Rock arts of prehistoric era-The genesis of art in Indian subcontinent
The origin of Indian art can be traced back to prehistoric settlements in the 3rd millennium BCE. Indian subcontinent has many rock art forms. The ancient art forms include rock paintings and engravings of prehistoric people . Later with the growth of civilizations terracotta figurines emerged as part of the culture and arts . Archeological studies denote that religious beliefs and daily life activities were portrayed in these art forms.
Rock arts of prehistoric era
Rock art of India includes rock relief carvings, engravings and paintings, some from the South Asian Stone Age. It is estimated there are about 1300 rock art sites with over a quarter of a million figures and figurines. The earliest rock carvings in India were discovered by Archibald Carlleyle, although his work only came to light much later via J Cockburn.
Rock arts commonly depicted scenes of human life , animals, and hunts with stone implements. Although the topics of artistic expression were the same , their artistic style varied with region and age. The prominent feature of these art forms was a red wash made using a powdered mineral called geru, which is a form of iron oxide.
With the emergence of civilizations the art forms also progressed in style as well as in the materials used .
Terracotta figurines of Indus valley civilization [3300 BCE – c. 1750 BCE]
The archeologists have found a large number of gold, terracotta and stone figurines of girls in dancing poses from relics of Indus valley civilizations. They reveal the presence of some forms of dance prevailed during that period. The terracotta figurines from here also included cows, bears, monkeys, and dogs.
Seals have been found at Mohenjo-Daro depicting a figure standing on its head, and another, on the Pashupati Seal, sitting cross-legged in a yoga-like pose. Thousands of steatite seals have been recovered, and their physical character is fairly consistent. In size they range from 3⁄4 inch to 11⁄2 inches square. The most famous seal piece is the bronze Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-Daro, which shows remarkably advanced modelling of the human figure of this period.
It is surprising that after the end of the Indus Valley Civilization, there is an absence of art of any great degree of sophistication until the Buddhist era. It is presumed that this partly reflects the use of perishable organic materials such as wood during this period and those degradable artefacts faded into oblivion overtime.
Vedic art
During vedic period , there is sheer absence of anthropomorphical depictions. Anthrapomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. Animal-shaped works of art represent the earliest known evidence of anthropomorphism.
Mauryan art (c. 322 BCE – c. 185 BCE)– Ancient Indian art
Mauryan sculpture and architecture is characterized by a very fine Mauryan polish given to the stone, which is rarely found in later periods. Many small popular terracotta animal and human figurines of these kinds are recovered by archeologist. The Pillars of Ashoka is another monumental art form of this period, which showed a confident and boldly mature style and craft and first of its kind iron casting without rust until date.