Indian Art and Culture

Architecture

Ancient

• Harappan: planned cities and the Great Bath (see the prehistory unit).
• Mauryan:
  • polished stone pillars with animal capitals; the Sarnath lion capital is the national emblem;
  • the Barabar caves (Bihar), the earliest rock-cut caves, given to the Ajivikas;
  • stupas.
• Stupas: a dome (anda), harmika, chhatra, railing (vedika) and gateways (torana). Sanchi, Bharhut and Amaravati.
• Rock-cut caves:
  • Buddhist chaityas (prayer halls) and viharas (monasteries): Karle, Bhaja, Ajanta;
  • Ellora has Buddhist, Hindu and Jain caves side by side;
  • Elephanta (Shiva, Trimurti).
• Temple styles:

Style	Region	Features	Examples
Nagara	North	Curvilinear shikhara, amalaka on top, no boundary wall	Khajuraho (Chandela), Konark (Sun), Lingaraja, Modhera
Dravida	South	Pyramidal vimana, gopuram gateways, enclosure walls, water tank	Brihadeshwara (Thanjavur), Meenakshi (Madurai), Shore Temple
Vesara	Deccan	Mix of the two	Chalukyan temples at Aihole, Pattadakal; Hoysala at Belur and Halebidu

• Gupta beginnings: the Dashavatara temple at Deogarh and the brick temple at Bhitargaon.
• Pallava: the rathas of Mahabalipuram and the Shore Temple.
• Rashtrakuta: the Kailasa temple, Ellora.

Indo-Islamic

• New features: the true arch and dome, minarets, calligraphy, jali screens and the charbagh garden.
• Sultanate: the Qutb Minar, Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque, Alai Darwaza, Tughlaqabad, and the Lodi tombs (octagonal, with a double dome).
• Sher Shah's tomb at Sasaram (Bihar) stands in a lake.
• Mughal:
  • Humayun's tomb (1570) was the first garden tomb;
  • Fatehpur Sikri (Buland Darwaza);
  • the Taj Mahal (Shah Jahan; pietra dura, double dome);
  • the Red Fort and Jama Masjid.
• Regional styles: Gol Gumbaz at Bijapur, Atala Masjid at Jaunpur, and Bengal terracotta temples.

Colonial and modern

• Indo-Saracenic: Victoria Memorial, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Gateway of India.
• New Delhi: Lutyens and Baker.
• Le Corbusier's Chandigarh.
• Patna: Golghar (1786, a granary), the Patna High Court and the Bihar Museum (2015).

Sculpture and painting

• Sculpture schools:
  • Gandhara: grey schist, Greco-Roman style;
  • Mathura: red sandstone, indigenous;
  • Amaravati: white marble, narrative panels;
  • the Gupta Sarnath Buddha;
  • Chola bronzes (Nataraja), made by the lost-wax method.
• Didarganj Yakshi (Mauryan polish) is in the Bihar Museum, Patna.
• Mural painting: Ajanta (2nd century BCE to 6th century CE, Jataka themes, the Padmapani Bodhisattva), Bagh, Sittanavasal and Lepakshi.
• Miniatures:
  • Pala manuscripts on palm leaf;
  • Mughal: Hamzanama, Mansur's animal studies;
  • Rajasthani: Mewar, Kishangarh (Bani Thani), Bundi;
  • Pahari: Basohli, Kangra;
  • Patna Kalam (Company school, 18th–19th century).
• Folk paintings:
  • Madhubani / Mithila (Bihar; GI tag);
  • Sohrai and Khovar (Hazaribagh, Jharkhand; GI tag 2020);
  • Paitkar (Jharkhand scroll painting);
  • Manjusha (Bhagalpur, Bihar);
  • Warli (Maharashtra);
  • Pattachitra (Odisha);
  • Gond (MP);
  • Kalamkari (Andhra).
• Modern art: Raja Ravi Varma, the Bengal School (Abanindranath Tagore, Bharat Mata) and Amrita Sher-Gil.

Performing arts

• Classical dances (8 listed by the Sangeet Natak Akademi):

Dance	State
Bharatanatyam	Tamil Nadu
Kathak	Uttar Pradesh / north India
Kathakali	Kerala
Mohiniyattam	Kerala
Kuchipudi	Andhra Pradesh
Odissi	Odisha
Manipuri	Manipur
Sattriya	Assam (Sankardev)

• The Natya Shastra of Bharata Muni is the basic text of drama, dance and music.
• Music:
  • Hindustani forms are dhrupad, khayal, thumri and tappa. The gharanas include Gwalior, Kirana, Agra and Jaipur.
  • Carnatic music: Purandara Dasa is called the father. The Trinity are Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri.
• Bihar's music: the Dhrupad of Darbhanga, and folk forms Bidesia (Bhikhari Thakur, the "Shakespeare of Bhojpuri"), Sohar and Chaiti.
• Folk dances:
  • Jharkhand: Chhau (Seraikela), Paika, Jhumar, Karma.
  • Bihar: Jat-Jatin, Jhijhiya, Domkach.
  • Punjab: Bhangra and Giddha.
  • Gujarat: Garba.
  • Assam: Bihu.
• Theatre: Sanskrit drama, Yakshagana, Jatra, Nautanki and Tamasha.

Literature (a brief list)

• Sanskrit: the Vedas, the epics, Kalidasa, Bhasa, Banabhatta, the Panchatantra (Vishnu Sharma) and Jayadeva's Gita Govinda.
• Pali and Prakrit: the Tripitaka and the Jain Agamas.
• Tamil: Sangam literature, Tirukkural, Silappadikaram.
• Persian: Amir Khusrau and Abul Fazl.
• Hindi:
  • Vidyapati (Maithili, 14th–15th century);
  • Kabir, Tulsi, Sur;
  • Bharatendu Harishchandra;
  • Premchand;
  • from Bihar: Ramdhari Singh "Dinkar" (Rashmirathi, Urvashi), Phanishwar Nath "Renu" (Maila Anchal) and Nagarjuna.

Festivals, heritage and institutions

• Festivals: Chhath (Bihar and Jharkhand), Sarhul, Karma and Sohrai (Jharkhand), Bihu, Onam, Pongal and Durga Puja. Durga Puja in Kolkata is on UNESCO's intangible heritage list (2021).
• UNESCO World Heritage Sites: India has 43 (as of 2024), including the Maratha military landscapes (2025 makes it 44).
  • In Bihar: the Mahabodhi Temple (2002) and Nalanda Mahavihara (2016).
  • Others to remember: Ajanta and Ellora, the Taj Mahal, Konark, Hampi, Khajuraho, Dholavira (2021), Ramappa (2021), Santiniketan and the Hoysala temples (2023), and the Moidams of Assam (2024).
• Intangible heritage: Vedic chanting, Ramlila, Kutiyattam, Chhau, yoga, Kumbh Mela, Durga Puja and Garba (2023).
• Institutions:
  • the Archaeological Survey of India (1861, Alexander Cunningham);
  • the Sangeet Natak Akademi (1953);
  • the Lalit Kala Akademi (1954);
  • the Sahitya Akademi (1954).

Exam tip: Pair each art form with its state and with any GI or UNESCO tag. Make two lists, "GI tags of Bihar" (Madhubani, Manjusha, Sikki grass craft, Bhagalpuri silk, Shahi litchi, Magahi paan, Katarni rice, Zardalu mango, Silao khaja, Mithila makhana) and "GI tags of Jharkhand" (Sohrai–Khovar), and revise them before every state exam.