Pura Sri - Beauty And Wealth of Ancient India

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The Ganga Gomati Sal valley is the cradle of human civilization. The first divine instinct in Man (Homo Sapiens) is love for the mother. So the first evidence of Mother Goddess worship came from Newal in the Ganga Valley in the form of a stone-torso representing the lower parts of the Mother Goddess with emphasis on her pudenda, the source of all creation. Another figure of the Divine Mother was found from Belan Valley in the form of a bone statuette belonging to the Upper Palaeolithic period. A site in Madhya Pradesh. Baghor by name, has also yielded a similar evidence. The Upper Palaeolithic engraved core found at Chandravati: Rajasthan supports the symbolic representation of a Mother Goddess. and fertility rituals. All these evidences go to suggest that Man had the ability to think over abstract things apart from those related to mundane life and culture. This light of learning and spiritual knowledge had emanated from the East. It is rightly said that (Rv. 1. 123.2) the glow of knowledge and culture rose from the East and it awakened and enlightened the whole world. Here an attempt has been made to show that the art in the Ganga Valley had reached its full flower and fruition by the ingenuity and imagination of the people inhabiting its fertile plains. Certain specimens of the Maurya-Sunga Art of this region are unique and outstanding in the whole repertoire of Indian art. I hope the readers would like to go through the book and evince further interest in the study and understanding of the different aspects of Indian art. history and archaeology.

Born at Bangarmau, a small town in district Unnao (U.P.), Dr. K.S. Shukla graduated in 1957 from Agra University and obtained his Master's degree in English from the same University. Later he did his M.A. in A.I.H.C. and Archaeology from B.H.U. in 1967 and soon after joined the school of Archaeology, New Delhi and topped the list of successful candidates in 1968. He got Ph.D. degree from Sagar University, Sagar (M.P.). He had excavated Rajghat (Varanasi) and Kalibangan (Rajasthan). He explored more than 70 sites in the upper Mid Ganga Valley and found for the first time the Acheulian hand axes and Chopper-chopping tools at the ancient sites of Bangarmau and Kannauj in the Ganga Valley. His discovery of pre-Harappan terracotta compartmented seals at many sites in the Ganga Valley has opened a new vista of the archaeological importance of the Gangetic region and its unique contribution to the emergence of writing system in the Saraswati Indus valleys in the later periods.

The Ganga-Gomati-Sai valley is the cradle of human civilization. The first divine instinct in Man (Homo Sapiens) is love for the mother. So the first evidence of Mother Goddess worship came from Newal in the Ganga Valley in the form of a stone-torso (Shukla, 1986) representing the lower parts of the Mother Goddess with emphasis on her pudenda, the source of all creation. Another figure of the Divine Mother was found from Belan Valley in the form of a bone statuette (Sharma, 1980) belonging to the Upper Palaeolithic period. A site in Madhya Pradesh. Baghor by name, has also yielded a similar evidence. The Upper Palaeolithic engraved core found at Chandravati; Rajasthan (Sonavane, 1997: 11-14) supports the symbolic representation of a Mother Goddess and fertility rituals. (Puratattva, 36, p.54). All these evidences go to suggest that Man had the ability to think over abstract things apart from those related to mundane life and culture. This light of learning and spiritual knowledge had emanated from the East. It is rightly said that 'qat farazure yanicaifu' (Rv. I. 123.2) the glow of knowledge and culture rose from the East and it awakened and enlightened the whole world. It was, therefore, but natural that the 'spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions revealed and recollected in tranquillity found expression in art and poetry'. The first epic of the world, the Ramayana, was composed on the banks of the Ganga at Pariar Bithur and the first sacrifice (yajna) was also performed on the banks of the Ganga at Prayag. A stone tablet depicting horned human head was found at Sankissa in Farrukhabad district. It also belongs to the Upper Palaeolithic period. The same tradition of horned deity continued in the Copper Hoard Culture, and a copper harpoon from Dhanni-Newada-Ojhan in district Kanpur Dehat depicts in a very realistic manner a bearded face and herned headgear. (Shukla 1995 and Wahal). The Neolithic culture also felt its impact and, therefore, the horned deity was represented on the Neolithic pots at Burzahom in Kashmir, and many other Neolithic-Chalcolithic sites in India. Even the Harappa culture imbibed that tradition and the famous 'Pasupati-Siva seal' depicts Lord Siva in Pasupati (i.e., Lord of Beasts) form. Another Mohenjodaro seal (M 1181 a) depicts a 'horned deity' seated in Padmasana and the inscription reads 'Parasurama', who is also called 'Bhrigupati'. Lord Siva is also known with the epithet 'Bhrigupati'. Again Śiva in the form of 'Natesha' is represented among several copper anthropomorphs found at Madarpur in Moradabad District. V.S. Agrawal has also illustrated a similar copper bronze figure from Mohenjodaro (M-XXII, Indian Art. Varanasi). Among the stone sculptures, the image of the so-called Priest-King is virtually the figure of Lord Indra, who is said to be wearing white beard and moustaches (Rig Veda V, 18.8). An image of a deity or a royal figure is displayed in the National Museum, New Delhi. It had been unearthed at Dhaulavira in Gujarat. It is a headless image of a royal personage. It is similar to the so-called Priest-King figure housed in the National Museum, Karachi (Sharma, 2003: 9). The painting of a 'Horned deity' on a storage jar discovered at Padri (Gujarat) is also very interesting as the human figure drawn on it appears to be crossing a river, which is depicted with three, wavy lines on his chest, a basket on his head which might have contained a newly born baby (?) in it, and thus, the human figure might have represented Vasudeva, crossing the Yamuna river with his newly born baby, Krishna in a basket. There are many seals which bear the names of many personages pertainig to the Mahabharat period. The names of Vasu-Radha, Vasu(Deva), Jasuda, Vasu (Chanda) (i.e., Krishna) (M-1109 a), Sri Braja Chandra (i.e., Krishna) (M-1101 a) etc. are inscribed on the Harappan seals.

Even the name of Mohenjodaro itself means the Entrance of Mohan; Or 'the wife of Mohan' (Kenoyer, 2000) apart from the Mound of Mohan. Mohan, is another name of Lord Krishna. The word 'Dwarka' also means the same as Mohenjodaro. Thus, on circumstantial evidence, the Harappan period appears to be somewhat related to the Krishna episode. The recent discovery of a black stone of a thumb nail size, representing a tiny carved head/dress or wig made for a statuette, perhaps 6 inches tall, suggests an image that was, obviously, a fine work of art. The 'wig' of this statuette was so meticulously carved or sculpted that one could make out hair strands. There were sockets for attaching the piece to a head. It appears that Harappan elites appreciated small treasures like this small statuette. Kenoyer speculates, "If you were rich, you had a beautiful little sculpture that people saw when they came over for dinner." A small statuette carved in the same fashion came from Sanchankot in Unnao district. My work entitled 'Pura Sri' begins with the description of the same statuette; and, on the basis of the other antiquities and evidence, I am inclined to say that this small sculpture of the Ganga Valley is certainly a unique piece of Indian art belonging to a very great antiquity.

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