Showing posts with label Indian Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Indian Art. Show all posts

Saturday, April 27, 2019

Taj Mahal


We just learned about the Jama Masjid.

Another famous Indian work of art is the Taj Mahal, built in 1632 AD in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India.

The building is 240 feet tall, and the area where the building is covers 42 acres of land.
There is a mosque and a guest house, and fancy gardens.

It was made as a tomb for the wife of the emperor Shah Jahan.
He was so sad when his wife Mumtaz Mahal died that he wanted to make a very fancy place for her body to be put to rest.
The name Taj Mahal means "Crown of the Palaces".
It took about 20,000 people to make all the artwork, the buildings, gardens and towers to get it done.





(from: wikipedia - taj mahal)


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Saturday, April 20, 2019

Jama Masjid


We just learned about the Chola Nataraja.

Another famous Indian sculpture is the Jama Masjid, in Delhi, built around 1650 AD.

The name means "World reflecting mosque".
It cost 1 million rupees when it was built, and is made with four towers, and some tall posts over 130 feet tall.
The construction is made of limestone, sandstone and white marble.



(from: wikipedia - jama masjid, delhi)


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Saturday, April 13, 2019

Chola Nataraja


We just learned about the Ajanta Caves.

Another famous Indian sculpture is the Chola Nataraja.

From around 400 years in India around 800 AD there were kings and rulers known as the Cholas.

These people really tried to improve the buildings and artwork of their country, and build things that would last for a thousand years.

There are many famous bronze statues that were made during this time.
One of the most famous is the Nataraja.

One of the hindu deities is named Shiva, and sometimes they call him Nataraja which means lord of the dance.



(from: wikipedia - chola art and architecture)


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Saturday, April 6, 2019

Ajanta Caves


We just learned about the Sanchi Stupa.

Another group of famous sculpture in India is the Ajanta Caves.

This is a group of 30 caves, built over a long time between 100 BC to around 650 AD.
The caves were carved into a 250 foot wall of rock.

In each of the cave areas are tall columns, and sculptures of buddha or other statues.
The caves were used as homes for some monks, places to hide during dangerous storms, and places for travelers to stop and rest on their journey.






(from: wikipedia - ajanta caves)


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Saturday, March 30, 2019

Sanchi Stupa


We just learned about the Mshatta Facade.

Another famous Indian sculpture is the Sanchi Stupa.

A stupa is a dome shaped building that is like a temple for worship in India.

The town of Sanchi has a big one called The Great Stupa that was built sometime around 200 AD.

We learned before about the Sanchi Capital of Ashoka that was on top of a big pillar just outside the building.

Close to the Sanchi Stupa are a few other stupas, and only a few miles away is a place with over 60 stupas!
These stupas had sculptures all over them, and also some other pillars with capitals like the one with the lions.







(from: wikipedia - sanchi)


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Saturday, March 9, 2019

Mukteshvara Temple


We just learned about the Konark Sun Temple.

Another Mukteshvara Temple, built around 950 AD in Odisha, India.

This is a large Hindu temple with lots of sculpted columns and shapes all over the building.

The most famous part of the temple is the arched gateway called the torana.
There are two thick pillars with strings of beads, ornaments, scrolls, monkeys, peacocks and beautiful women carved all over them.

The big 34 foot tall square tower inside is called the Vimana.
It has many sculptures of Hindu gods on it, demons and dwarf figures.




(from: wikipedia - mukteshvara temple, bhubaneswar)


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Saturday, March 2, 2019

Konark Sun Temple


We just learned about the Rajagopuram.

Another Indian sculpture is the Konark Sun Temple, built around 1238 AD in Konark, Odisha, India.

The name Konar comes from the words Kona meaning "corner" and Arka meaning "the sun".

This 100 foot Hindu temple is made to look like a giant chariot with wheels being pulled by horse sculptures.
There are 24 wheel sculptures, and each one is over 12 feet tall.

There are seven horse sculptures made to look like they are pulling the chariot.
It has sculptures all over the building, and some other sculptures around it like elephants and people.

Next to the temple is another building called the Nata Mandir, which means Dance Temple.





(from: wikipedia - konark sun temple)


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Saturday, February 23, 2019

Rajagopuram


We just learned about the Elephanta Caves.

Another famous Indian sculpture is the Rajagopuram Gopuram.

A gopuram is a tower with a lot of sculptures all over it, that is at the entrance of a Hindu temple.
The sculptures are usually telling Hindu stories, and have hundreds of sculptures all over them.

There are many gopurams all over India at different temples, but the tallest one is at the Ranganathaswamy Temple, in Srirangam, Tamil Nadu, India.

