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Art and Architecture in Chhattisgarh

Paintings

1. Rock Paintings – Rock paintings made by pre-historical man are found in rock shelters of Singhanpur, Kabra Pahar, Ongna etc. Detailed description of these paintings has been given in the chapter on Pre-historic Chhattisgarh.
2. Paintings of Historical Period – Mural paintings are found in the Jogimara caves on Ramgarh in Surguja. These are one of the oldest murals of India and have been datd as more than 2000 years old by Captain Blash. R.K. Agrawal has written in his “Bhartiya Chitrakala Ka Vikas” that they are from 300 BC. Chaityas, Gavakshas, Horse cart, Sarathi etc. are depicted in these paintings. In one painting there is a date palm tree and a man below it. One painting has a dancer along with her musical instruments and an elephant with a procession of men. In Sitabengra the roof of the cave is divided into sectors by red lines and there are paintings in these sectors. The walls were coated with a thick paste to make them smooth and thereafter paintings were made on them. In Ramgarh the story of Sutunuka and Kaydaksha is written in Pali script on the walls of the caves.

Art centers of ancient Chhattisgarh

Main centers of art were Sirpur, Malhar, Ratanpur, Rajim and Bhoramdev. These centers developed and flourished in the time of Somvanshi, Panduvanshi, Nalvanshi and Kalchuri Kings. The idols of Sirpur are made of slightly red sand stone. They are influenced by Gupta period statues. Somvanshi statues have rounded faces. Kalchuri statues have slightly elongated elliptical faces.

Temples

The oldest temple in Chhattisgarh is in Tala which is 30 Kilometers from Bilaspur. It is called the Devrani Jethani temple and is from the 5th Century AD. The temples of Chhattisgarh can be divided into three based on time period -

1. Red brick temples of 6th to 9th Century AD – Most important is Laxman temple of Sirpur. Others are Ram Mandir of Sirpur, Shabri temple and Indal deval of Kharod, Kenwatin temple of Pujaripali, Siddheshwar temple of Palari and Chitawari temple of Dhobni. The Rajivlochan temple of Rajin also belongs to this category. The Laxman temple of Sirpur is an example of great architecture. The outer walls are decorated with false windows and Chaityas etc. which have been made by carving on bricks. Its Shikhar is partially developed and is considered to be in between the flat roofs of Gupta period temples and tall shikhars of later period.
2. Kalchuri period temples made of stones –Kings of many dynasties, who were contemporary of Kalchuris constructed temples. The main among them are the Fani Naga dynasty of Kawardha, Chakrakot of Bastar, Somvanshi dynasty of Kanker etc. These temples are in Rajim, Narayanpur, Arang, Khallari, Tumman, Ratanpur, Malhar, Saragaon, Shivrinarayan, Kirargodhi, Pali etc. The Bhoramdev temple constructed by the 6th Fani Nagvanshi king Gopaldev is very famous. This temple is built on the Chandela style and is influenced by the temples of Khajuraho. King Ramdev of this dynasty constructed the Madwa Mahal or the temle of Dulhadev in 1349. In Bastar in Chakrakot, Nagvanshi Kings constructed many temples. The main are the Mama Bhanja temple, the Shiva temple and the Ganesha temple of Barsur. The Danteshwari temple of Dantewada was built by the Kakatiyas. The Vishnu temple of Narayanpur and the temple of Bhairmagarh are also worth mentioning. The temples of Somvanshis are in Kanker, Dhamtari and Sihawa. There are ancient temples in Dipadih in Suguja. The temples of this time had a square meeting hall. The temples are either in panchrath of saptarath style. There are decorations on the door of the sanctum sanctorum (Garbha Griha). These include ganga-jamuna, flowers and creepers, snakes and reptiles etc. On the top are idols of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. There are very few sun temples in India. The most important is in Konark. In Chhattisgarh there are sun temples in Dpadih and Narayanpur. An interesting story of Revant, the son of the Sun God is described in a rock inscription of Akaltara.
3. Post Kalchuri period temples – Some temples though very few were made in Maratha period as well. The main among them are the temple on Ramtekri in Ratanpur and the Dudhadhari temple of Raipur.

