Unit -1 Ancient India

AR1152 – HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE AND CULTURE II UNIT I ANCIENT INDIA

The meaning of Architecture and its relation to human experience can briefly be expressed as: “ARCHITECTURE IS THE MATRIX OF CIVILIZATION”. Viewed historically, architecture remains as the principal visible and material record, through the ages of man’s intellectual evolution. Each great cultural movement had made its own particular contribution to the art of building so that the aspirations of the people and even their way of life stand revealed in substantial form for all to see. And in India, man’s ideals have found expression in numerous noble monuments showing that few countries possess a richer Architectural Heritage. In each of the major historical developments of architecture there is one basic principle underlying its conception, and one which is supremely distinctive. GREEK BUILDINGS - REFINED PERFECTION ROMAN BUILDINGS - SCIENTIFIC CONSTRUCTION FRENCH GOTHIC - PASSIONATE ENERGY ITALIAN RENAISSANCE - SCHOLARSHIP OF ITS TIME INDIA - SPIRITUAL CONTENT The fundamental purpose of the building art in India was to represent in concrete form the prevailing religious consciousness of the people. This character of Indian architecture is emphasized by the treatment of wall surfaces. The scheme of sculpture which often covers the whole of the exterior the building is notable not only for the richness of its decorative effect, but for the deep significance of its subject matter. Here is not only the relation of architecture to life, but transcendent life itself plastically represented. Carved on high or low relief are depicted all the glorious gods of the age-old mythology of the country, engaged in their well known ceremonials. An unending array of imagery steeped in symbolism, thus producing an “Ocean of Story” of absorbing interest. THE INDUS CIVILIZATION

(B.C.3000 – 2000)

It is very strange to find that the earliest phase of building art in India recently excavated, disclose a style of structure which has been described as AESTHETICALLY BARREN. This development in the dawn age of the country has been designated as the “INDUS CIVILIZATION” in the regions bordering on the river Indus. Compared to other countries of which, the chronology is known, Indus Civilization was in a fairly matured state as early as 3000B.C. Two separate sites have so far been excavated, but there are mounds and other evidences which imply that it extended over a considerable portion of North-West India and even beyond, thus embracing “an area immensely larger than either Egypt or Sumer”. The two sites explored are at: MOHENJO-DARO in Sind and HARAPPA in Southern Punjab These sites disclose the foundations of two cities in numerous well defined strata, denoting that they flourished over a long period.


The investigations have revealed a culture in which the buildings of its people had no great artistic value, but the finished quality of the materials employed, the high standard of their manipulation, and the stability of the construction as a whole is astonishing.

The architecture of INDUS VALLEY can be clearly understood by analysing the following:

1. SETTLEMENT PATTERN

2. TOWN PLANNING

3. BUILT FORMS

4. MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION

5. WATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

1. SETTLEMENT PLANNING

The twin cities of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa formed the hub of the civilization. They are representative in the sense that planning principles employed here are followed

practically without change at all other sites and the clusters or the settlements are located on the mounds.

2. TOWN PLANNING

The builders of these cities had acquired no little experience of town planning, and the cities have shown the following features in its planning.

1. Both cities were a mile square, with defensive outer walls. 2. The straight streets were laid at right angles 3. The main thoroughfares running north and south, east and west. 4. The principal buildings were oriented having their sides towards the cardinal points 5. The bricks were laid in mud-mortar in “English bond”. 6. Each city was divided into wards for protective purposes 7. A well planned water management and drainage system was in use. 8. The buildings were composed completely of burnt brick, which is larger than the ones used in present day.


3. BUILT FORMS

Dwelling houses both large and small predominate the different types of buildings of these cities in addition to which, there were certain number of more important structures built for various purposes. They are:

1. Large structures probably used as market halls, store rooms or offices.

2. Rooms arranged around two spacious courtyards which may have been a palace.

3. Several halls possibly for religious usage. 4. A complete bathing establishment at

Mohenjo-daro. 5. INDIVIDUAL HOUSES

Computer generated Settlement Pattern

The houses of these cities were solidly built of bricks and many were multi-storied and equipped with bathrooms and lavatories.The Harappan house is an amazing example of a native people, without the benefit of technology, adapting to local conditions and intuitively producing an architecture eminently suited to the climate. The house was planned as a series of rooms opening on to a central courtyard.