This temple area has 21 different gopurams around it that have been built over time for hundreds of years.
The tallest one in the temple is the Rajagopuram, which is 240 feet high was built in 1987.


(from: wikipedia - ranganathaswamy temple, srirangam)


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Saturday, February 16, 2019

Elephanta Caves


We just learned about the Ellora - Jain Caves.

Another work of ancient Indian art is the Elephanta Caves.

Just like the Ellora caves, these are caves with ancient carvings going back to before 200 AD.
There are many caves with many different statues, and some statues that are over 20 feet tall.

Most of the caves have Hindu sculptures, and the entrances to the caves all have columns with special carvings on them.
There are more than a dozen sculpted walls in these caves, each telling a different Hindu story, and the whole cave area covers over 60,000 square feet.

The caves get their name from a giant elephant sculpture that was found at the site.





(from: wikipedia - elephanta caves)


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Saturday, February 9, 2019

Ellora - Jain Caves


We just learned about the Ellora - Hindu Caves.

Another part of the Ellora area is the Ellora - Jain Caves.

The people who made the Jain believed in different things than the people who made the Hindu or Buddhist caves, but they were built right along side the Hindu caves at about the same time.

Just like the other two sets of caves, these areas have special sculptures of gods and goddesses that people worshipped, and also temples and special worship areas.





(from: wikipedia - ellora caves)


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Saturday, February 2, 2019

Ellora - Hindu Caves


We just learned about the Ellora - Buddhist Caves.

Another part of ancient Indian artwork is the Ellora - Hindu Caves.

In the same place as the 12 Ellora Buddhist Caves, there are 17 Caves that were used for Hindu worship.

There are statues of Hindu gods and goddesses in these caves for Hindu people to worship, and the caves were built with a waterfall flowing over top.

These caves were actually carved out close to 100 years before the Buddhist caves were made nearby.
There are pillars, a temple and many statues and rooms for worshipping.





(from: wikipedia - ellora caves)


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Saturday, January 26, 2019

Ellora - Buddhist Caves


We just learned about the Sanchi Capital of Ashoka.

Another part of Indian sculpture is the Ellora - Buddhist Caves, in Maharashtra India.

These caves have artwork from thousands of years ago, and there are over 100 caves, with sculptures and artwork for different people with different beliefs.

There are 12 caves called the Buddhist caves, because they all have artwork about Buddha.
They were carved around 600 or 700 AD.

Eleven of these caves are called "viharas", which are monastaries with prayer halls.
These viharas had places for people to live, sleep, cook food and pray.
Cave number 11 was three stories high and had many rooms.

Inside some of the rooms were sculptures of Buddha or other statues that people would worship.




(from: wikipedia - ellora caves)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Lion Capital of Ashoka

Saturday, January 19, 2019

Sanchi Capital of Ashoka


We just learned about the Indus Valley Civilization.

Another famous Indian sculpture is the Sanchi Capital of Ashoka.

We learned a while back about how the Lion Capital of Ashoka was a sculpture at the top of a pillar, that was made by an emperor named Ashoka.

Another of these statues called "capital" is in the city of Sanchi, but some of the sculpture has been broken so it is not as nice looking.


(from: wikipedia - sanchi)


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Saturday, January 12, 2019

Indus Valley Civilisation


We just learned about the Mokujiki Shonin.

We've learned a lot about Japanese sculpture, let's move on now and learn about Indian sculpture.

One of the oldest bunch of sculptures in India is the Indus Valley Civilisation which was a place where people lived for thousands of years.

People have discovered old sculptures from this place, like bronze pottery, ceramics, shells, jewelry, toys and games.





(from: wikipedia - indus valley civilisation)


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Saturday, January 27, 2018

Lion Capital of Ashoka


We just learned about the Woman of Samaria by William Henry Rinehart in Washington DC, in 1859.

Most of the art we've learned about has been from Europe, the Middle East, or Northern Africa.

Let's learn a little about some art from the continent of Asia.

One of the oldest sculptures is the Lion Capital of Ashoka.

This was made around 250 BC in India.
At that time there was an emperor named Ashoka who wanted to have symbols of his kingdom spread across the country, so he had artists make large pillars with sculptures on top and put them all over.
There are about 20 pillars left that have not been destroyed, and the Lion sculpture is the one that has survived the best of all of the sculptures.

It is a very important symbol in India. It has been put on the national emblem, and the lotus flower shaped bottom base of the sculpture is on the national flag.


(from: wikipedia - lion capital of ashoka)


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