Buddhist Art and Architecture

BUDDHIST

                    ART AND ARCHITECTURE

                       Submitted to: Ujjayini Ray
                                             Submitted by:
                                  ⋄Amrita Ray (179)
               
                                                                 ⋄Prithvi Chauhan (237)
                                                 History Honours I 
                                                 Section A
                                        Lady Shri Ram College for Women

                      CONTENTS

  1. Chaitya
  2. Vihara
  3. Stupa
  4. Rock Cut Cave Architecture
  5. Gandhara School of Art
  6. Mathura School of Art
INTRODUCTION
Ashoka had initiated the rock-cut architecture in the barabar hills of bihar.This movement was continued by his grandson
dasaratha who had caves excavated in the nagarjuni hills and made them over to the ajivika monks to be used as dwelling rains.Even during ashokas time Buddhism had reached western India.The other nucleus of this great
architectural movement was at suparakha which was the biggest sea-port and
emporium of trade on the western sea-coast or what was then known as
sonaparanta country.The rock-cut excavation took the form of the most vigorous movement ever witnessed in the field of Indian art.This particular form of architecture continued for a very long time from the third century BC throughout first millennium AD. The rock-cut architecture resolves itself in two phases, the earlier is the hinayana phase,lasting until the second century AD then there is a gap of about three centuries but it revives again about the sixth century AD after which it continues for several centuries with great vigour and attained its richest and most varied form. This latter phase was inspired by the Mahayana movement in Buddhism. Altogether there were not less than twelve hundred distinct excavations distributed in at least fifty groups of caves in India proper.Some...