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2THEARTS OFINDUS VALLEYTHE arts of the Indus Valley Civilisation emerged duringthe second half of the third millennium BCE. The formsof art found from various sites of the civilisation includesculptures, seals, pottery, jewellery, terracotta figures, etc.The artists of that time surely had fine artistic sensibilitiesand a vivid imagination. Their delineation of human andanimal figures was highly realistic in nature, since theanatomical details included in them were unique, and, inthe case of terracotta art, the modelling of animal figureswas done in an extremely careful manner.The two major sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation, alongthe Indus river—the cities of Harappa in the north andMohenjodaro in the south—showcase one of earliest examplesof civic planning. Other markers were houses, markets,storage facilities, offices, public baths, etc., arranged in agrid-like pattern. There was also a highly developed drainagesystem. While Harappa and Mohenjodaro are situated inPakistan, the important sites excavated in India are Lothaland Dholavira in Gujarat, Rakhigarhi in Haryana,Ropar in Punjab, Kalibangan in Rajasthan, etc.Stone StatuesStatues whether in stone, bronze or terracotta foundin Harappan sites are not abundant, but refined. Thestone statuaries found at Harappa and Mohenjodaroare excellent examples of handling three-dimensionalvolumes. In stone are two male figures—one is a torsoin red sandstone and the other is a bust of a beardedman in soapstone—which are extensively discussed.The figure of the bearded man, interpreted as apriest, is draped in a shawl coming under the rightarm and covering the left shoulder. This shawl isdecorated with trefoil patterns. The eyes are a littleelongated, and half-closed as in meditativeconcentration. The nose is well formed and of medium2021-22Bust of a bearded priest

AN INTRODUCTION TO INDIAN ART10size; the mouth is of average size with close-cut moustacheand a short beard and whiskers; the ears resemble doubleshells with a hole in the middle. The hair is parted in themiddle, and a plain woven fillet is passed round the head.An armlet is worn on the right hand and holes around theneck suggest a necklace.Bronze castingtechniques of thesame nature arepractised even nowin many parts of thecountry, having acontinuoustradition.Bronze CastingThe art of bronze-casting was practised on a wide scale bythe Harappans. Their bronze statues were made using the‘lost wax’ technique in which the wax figures were firstcovered with a coating of clay and allowed to dry. Then thewax was heated and the molten wax was drained outthrough a tiny hole made in the clay cover. The hollowmould thus created was filled with molten metal whichtook the original shape of the object. Once the metal cooled,the clay cover was completely removed. In bronze we findhuman as well as animal figures, the best example of theformer being the statue of a girl popularly titled ‘DancingGirl’. Amongst animal figures in bronze the buffalo withits uplifted head, back and sweeping horns and the goatare of artistic merit. Bronze casting was popular at all themajor centres of the Indus Valley Civilisation. The copperdog and bird of Lothal and the bronze figure of a bull fromKalibangan are in no way inferior to the human figures ofcopper and bronze from Harappa and Mohenjodaro. Metalcasting appears to be a continuous tradition. The lateHarappan and Chalcolithic sites like Daimabad inMaharashtra yielded excellent examples of metal-castMother goddess, terracotta2021-22A terracotta figurine

ARTSOF THE INDUSVALLEY11sculptures. They mainly consist of human and animalfigures. It shows how the tradition of figure sculpturecontinued down the ages.TerracottaThe Indus Valley people made terracotta images also butcompared to the stone and bronze statues the terracottarepresentations of human form are crude in the IndusValley. They are more realistic in Gujarat sites andKalibangan. The most important among the Indus figuresare those representing the mother goddess. In terracotta,we also find a few figurines of bearded males with coiledhair, their posture rigidly upright, legs slightly apart, andthe arms parallel to the sides of the body. The repetition ofthis figure in exactly the same position would suggest thathe was a deity. A terracotta mask of a horned deity hasalso been found. Toy carts with wheels, whistles, rattles,birds and animals, gamesmen and discs were also renderedin terracotta.TerracottaSealsArchaeologists have discovered thousands of seals, mostlymade of steatite, and occasionally of agate, chert, copper,faience and terracotta, with beautiful figures of animals,such as unicorn bull, rhinoceros, tiger, elephant, bison,goat, buffalo, etc. The realistic rendering of these animalsin various moods is remarkable. The purpose of producingseals was mainly commercial. It appears that the sealswere also used as amulets, carried on the persons of theirowners, perhaps as modern-day identity cards. Thestandard Harappan seal was a square plaque 2 2 squareinches, made from steatite. Every seal is engraved in apictographic script which is yet to be deciphered. Someseals have also been found in ivory. They all bear a greatvariety of motifs, most often of animals including those ofthe bull, with or without the hump, the elephant, tiger,2021-22

