INTRODUCTION TO THE SUBJECT (5:04 P.M.)

• Culture is the way of life.
• The understanding of culture helps the administrators in devising the policies that are acceptable to the society.
• The absence of such understanding may lead to insensitive behavior as shown by the United States help campaign during the Bhuj earthquake campaign.
• Culture is dynamic. The cultures that don't change may become extinct.
• The Indian economy cannot work without its culture. We are a culturally driven economy. 
• Topics
• (a) Architecture and Sculpture
• (b) Religion and Philosophy
• (c) Classical Dance
• (d) Classical Music
• (e) Indian Paintings
• (f) Language and Literature
• (g) Bhakti and Sufi Movement

REFERENCE MATERIAL

• Introduction to Fine Art, Part I and II. (NCERT)
• Class Notes.
• VisionIAS material.

ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE (5:30 P.M.)

• Indus Valley Civilization (2600-1800 BCE)
• Mauryan Age Art (321- 185 BCE)
• Post-Mauryan Art (185 BCE- 200 AD)
• Gupta Age Art (319 AD- 550 AD)
• South Indian Architecture (600 AD-1100 AD)

 MEDIEVAL ARCHITECTURE (INDO-ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE)

• (a) Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526 CE)
• Imperial Art
• Slave Period (1206- 1290)
• Khilji Period (1290-1320)
• Tuglaq Dynasty (1320-1414)
• Sayyid (1414-1451)
• Lodi (1451-1526)
• Provincial Art (1200-1600)
• Bengal Art
• Jaunpur Art
• Malwa Art
• Bijapur Art
• (b) Mughal Period (1526-1707 CE)
• Mughal Art
• Akbar (1556-1605)
• Jehangir (1605-1627)
• Shah Jahan (1627-1658)
• Aurangzeb (1658-1707)
• Provincial Art
• Rajput Architecture
• Sikh Architecture

MODERN BRITISH PERIOD ARCHITECTURE (1765-1947)

• Indo-Gothic Style of Architecture (1765-1911)
• Neo-Roman Style of Architecture
• Awadh Architecture (Contemporary to British Architecture)

INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION (5:50 P.M.)

