, frieze from Gandhara, Pakistan, second century CE. Schist, 2’ 2 3/8” X 9’
6 1/8”. Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
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16. Figure 6-11 Buddha seated on lion throne, from
Mathura, India, second century CE. Red sandstone, 2’ 3
1/2” high. Archaeological Museum, Muttra.
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17. Figure 6-12 Seated Buddha preaching first sermon, from
Sarnath, India, second half of fifth century. Tan sandstone,
5’ 3” high. Archaeological Museum, Sarnath.
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18. Figure 6-14 Bodhisattva Padmapani, wall painting
in Cave 1, Ajanta, India, second half of fifth
century.
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19. Philosophy of Hinduism
• Polytheistic
• Infinite variety of the divine – in gods, in nature, in
humans.
• Vedic texts are sacred texts
• Caste system – Brahmins – ritual specialists linking gods to
humans
• Good life through prayer, deeds, devotion to break cycle
of reincarnation
Iconography:
o Shiva = destruction & rebirth
o Brahma = creator
o Vishnu = preserver
o Consort goddesses = peaceful
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20. Characteristics of Hindu Art
Architecture:
• Temple is residence of god
• Small inner cella – Womb of the World
• Sacred statue there
• Prefer corbelled vaults for cave feel
• Hypostyle antechamber/hall
• Larger complex
• Regional – N more vertical on high pedestals, S bigger
complexes/cities
• Outside covered w/ sculpture, crowding over every
surface
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21. Characteristics of Hindu Art
Painting:
• Miniatures of watercolor on paper to illuminate books
• Rajput School – specialized in myths legends, life of
Krishna
• Portraits
• Crowded, colorful
• Tilted perspective
• Floral patterns
• Small figures, large landscapes
Sculpture:
• Integrated w/ architecture
• Divine couples (mithuna)
• Curves, lines of body – dance poses common
• Organic, geometric designs; flowers, bells
• God images inside temples – rarely seen
21

22. Figure 6-15 Boar avatar of Vishnu rescuing the earth, Cave 5, Udayagiri, India, early fifth century. Relief approx 22’ X
13’; Vishnu 12’ 8” high.
22

23. Figure 6-16 Dancing Shiva, rock-cut relief in cave
temple, Badami, India, late sixth century.
23

24. Figure 6-17 Shiva as Mahadeva, Cave 1, Elephanta,
India, ca. 550–575. Basalt, Shiva 17’ 10” high.
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25. Figure 6-18 Vishnu Temple,
Deogarh, India, early sixth century.
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26. Figure 6-19 Vishnu asleep on the
serpent Ananta, detail of facade of
the Vishnu Temple, Deogarh,
India, early sixth century.
26

27. Figure 6-20 Rock-cut temples, Mamallapuram, India, second half of seventh century. From left to right: Dharmaraja, Bhima,
Arjuna, and Draupadi rathas. 27

28. Figure 6-21 Rajarajeshvara Temple, Thanjavur, India, ca. 1010
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29. Figure 6-22 Vishvanatha Temple, Khajuraho, India, ca. 1000. (View looking northwest and plan).
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30. Figure 6-23 Sculptures on temple wall, Vishvanatha Temple, Khajuraho, India, ca. 1000.
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31. Figure 6-24 Shiva as Nataraja, bronze in the
Naltunai Ishvaram Temple, Punjai, India, ca. 1000.
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32. Figure 6-25 Death of the Buddha (Parinirvana), Gal Vihara, near Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka, eleventh to
twelfth century. Granulite, Buddha approx. 46’ long.
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33. Figure 6-26 Borobudur, Java, Indonesia, ca. 800.
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34. Figure 6-29 Angkor Wat, Angkor, Cambodia, first half of twelfth century.
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35. Figure 6-31 Bayon, Angkor Thom,
Cambodia, ca. 1200.
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36. Figure 25-1 Qutb Minar, begun early thirteenth
century, and Alai Darvaza, 1311, Delhi, India.
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37. Figure 25-2 Lotus Mahal, Vijayanagara, India, 15th or early 16th century.
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38. Mughal Painting
38

39. Figure 25-3 BASAWAN and CHATAR MUNI, Akbar
and the Elephant Hawai, folio 22 from the Akbarnama
(History of Akbar) by Abul Fazl, ca. 1590. Opaque
watercolor on paper, 13 7/8” X 8 3/4”. Victoria and Albert
Museum, London.
39

40. Figure 25-4 BICHITR, Jahangir Preferring a Sufi
Shaykh to Kings, ca. 1615–1618. Opaque watercolor on
paper, 1’ 6 7/8” x 1’ 1”. Freer Gallery of Art,
Washington, D.C.
40

41. Mughal Architecture
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42. Figure 25-5 Taj Mahal, Agra, India, 1632–1647.
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43. Outside India
43

44. Figure 25-11 Emerald Buddha, Emerald Temple,
Bangkok, Thailand, 15th century. Jade or jasper, 2’ 6”
high.
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45. Figure 25-12 Schwedagon Pagoda,
Rangoon (Yangon), Burma
(Myanmar), 14th century or earlier
(rebuilt several times). Stupa, gold,
silver, and jewel encrusted, approx.
344’ high. Top of stupa, gold ball
inlaid with 4,351 diamonds. 45

46. Figure 25-14 MEERA MUKHERJEE, Ashoka at Kalinga,
1972. Bronze, 11’ 6 3/4” high. Maurya Sheraton Hotel, New
Delhi.
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