Sculpture

The art of making statues started in the 2nd Century BC in Chhattisgarh. According to time period the statues found in Chhattisgarh can be divided into four categories –

1. From 2nd century BC to 5th Century AD (From Gupta and Vakataka period to 5th Century AD) – The oldest statue of the country found in Budhikhar (Malhar) of Bilaspur is a four armed Vishnu. This statue has been made by carving the stone on all sides. It is influenced by the Yaksha tradition. A huge Shiva statue jas been found from the 3rd or 4th century AD. Only the torsos of this statue is remaining. One more statue of Ardhanareeshwar has been found. This is also influenced by the Yaksha tradition. These statues have been found in Malhar.
2. Post Gupta period sculpture (500 to 800 AD) – These include statues of the Sharabhpuria, Nala, Soma dynasties etc. These are mainly made along with temple architecture. These include statues found in Tala, Sirpur, Malhar, Adbhar, Kharod, Shivrinarayan, Rajim etc.
   
   The Devrani Jethani temple in Tala has many such statues. The most important is the statue of Rudrashiva which is 9’ X 4’ X 2.5’ in size and has 5 tones weight. This statue of Mahakal Rudra Shiva is the only statue of its kind. Some scholars also call it Kalpurusha because of the 12 rashis. Every organ of the statue is made of different animals. The statue is in the Sampadasthanak Mudra. Faces of animals like chameleon, fish, carb, peacock, tortoise, tiger, and humans are organized in a special manner to make this statue. The head of the statue has two snakes wrapped around like a turban. The eyes are looking down and are made of chameleons. The nose is also made of chameleon. The hind limbs of the chameleon have made the eyebrows and the forelimbs have made the nostrils. The eyes are made of open mouth of frogs and the eyeballs are made of big eggs. The moustaches and lower lip are made of fish. There is peacock at the place of ears. The shoulder is made of crocodile and arms made of the trunk of elephants. The fingers are mouths of snakes. The chest and stomach have human faces. The penis is made of the mouth of tortoise and its front two limbs join to make the scrotal sac, and leeches are made on them like hanging bells. Vidyadhars with folded hands form the waist and the knees are made of tiger faces. The feet are like the front feet of elephants. Two big snakes are present on the shoulders of the statue. A broken staff can be seen in the hand of the statue. The statue is decorated with jewelry. It can be seen that this statue has influence of tantra shaivism on it.
   
   Door pillars and the statue of Mahishasura Mardini have been found in Adbhar. The wepon statue of Shivrinarayan is also fo ths period. Many statues of this period are kept in the Raipur Museum which include the meditating Buddha of Sirpur, Manjushri, Parshwaanath, Kalansunder statue of Ratanpur etc.
3. Kalchuri period of Middle period sculpture (1000 to 1400) – The faces of the states of this period are slightly elongated. The chins are more prominent and lips are pouting and thin. The importance of facial expression is reduced. These statues are made of sand stone and in some cases black granite. In addition to statues of Gods and Goddesses there are also statues of Kings and Queens, Nobles etc. These statues have been found in Janjgir, Shivrinarayan, Malhar, Ratanpur, Kharod, Tumman, Sirpur, Rajin, Arang etc. The statues of Uma-Maheshwar, Sthanak Vishnu and Rajapurush kept in the Raipur museum are very beautiful. Some statues of Bilaspur and Surguja are kept in the Bilaspur museum. Examples of sculpture of this period are also seen in Bhoramdev. The Ganesh statue of Barsur in Bastar is huge.
4. Gond Sculpture (1500 to 1700 AD) – These statues are generally of Gond chiefs and soldiers. The statue of three monkeys similar to the statue of Gandhiji’s monkeys is kept in Raipur museum and belongs to this period.
5. Metal Idols –Many metal idols have been found in Sirpur which show the riches o fthat period. 25 metal statues were in the possession of Malgujar Shyamsundar Das. The best in this was the statue of Tara which was given to Munii Kanti Sagar who gave it to Bharat Vidya Bhavan Mumbai and is now in a private collection in Los Angeles. 11 statues are in Raipur museum. In these 3 are of Buddha, 4 of Pdmapani Avloiteshwara, one od Vatrapani, 2 of Manjushri and one of Tara. All of them are from the Vajrayana branch of Buddhism. A Vishnu statue has been found in Fusera near Sirpur and five metal statues are found in the Salkhan Village of Janjgir.