This courtyard served the multiple functions of S Lighting the rooms, Acting as a heat absorber in summer Radiation in winter, Providing an open space inside for community activities

Ruins of the settlements

There were no openings toward the main street, thus ensuring privacy and security for the residents. the only openings in the houses are rather small - this prevented the hot summer sun heating the insides of the houses.

4. MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION

TECHNIQUES

Although all the buildings were constructed of materials and in a manner far in advance of their time, their style is one of such stark utilitarian that they cannot aspire to be works of architecture; in effect they represent a very practical form of building construction. The Indus builders were thoroughly experienced in the technique of the brick layer’s craft.

View of the streets in Harappa

AR1152 – HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE AND CULTURE II

The buildings are two or more storey high. Walls and the foundations - Upper stories - Roofs Openings -

Plan of an individual house

EMBLISHMENTS

There is a possibility that on these structures, some kind of mural decoration may have been applied, such as carved wood or colour, but if so, this has completely disappeared. The impression therefore conveyed by these remains is that, ‘the country was once populated by a busy community of traders, efficient and precise in their manners customs, but devoted to a life of materialism, thus lacking in that aesthetic intuition which demands and naturally creates an artistic environment’. 5. WATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

A well protected water management system storage tanks and distributed to individual housed through conduits.evidence. Drains started from the bathrooms of the houses and joined the main sewer in the street, which was covered by brick slabs or corbelled brick arches, depending on its width.MOHENJO-DARO was explored to get more information to the beginnings of this civilization, and also on the dark period between the disappearance of the Indus Culture and the entry of Aryan speaking people into India, presumed to be about 1500 B.C.

But this did not give any specific information and the deserted about 2000 B.C. This part of the country must at that time have had its attractions, but it appears to have

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE AND CULTURE II UNIT I ANCIENT INDIA

The buildings are two or more storey high.

Brick Masonry Wood Flat and built of stout beams covered with planking finished dressing of beaten earth Spanned by wooden lintels and brick corbelling arches were not known to them).

There is a possibility that on these structures, some kind of mural decoration may have been applied, such as carved wood or colour, but if so, this has completely disappeared. The impression therefore conveyed by these remains is

country was once populated by a busy community of traders, efficient and precise in their manners customs, but devoted to a life of materialism, thus lacking in that aesthetic intuition which demands and naturally

A well protected water management system existed in the Indus Valley cities. Water collected from wells, stored in storage tanks and distributed to individual housed through conduits. An advanced drainage system is also in evidence. Drains started from the bathrooms of the houses and joined the main sewer in the street, which was covered by brick slabs or corbelled brick arches, depending on its width. A third site CHANHU

more information to the beginnings of this civilization, and also on the dark period between the disappearance of the Indus Culture and the entry of Aryan speaking people into India, presumed

But this did not give any specific information and the stratum of this site goes little back than other sites, but it was B.C. This part of the country must at that time have had its attractions, but it appears to have

ANCIENT INDIA

ed with planking finished with a top

rick corbelling (as the construction of

There is a possibility that on these structures, some kind of mural decoration may have been applied, such as carved wood or colour, but if so, this has completely disappeared. The impression therefore conveyed by these remains is

country was once populated by a busy community of traders, efficient and precise in their manners and customs, but devoted to a life of materialism, thus lacking in that aesthetic intuition which demands and naturally