AN INTRODUCTION TO INDIAN ART12Unicorn sealsPashupati seal/female deitygoat and also monsters. Sometimes trees orhuman figures were also depicted. The mostremarkable seal is the one depicted with afigure in the centre and animals around. Thisseal is generally identified as the PashupatiSeal by some scholars whereas some identifyit as the female deity. This seal depicts ahuman figure seated cross-legged. An elephantand a tiger are depicted to the right side of theseated figure, while on the left a rhinocerosand a buffalo are seen. In addition to theseanimals two antelopes are shown below theseat. Seals such as these date from between2500 and 1900 BCE and were found inconsiderable numbers in sites such as theancient city of Mohenjodaro in the Indus Valley.Figures and animals are carved in intaglio ontheir surfaces.Square or rectangular copper tablets, withan animal or a human figure on one side andan inscription on the other, or an inscriptionon both sides have also been found. The figuresand signs are carefully cut with a burin. Thesecopper tablets appear to have been amulets.Unlike inscriptions on seals which vary in eachcase, inscriptions on the copper tablets seemto be associated with the animals portrayedon them.2021-22

ARTSOF THE INDUSVALLEY13PotteryA large quantity of pottery excavated from the sites, enableus to understand the gradual evolution of various designmotifs as employed in different shapes, and styles. TheIndus Valley pottery consists chiefly of very fine wheelmade wares, very few being hand-made. Plain pottery ismore common than painted ware. Plain pottery is generallyof red clay, with or without a fine red or grey slip. It includesknobbed ware, ornamented with rows of knobs. The blackpainted ware has a fine coating of red slip on whichgeometric and animal designs are executed in glossy blackpaint.Polychrome pottery is rare and mainly comprises smallvases decorated with geometric patterns in red, black, andgreen, rarely white and yellow. Incised ware is also rareand the incised decoration was confined to the bases ofthe pans, always inside and to the dishes of offering stands.Perforated pottery includes a large hole at the bottom andsmall holes all over the wall, and was probably used forstraining beverages. Pottery for household purposes isfound in as many shapes and sizes as could be conceivedof for daily practical use. Straight and angular shapes arean exception, while graceful curves are the rule. Miniaturevessels, mostly less than half an inch in height are,particularly, so marvellously crafted as to evoke admiration.Beads and OrnamentsThe Harappan men and women decorated themselves witha large variety of ornaments produced from everyconceivable material ranging from precious metals andgemstones to bone and baked clay. While necklaces, fillets,armlets and finger -rings were commonly worn by bothPotteryPerforated pot2021-22

AN INTRODUCTION TO INDIAN ART14sexes, women wore girdles, earrings and anklets. Hoardsof jewellery found at Mohenjodaro and Lothal includenecklaces of gold and semi-precious stones, copperbracelets and beads, gold earrings and head ornaments,faience pendants and buttons, and beads of steatite andgemstones. All ornaments are well crafted. It may be notedthat a cemetery has been found at Farmana in Haryanawhere dead bodies were buried with ornaments.The bead industry seems to have been well developedas evident from the factories discovered at Chanhudaroand Lothal. Beads were made of carnelian, amethyst,jasper, crystal, quartz, steatite, turquoise, lapis lazuli, etc.Metals like copper, bronze and gold, and shell, faience andterracotta or burnt clay were also used for manufacturingbeads. The beads are in varying shapes—disc-shaped,cylindrical, spherical, barrel-shaped, and segmented. Somebeads were made of two or more stones cemented together,some of stone with gold covers. Some were decorated byincising or painting and some had designs etched ontothem. Great technical skill has been displayed in themanufacture of these beads.The Harappan people also made brilliantly naturalisticmodels of animals, especially monkeys and squirrels, usedas pin-heads and beads.It is evident from the discovery of a large number ofspindles and spindle whorls in the houses of the IndusBeadwork and jewellery items2021-22

ARTSOF THE INDUSVALLEY15Valley that spinning of cotton and wool was very common.Spinning is indicated by finds of whorls made of theexpensive faience as also of the cheap pottery and shell.Men and women wore two separate pieces of attire similarto the dhoti and shawl. The shawl covered the left shoulderpassing below the right shoulder.From archaeological finds it appears that the people ofthe Indus Valley were conscious of fashion. Differenthairstyles were in vogue and wearing of a beard was popularamong all. Cinnabar was used as a cosmetic and facepaint, lipstick and collyrium (eyeliner) were also known tothem. Many stone structural remains are also found atDholavira which show how the Indus Valley people usedstone in construction.The artists and craftsmen of the Indus Valley wereextremely skilled in a variety of crafts—metal casting, stonecarving, making and painting pottery and making terracottaimages using simplified motifs of animals, plants and birds.EXERCISE1.Would you agree that the people of the Indus ValleyCivilisation were great art lovers? Give reasons for youranswer.2.What kind of similarities and differences do you findbetween present-day terracotta and the Indus Valleyterracotta?3.Seals were made of different materials. With the IndusValley seals as a reference try to make seals with adifferent medium. Which are the animals that you wouldlike to carve on your seals and why?4.What do the art objects that have survived tell us aboutthe daily life of the people of the Indus Valley Civilisation?5.Imagine you are a curator working in a museum and youhave been given the task to create a museum exhibit onIndus art. Collect illustrations of at least ten objects madeof stone, metal and terracotta produced and used duringthe Indus Valley Civilisation and create this exhibit.2021-22Terracotta toys