Coins

Different types of coins have been found in Chhattisgarh –

1. Coins of Before Christ period – Pre-Maurayan coins have been found in Tarapur, Arang and Udela of Raipur. These coins weigh 12 rattis. According to Kautilya the weith of the Mauryan coins was 32 rattis. Elephant, bulls, and eye in a circle of dots are carved on these coins. Mauryan coins are found in Akaltara, Thathari, Bar and Bilaspur.
2. Post-Mauryan Coins – Coins of king apilak of Satvahana period are found in Balpur village of Raigarh. The coins of Shiva Magh and Yamagh of the Magha period are found in Malhar. The local Kings issued coins like the Satavahana coins which were square in shape and had the hauda of elephant on the observe and snake on the reverse.
3. Kushan period coins – Some Kushan period coins have also been found which musthave been brought by Boddha travelers.
4. Gupta period coins –9 Gupta coins were found in 1969 in Banbarad of Durg. One is of King Kach, 7 of Chandragupta the second and 1 of Kumargupta first. One silver coin of Kumargupta has been found in Arang.
5. Repousse coins –These coins of the sixth century have been found in Khairtal of Raipur, Pitai village, Rewa near Arang, Mahasamund, Edenga in Bastar, Kulia in Durg, Salhepani in Raigarh, Malhar and Tala in Bilaspur etc. These coins weigh approximately one to one and a half grams and are made of a thin sheet of gold. They are stamped from the back and are called “Repousse coins”. They are divided into two parts by a horizontal line in the middle. On the upper portion there is Garuda of nandi and on the lower portion the name of the King is written in Brahmi script. These coins are of Mahendraditya, Kramaditya and Prasannamatra. Prasannamatra is of the Shrabhpuriya dynasty and the other two are of Gupta dynasty.
6. Silver and Copper coins – Silver and copper coins have been found in many places. These are of Nala dynasty and Gupta dynasty.
7. Somvanshi coins – Not many somvanshi coins are found. One gold coin has been found in Balpur which is of the brother of Mahashiva Balarjuna according to Lochan Prasad Pandey.
8. Kalchrui Period Coins – Coins were issued for the first time by King Krishnaraj of the Mahishmati branch. However he did not have a large part of Chhattisgarh under him. The obverse of these coins has Goddess Laxmi and the reverse has the name of the King. King Jajalladev first issued gold and copper coins in his name. After him Ratandev also issued gold and silver coins. Coins were issued by Prithvideva nd Pratapmalla. Pratapmalla issued only copper coins. These coins have a tiger attacking an elephant on the obverse and the name of the King on the reverse.
9. Nagvanshi Coins – In these coins there is the roaring lion on the obverse and also sword, and sun and moon are made.
10. Maratha and British time coins – During the Maratha times the cins used were Raghuji Ka Rupya, Nagpuri Rupya and Jabalpuri Rupya. Paper notes were issued in the British time.
11. Foreign Coins – 4 Roman gold coins are found in Chakarbeda in Bilaspur. Some Kushana period coins have been found and in Sirpur one chinese Yuan has also been found. These coins were brought by travelers.

Seals

Seals of Siris, Gamas and Maharaj Mahendra Sai have been found in Malhar. Seals of Keshavdev and Prasannamatra have also been found. A seal of Maharaja Nanna is found in Sirpur. Many seals with Bouddha Mantras written on them have been found in Sirpur. A made of stone of Balkeshwari is found in Balpur.

Inscriptions

Inscriptions engraved on stone and bronze plates have been found in many places. In one place a wooden inscription has also been found. Some inscirptions are in verse but most are in prose. Raibahadur Heerala has written about them in “Inscriptions in the Central Provinces and Berar”; B B Marachie has written in “Corpus Inscriptions Indicarum” and “Inscriptions of the kachuri Chedi Era” and Balchandra Jain has written in “Utkeerna Lekha”. These are from the Mauryan, Vakataka, Satwahana, Gupta and Kalchuri period. The rock inscription of Ramgarh cave in Surguja is from the 2nd century BC. The wood inscription of Kirari Chandrapur is from the 2nd Century AD. There are 27 bronze plates of Somvanshi Balarjuan (600 -650 AD), Rajim rock inscription of nala King Vishaltunga (700-740 AD), Barsur inscription of Nagvanshi Queen Gangmahadevi (1208 AD), Jatanpal inscription of Narsinghdev (1224 AD), the Sati memorial inscription of Temra (1324 AD), Madwa Mahal inscription of Kawardha (1349 AD), Kanker rock inscription of Somvanshi Bhanudev (1124 AD), Dantewada rock inscription of the Kakatiyas (first part of 14th Century) are important. We get information about the kings and society of that period from these inscriptions.