Water collected from wells, stored in An advanced drainage system is also in

evidence. Drains started from the bathrooms of the houses and joined the main sewer in the street, which was A third site CHANHU-DARO 80 miles SW of

more information to the beginnings of this civilization, and also on the dark period between the disappearance of the Indus Culture and the entry of Aryan speaking people into India, presumed

little back than other sites, but it was B.C. This part of the country must at that time have had its attractions, but it appears to have


had the great disadvantage of persistent floods which eventually forced its population to move. In comparison with the rich remains revealed by excavations in other fields of research of relatively the same early age, the discoveries at MOHENJO-DARO, HARAPPA, and CHANHU-DARO, in the Indus Valley, have produced a disappointingly small amount of material of an artistic nature. And also the people seemed to have had no marked religious convictions, as the absence of temples, shrines or tombs on which they might have expressed themselves architecturally or artistically by means of paintings or sculpture, etc,. The Indus civilization declined sometime early in the 2nd millennium B.C., for the excavations reveal that its cities were then falling into a state of decay. At a later date, the deserted appearance of this part of India was remarked on by a Greek writer, who relates that here were, “The remains of over a thousand towns and villages once full of men”In spite of its virile character and the experienced method of construction that were achieved at this early age in India this powerful and well founded culture died out without appearing to influence in the slightest degree, the nature of the building art that followed. It is possible only when a great disaster cut across the current events making an entirely fresh beginning necessary.

VEDIC VILLAGE

(B.C.1500 – 800)

INTRODUCTION After the decay of the Indus Civilization when the art of building again comes into view, this no longer consists of well laid out cities of finished masonry, but takes a much more rudimentary form of humble village huts constructed of reeds and leaves and hidden in the depths of the forest. The culture of the people was beginning again. The exploration of origins reveals the motive power which gives an art its initial impetus. And it is the primitive culture of the people that these origins are to be found. Primitive art is the matrix of the higher, and is the source from which more advanced forms are derived. The Vedic culture of India produced the elementary type of forest dwelling in the end of the 2nd millennium B.C. It was the outcome of the Indo-Aryan migration from the north-west, and which in turn laid the foundations for the Vedic Age. The people of Indus Civilization and those of Vedic Culture are totally unrelated as there was a clear difference in The conditions under which each of these populations existed, Their mode of life and The type of building produced by this method of living. On the one hand the inhabitants of the Indus region, were mainly traders and town dwellers, while on the other hand, the Vedic people were of the country, wresting their living from the fields and forests. 1. SETTLEMENT PATTERN The people of this Vedic Age living in clearings cut out of the primeval forest, just as some of the small cultivators at the present time in India, in parts of Bengal, still carve their homesteads out of bamboo jungles. The Vedic people were originally nomads, an offshoot of an immense and obscure migration, who, on settling down in the plains of India, became partly pastoral and partly agricultural, having as their habitations rudimentary structures of reeds and bamboo thatched with leaves. The Indian architecture had its beginning from these structures. But these people had to protect themselves and their property from the ravages of wild animals, and so they surrounded their little collection of huts (Grama) with a special kind of Fence or Palisade.


View of a Grama

This fence took a form of a bamboo railing, the upright posts called Thaba of which supported three horizontal bars called Suchi or needles, as they were threaded through holes in the uprights. In the course of time this peculiar type of railing became the emblem of protection and universally used, not only to enclose the village, but as a paling around fields, and eventually to preserve anything of a special or sacred nature. In the palisade encircling the village, entrances also of a particular kind were devised. These were formed by a projecting a section of the bamboo fence at right angles and placing a gateway. Through these gateways, cattles passed to and from their sheds. The characteristic Buddhist gateways known as Torana, a structure which was carried with that religion to the Far East is derived from these Gateways of Vedic Village. 2. BUILT FORMS - HOUSES The huts within the village enclosures were of various shapes and at first those of a circular plan predominated (It is the natural tendency of the primitive man towards rounded forms). In the Vedic village huts were of beehive pattern made of a circular wall of bamboos held together with bands of withes and covered either with a domical roof of leaves or thatched with grass. At a later date in the evolution of Vedic hut, the circular plan was elongated into an oval with a barrel roof formed on a frame of bent bamboos also covered with thatch. As a next stage of development, some of these huts are arranged in threes and fours around a square courtyard and the roofs covered with planks of wood or tiles.


