Unit 2 Class Notes

Hindu Art (South Asian Art Before 1200, Part I)

• Hinduism’s formative texts

  • Vedas (c. 1500-1200): hymns sung by Brahmins to gods, especially the divine king Indra, Varua, Surya, and Agni

  • Upanishads (c. 800 BCE): Tried to reform Vedic practices by focusing on the unity between the individual and the divine. They outline samsara, the cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth in which living beings participate. Believers work toward liberation from samsara (known as moksha) and unity of the soul with cosmic force of the universe (Brahman). This progress is based on karma (good and bad past actions)

  • Mahabharata (c. 3rd century BCE–3rd c. CE): Longest epic in world literature. With Ramayana (c. 8th–4th centuries BCE), brings complex philosophical and religious ideas to an accessible level

• Principal Hindu Goods

  • Shiva: The Destroyer, but also has a regenerative force. Often shown as the linga (phallus or cosmic pillar) or Shiva Nataraja (lord of the dance). Mount is Nandi, the bull.

  • Vishnu: Preserver of the Universe. Sometimes reclines on a serpent (Ananta) in the cosmic waters. Assumes avatars (boar, fish, tortoise, divine lover, eventually the Buddha) when evil forces on Earth become strong.

  • Devi: Great Goddess and consort (partner) of Shiva (as Uma or Parvati) or Vishnu (as Lakshmi).

Cave temple of Shiva, Elephanta

• Cave temple of Shiva, Elephanta, post-Gupta period, mid-6th century CE

  • Maharashtra, India. View of E-W axis