• Topics to be covered
• (a) Seals
• (b) Pottery
• (c) Sculptures
• (d) Town Planning
• In 1921, Dayaram Sahni excavated the site of Harappa in the Montgomery district of Pakistan. 
• Later in 1922, Rakhal Das Banerjee excavated the town of Mohenjodaro in the Sindh province of Pakistan.
• With the excavation of the two sites, it was proven without a doubt that the Indus Valley was one of the most advanced civilizations in the world. 
• The most advanced feature of this civilization was the use of burnt brick of the same shape and size.
• Another advanced feature was the immaculate urban planning of the Indus Valley towns.
• Following are the important artefacts and architectural details of the Indus Valley:
• Seals
• Seals are one of the most important sources of information about the Indus Valley Civilization.
• To this date, more than six thousand seals have been found.
• Seals are geometrically shaped objects mainly made up of soft river stone Steatite.
• But there are instances of seals made from copper, bronze, terracotta, gold, and silver as well.
• Seals were pictographic.
• This means it had a good number of pictures and symbols.
• These symbols were created from right to left direction.
• Examples,
• (a) Pashupati Seal
• 
• Majority of the historians refer to it as the image of proto-shiva or Adi-shiva.
• The seal depicts the concept of cohabitation and nature worship, and it seems that yogic practices were known to the Indus Valley People.
• (b) Seal with the peepal leaf
•  
• This seal indicates nature worship.
• (c) The most abundant seal found in Indus towns was the unicorn seal.
• It is the depiction of a one-horned mythical animal.
• 
• Purpose of the Seal (6:21 P.M.)
• (a) Perhaps, the seals were the earliest type of coinage, which facilitated in-trade.
• (b) They are also believed to be stamps of the Indus Valley Civilization.
• (c) In some of the seals mathematical symbols like pi and phi were also created, which suggests that maybe they were also used as an educational tool.
• (d) Seals were also used as shamanic amulets to ward off the evil spirit.
• Pottery (6:28 P.M.)
• (a) General Purpose Pottery
• The general-purpose pottery of the Indus Valley Civilization was red or ochre.
• It was mainly used as utensils, storage of grains and water, etc.
• (b) Miniature Vessel
• They were small, narrow, but elongated pottery with beautiful designs on it. 
• It was mainly used for decoration.
• (c) Perforated Pottery
• These potteries had wider mouths, and the body had innumerous perforations.
• Generally, it was smokey grey and was meant for straining liquor.
• (d) Faience Pottery
• Faience was a bony white material mainly found in the upper part of Gujarat.
• It was used for creating small utensils with beautiful designs.
• 
• Sculpture (6:41 P.M.)
• Sculpture is a three-dimensional piece of art purely based on one's imagination.
• There were three types of sculptures discovered from the Indus towns.
• (a) Stone Sculpture
• 
• There are very examples of stone sculptures. They were made from soft riverstone steatite.
• The best surviving example is the image of a bearded priest draped with a trefoil-patterned shawl and wearing a headband and an armband.
• (b) Terracotta Sculptures (7:06 P.M.)
• Terracotta means the clay shape which is baked on fire. 
• A large number of terracotta figures were created in the Indus towns.
• The most abundant terracotta figure found in almost all the Indus towns is the image of the mother goddess.
• She is also regarded as the goddess of fertility.
• Based on the abundance of this image, the majority of historians believe that the Indus society was matriarchial in nature.
• 
• (c) Bronze Sculpture
• The bronze sculpture was created through the lost wax technique.
• In the very first step, a wax sculpture was created to be covered with clay.
• Now, the figure was baked in fire, and molten wax was replaced with molten bronze.
• After enough cooling hardened clay was removed and the sculpture was polished and refined.
• For example, the Dancing Girl of Mohenjodaro.
• 

URBAN PLANNING AND TOWN PLANNING OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS (7:26 P.M.)

• Generally, Indus towns were divided into two parts, i.e. upper town and the lower town.
• Upper town was created on an upraised platform and generally, they were fortified.
• In this part of town, mainly administrative buildings were created.
• Apart from that, granaries were created for the storage of grains.
• These were created scientifically so that they would not get spoiled due to anaerobic fermentation.
• Another remarkable feature of the upper town was the provision of the common bath.
• The best example is the great bath of Mohenjodaro.
• Great Bath
• It is a stepped water tank.
• The stairs are created in the north and south directions.
•  Moreover, the stairs were made from burnt bricks of the same shape and size.
• On the east and west sides, the galleries, changing rooms, and washrooms were created.
• Lower Part of the Town
• The lower town was mainly meant for habitation of the commoners and it was the largest part of the town.
• It had a very good network of roads, which used to cut each other at right angles.
• On both the sides of road, the drains were covered with either stone slab or brick slab.
• These drains had cesspits coated with gypsum at regular intervals.
• Gypsum filtered the wastewater and recharged the ground with clean water.
• Towns were divided into many sectors inside which the houses were created with burnt bricks of the same shape and size in the ratio of 4:2:1.
• Generally, the houses were not created facing the direction of the main road.
• Perhaps it was done to keep their privacy intact.
• Inside the sectors, we come across examples of single-storied houses, double-storey, and even triple-storey houses.
• Though the inequality can be seen, the society was not discriminatory.
• Each of the houses had a separate bedroom, kitchen, and washroom.
• The houses were connected to the main drain.
• The town of Dholavira is an exception to the two-layered planning. In this part, the town was divided into three parts, i.e. upper town, the middle town, and the lower town.
• Another notable feature of the Dholavira is the radial drainage system. 
• Recently, the site of Dholavira was included in the UNESCO Heritage Sites.

THE TOPIC FOR THE NEXT CLASS: ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE (CONTINUED)