Evolution of Vedic hut

3. MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES

Generally for huts, the Vedic people had used bent bamboos, Leaves and grass.bricks were used for walls and the doorways were square headed openings with double doors. The barrel shape of the roof was maintained by using a thong or with across the end of the arch (like the cord of the bow), known as embryo tie-rod. This produced a shape resembling a horse shoe, a type of archway commonly referred to as the “Chaitya” or “Sun-Window”, which becomes The primitive shapes and the expedients as the railing and the gateway, the rounded hut with the heavy eave of the thatch the barrel roof with its framework of bent bamboos all in a greafollowed. The decorative aspects of these forest dwellings are not clearly known. The people of these villages would have applied some colours on the mud walls as a means of decoration. (Huts in remote villawhitewashed and patterns of archaic designs in red pigment (haematite) painted on this white ground. The symbolism in such patterns suggests a very early origin which may go back to Vedic times). Towards the middle of the 1st millennium B.C., the social system of the Vedic community so expanded that towns arose at certain important centres, where the traditional structural features of the village were reproduced on a larger scale and in a more substantial form. This resulted in, wooden Palisades with entirely wooden buildings within this enclosure. The Vedic civilization enters into an era of timber construction. The very reason was that the inhabitants lived in forests so that they became closely identified with their woody environment. With the early inhabitants of India the timber age appears to have been a long one due to the vast extent of the “Mahavana” or “Great wood” in which they were cradled. So closely connected with their existence were these forests that the early people developed dexterity in wooden construction of a very high standard. It is not remarkable therefore, in view of this timber tradition that its

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE AND CULTURE II UNIT I ANCIENT INDIA

CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES

people had used bent bamboos, Leaves and grass. In the better class houses, unbaked bricks were used for walls and the doorways were square headed openings with double doors. The barrel shape of

of was maintained by using a thong or with across the end of the arch (like the cord of the bow), known as rod. This produced a shape resembling a horse shoe, a type of archway commonly referred to as the

Window”, which becomes the characteristics of the subsequent architecture of the Buddhist.

The primitive shapes and the expedients as the railing and the gateway, the rounded hut with the heavy eave of the thatch the barrel roof with its framework of bent bamboos all in a greater or lesser degree influenced the style which

The decorative aspects of these forest dwellings are not clearly known. The people of these villages would have applied some colours on the mud walls as a means of decoration. (Huts in remote villawhitewashed and patterns of archaic designs in red pigment (haematite) painted on this white ground. The symbolism in such patterns suggests a very early origin which may go back to Vedic times).

ennium B.C., the social system of the Vedic community so expanded that towns arose at certain important centres, where the traditional structural features of the village were reproduced on a larger scale and in a more substantial form. This resulted in, strongly fortified towns surrounded by a rampart and

entirely wooden buildings within this enclosure.

The Vedic civilization enters into an era of timber construction. The very reason was that the inhabitants lived in hey became closely identified with their woody environment.

With the early inhabitants of India the timber age appears to have been a long one due to the vast extent of the “Mahavana” or “Great wood” in which they were cradled.

their existence were these forests that the early people developed dexterity in wooden construction of a very high standard. It is not remarkable therefore, in view of this timber tradition that its

ANCIENT INDIA

In the better class houses, unbaked bricks were used for walls and the doorways were square headed openings with double doors. The barrel shape of

of was maintained by using a thong or with across the end of the arch (like the cord of the bow), known as rod. This produced a shape resembling a horse shoe, a type of archway commonly referred to as the

the characteristics of the subsequent architecture of the Buddhist.

The primitive shapes and the expedients as the railing and the gateway, the rounded hut with the heavy eave of the ter or lesser degree influenced the style which

The decorative aspects of these forest dwellings are not clearly known. The people of these villages would have applied some colours on the mud walls as a means of decoration. (Huts in remote villages of Orissa, are still whitewashed and patterns of archaic designs in red pigment (haematite) painted on this white ground. The symbolism in such patterns suggests a very early origin which may go back to Vedic times).

ennium B.C., the social system of the Vedic community so expanded that towns arose at certain important centres, where the traditional structural features of the village were reproduced on a

fortified towns surrounded by a rampart and

The Vedic civilization enters into an era of timber construction. The very reason was that the inhabitants lived in

With the early inhabitants of India the timber age appears to have been a long one due to the vast extent of the

their existence were these forests that the early people developed dexterity in wooden construction of a very high standard. It is not remarkable therefore, in view of this timber tradition that its


constructional features were freely and closely imitatedwas the form of expression for many centuries afterwards. In principle, these cities were rectangular in plan and divided into four quarters by two main thoroughfares intersecting at right angles, each leading to a city gate.

� One of these quarters contained the citadel and royal apartments� Another quarter contained the residences of the upper classes� A third was for the buildings of the middle class and � The fourth was for the accommodation of � Open to view as in the modern bazaar

The general arrangements of the royal residence in the well planned quarters have so much in common with the later medieval palace from that of the Mughals

� Were built round an inner courtyard within the citadel� Had a large central window for the dharshan or the salutation� Had a wing reserved for the royal ladies with pleasure gardens, having fountains and ornamental water

attached. � Had an official enclosure containing audi

at hand an arena for wrestling displays and contests of wild beasts.

Plan of Vedic Cities

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE AND CULTURE II UNIT I ANCIENT INDIAconstructional features were freely and closely imitated in the rock and stone architecture which eventuated and was the form of expression for many centuries afterwards.

In principle, these cities were rectangular in plan and divided into four quarters by two main thoroughfares ach leading to a city gate.

One of these quarters contained the citadel and royal apartments Another quarter contained the residences of the upper classes A third was for the buildings of the middle class and The fourth was for the accommodation of traders with their workshops

view as in the modern bazaar

The general arrangements of the royal residence in the well planned quarters have so much in common with the Mughals, both

ourtyard within the citadel Had a large central window for the dharshan or the salutation of the king. Had a wing reserved for the royal ladies with pleasure gardens, having fountains and ornamental water

Had an official enclosure containing audience and assembly halls, a court of justice, a music displays and contests of wild beasts.

ANCIENT INDIA

in the rock and stone architecture which eventuated and

In principle, these cities were rectangular in plan and divided into four quarters by two main thoroughfares

The general arrangements of the royal residence in the well planned quarters have so much in common with the

Had a wing reserved for the royal ladies with pleasure gardens, having fountains and ornamental water

rt of justice, a music gallery and near


Historical Time line of South Asia History of India

Stone Age Before 3300 BCE

Mehrgarh Culture 7000–3300 BCE

Indus Valley Civilization 3300–1700 BCE

Late Harappan Culture 1700–1300 BCE

Cemetery H culture 1900-1300 BCE

Ochre Coloured Pottery culture From 2000 BCE

Swat culture 1600–500 BCE

Iron Age 1200–180 BCE

Vedic Civilization 1500–500 BCE

Black and Red ware culture 1300–1000 BCE

Painted Grey Ware culture 1200–600 BCE

Northern Black Polished Ware 700–200 BCE

Maha Janapadas 700–300 BCE

Magadha Empire 684–424 BCE

Nanda Empire 424-321 BCE

Chera Empire 300 BCE–1200 CE

Chola Empire 300 BCE–1279 CE

Pandyan Empire 300 BCE–1345 CE

Maurya Empire 321–184 BCE

Pallava Empire 250 BCE–800 CE

Sunga Empire 185-73 BCE

Kanva Empire 75-26 BCE

Kharavela Empire 209–170 BCE

Kuninda Kingdom 200s BCE–300s CE

Indo-Scythian Kingdom 200 BC–400 CE

Satavahana Empire 230 BCE–220 CE

Indo-Greek Kingdom 180 BCE–10 CE

Middle Kingdoms 1 CE–1279 CE

Indo-Parthian Kingdom 21–130s CE

Western Satrap Empire 35–405 CE

Kushan Empire 60–240 CE

Indo-Sassanid Kingdom 230–360 CE

Vakataka Empire 250–500 CE

Kalabhras Kingdom 250–600 CE

Gupta Empire 280–550 CE

Kadamba Empire 345–525 CE

Western Ganga Kingdom 350–1000 CE

Kamarupa Kingdom 350–1100 CE

Vishnukundina Empire 420-624 CE

Huna Kingdom 475-576 CE

Rai Kingdom 489–632 CE

Chalukya Empire 543–753 CE


Harsha Empire 590-647 CE

Shahi Kingdom 565-670 CE

Eastern Chalukya Kingdom 624-1075 CE

Gurjara Pratihara Empire 650–1036 CE

Pala Empire 750–1174 CE

Rashtrakuta Empire 753–982 CE

Paramara Kingdom 800–1327 CE

Yadava Empire 850–1334 CE

Solanki Kingdom 942–1244 CE

Western Chalukya Empire 973–1189 CE

Hoysala Empire 1040–1346 CE

Sena Empire 1070–1230 CE

Eastern Ganga Empire 1078–1434 CE

Kakatiya Kingdom 1083–1323 CE

Kalachuri Empire 1130–1184 CE

Early Modern Period 1100–1800 CE

Vijayanagara Empire 1336–1646 CE

Delhi Sultanate 1206–1526 CE

Deccan Sultanates 1490–1596 CE

Mughal Empire 1526–1803 CE

Maratha Empire 1674–1818 CE

Regional Kingdoms 1100–1800 CE

Company rule in India 1757–1858 CE

British India 1858–1947 CE

Origins of Buddhism and Jainism:

SOCIAL TURMOIL

The period after the Epic Age or the Later Vedic Age (1000 BC-600 BC) was marked by the rise of numerous small republics and kingdoms.

This period also saw the rise of dominance of the upper castes and exploitation of the people belonging to the lower castes.

Brahmins (Priests) and Kshatriyas (Rulers And Warriors) did not allow the people belonging to lower castes or the Shudras and untouchables to have their say in the society.

This period also saw a social seperation developing between the Brahmins on one hand and the Kshatriyas on the other.

The rising popularity and aspirations of the Brahmin Priests began to collide with the authority of the Kshatriyas, who formed the ruling class of each kingdom or republic.

The Kshatriyas were alarmed by the rising power of the Brahmins, but they could not do much as they required the services of the Brahmins in all religious rituals and state occasions.

The rise of Buddhism and Jainism during this period was a natural outcome to counter the threat of the Brahmanical Hindu order, as the founders of these religions were themselves Kshatriyas or warriors

Principles of Buddhism: The Four Noble Truths and Eight Fold Path

The Four Noble Truths

1. Life means suffering. 2. The origin of suffering is attachment.


3. The cessation of suffering is attainable. 4. The path to the cessation of suffering.

The Noble Eightfold Path

1. Right View Wisdom 2. Right Intention 3. Right Speech Ethical Conduct 4. Right Action 5. Right Livelihood 6. Right Effort Mental Development 7. Right Mindfulness 8. Right Concentration BUDDHISM

Buddhism is one of the oldest religions in the world. Gautam Buddha (563 BC-483 BC) laid the foundation for Buddhism after he gained Enlightenment under a Bodhi tree at Bodhgaya. The preaching of Lord Buddha revolves around attaining salvation from worldly sufferings, universal brotherhood, peace and non-violence ORIGIN OF BUDDHISM

Buddhism, founded in the late 6th century B.C.E. by Siddhartha Gautama (the "Buddha"), It is an important religion in most of the countries of Asia. The Buddha was born in North India (ca. 563 B.C.E.) at a place called Lumbini near the Himalayan foothills, and he began teaching around Benares (at Sarnath). His era in general was one of spiritual, intellectual, and social ferment. This was the age when the Hindu ideal of renunciation of family and social life by holy persons seeking Truth first became widespread. Siddhartha Gautama was the warrior son of a king and queen. The Eight-fold Path often pictorially represented by an eight-spoked wheel (the Wheel of Dhamma) includes: Right Views (the Four Noble Truths), Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood/Occupation, Right Endeavor, Right Mindfulness (total concentration in activity), and Right Concentration (meditation). The Eight-Fold Path is pervaded by the principle of the Middle Way, which characterizes the Buddha's life. The Middle Way represents a rejection of all extremes of thought, emotion, action, and lifestyle. After the Buddha's death, his wandering followers gradually settled down into monasteries A famous king, named Ashoka, and his son helped to spread Buddhism throughout South India and into Sri Lanka (Ceylon) (3rd century B.C.E.). Many monastic schools developed among the Buddha's followers. About the first century C.E.( Christian Era) a major split occurred within the Buddhist fold - that between the Mahayana and Hinayana branches. Thus Buddhism became virtually extinct in India (ca. 12th century C.E.) - because of the all-embracing nature of Hinduism, Muslim invasions etc.


The many forms and practices that have been developed within the Buddhist fold have also allowed many different types of people to satisfy their spiritual needs through this great religion. * Hinayana was a term invented by Mahayana adherents and was originally a disapproval. Today it is less so. GAUTAMA BUDDHA

Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born in 563 BC in the ruling Kshatriya family of the Lichhavi tribe in Lumbini, in the foothills of Nepal. His father was the chief of this tribe. It was prophesized that Gautama (who was named Siddharth) would become a saint and renounce the world. Therefore, his father took all possible care to keep Gautama in a palace full of luxuries and comfort. At the age of 29, Gautama left his palace. He wandered from place to place and did heavy penances (Voluntary self-punishment

in order to atone-turnaway from sin for some wrongdoing). He even went to the stage of putting his body to rigorous punishment. Gautama attained Enlightenment while meditating under a Bodhi tree in a place called Bodhgaya (in the state of Bihar), at the age of thirty-five. After attaining Enlightenment, he came to be known as the Buddha (the Enlightened One). He preached his first sermon – religious addrress/preaching in a place called Sarnath, which is near Varanasi (Benaras). Gautama Buddha passed away at the age of 80 in Kushinagar near Gorakhpur (in the state of Uttar Pradesh). TEACHINGS OF BUDDHA

Gautama Buddha discarded the Vedic Brahmanical system, which divided the society into various castes and further alienated the people from one another on the basis of their birth. He strongly opposed lengthy rituals, animal sacrifices and ceremonial worship. According to his doctrine, the existence of God is irrelevant. He laid emphasis on self-effort to attain salvation. He believed that the soul was immortal and attainment of Nirvana (salvation from materialistic life) was the chief object of each human being. AFTERMATH(outcome of an event):

During the lifetime of Gautama Buddha, a large number of people became his followers and Buddhism became the state religion of a number of states like Magadh, Kosala and Kaushambi. Great kings like Ashoka (of the Mauryan dynasty) and Kanishka (Kushan dynasty) became Buddhist and they helped spread the sermon of Buddha far and wide through their kingdoms. King Ashoka is said to have built 84,000 stupas and a large number of rock edicts and pillars throughout his empire to preach the message of Buddhism. As Buddha preached his ideas through word of mouth, there were no Buddhist religious scriptures. Later on, his preachings were compiled into Buddhist canon in Pali language, which are also known as Tripitikas. By the second century AD, Buddhism was divided into two main branches-the Mahayana (greater vehicle) and the Hinayana (lesser vehicle). In the course of time, Buddhism became a major religion and spread through most parts of East Asia.


Buddhism and Jainism

Buddhism and Jainism are the two branches of the Shramana tradition (one who renounces the world and leads an ascetic life

for the purpose of spiritual development and liberation) that still exist today. Śramaṇas assert that human beings are responsible for their own deeds and reap the fruits of those deeds, for good or ill Jainism is largely confined to India, whereas Buddhism has only flourished abroad. The two traditions are similar at certain level of belief systems. Buddhism separates itself from the Jain tradition by teaching an alternative to "extreme asceticism(self denial)" Both Buddhists and Jains had the order of nuns

Buddhist principles say that a woman has the ability to obtain Nirvana in the Buddha Dhamma and Vinaya.

Jain traditions differ on the issue of female enlightenment, with the Digambara sect(A subdivision of a larger religious group)

stating that women are capable of spiritual progress but must be a reborn male in order to attain final spiritual liberation; and

the Shvetambara sect maintaining that liberation (Moksha) is attainable by both males and females.

The issue of female enlightenment is, however, an academic one in the Jain context since in the current universal age of

corruption, Moksha is nearly impossible for any soul to attain.

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Unit -1 Ancient India