describe the artifacts of the Indus Valley Civilization
mother goddss,seal with bull design, painted pottery, jewellery
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Answer:
In this post, let’s see the features of Indus Valley Civilisation arts as part of the Indian Culture notes based on the NCERT text ‘An Introduction to Indian Art’ – Part 1. A detailed note about the features, sites, society, religion etc. of Indus Valley Civilisation is already published in this website. As we have covered the prehistoric arts of India in the last article, we shall move to the next major era in the cultural history of India, ie. arts of Indus Valley.
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Table of Contents
Arts of Indus Valley Civilization
Materials used: Stone, Bronze, Terracotta, Clay etc.
Stone Statues:
Bronze Casting:
Terracotta:
Seals:
Pottery:
Beads, Ornaments and Cosmetics:
Arts of Indus Valley Civilization
Arts of Indus Valley
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The arts of Indus Valley civilisation, one of the earliest civilisations of the world, emerged during the second half of the third millennium (Bronze Age).
The forms of art found from various sites of civilisation include sculptures, seals, pottery, gold ornaments, terracotta figures, etc.
Their delineation of human and animal figures was highly realistic in nature.
Modelling of figures was done in an extremely careful manner.
Two major sites of Indus Valley civilization, along the river Indus are: North – cities of Harappa; South – Mohenjo-Daro.
The site showcase one of the earliest examples of civic planning.
Houses, markets, storage facilities, offices, etc. arranged in a grid-like pattern.
In this pattern, roads were cut across one another in 90-degree angle and the city was divided into blocks.
There was also a highly developed drainage system.
While Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro are situated in Pakistan, the important sites excavated in India are:
Lothal, Surkotada, Dholavira – Gujarat
Rakhigarh and Banwali – Haryana
Ropar – Punjab
Kalibangan and Balatha – Rajasthan
Materials used: Stone, Bronze, Terracotta, Clay etc.
The arts of Indus valley which are excavated yet are:
Stone Statues:
Stone statues found in Indus valley sites are excellent examples of handling the 3D volume.
Two major stone statues are:
Bearded Man (Priest Man, Priest-King)
Indus Valley Priest
Found in Mohenjo-Daro.
Bearded man’s figure made of Steatite.
The figure interpreted as a priest and is draped in a shawl coming under the right arm and covering the left shoulder.
The shawl is decorated with trefoil pattern.
The eyes are elongated and half closed as in a meditative concentration.
Nose is well formed and medium size.
Short cut moustache and a short beard and whiskers.
Hair is parted in the middle and a plain woven fillet is passed round the head.
An armlet on the right hand and holes around neck suggest necklace.
A slight touch of the Greek style of statues can be seen overall.
Male Torso
Found in Harappa (only major art element found in Harappa).
Made of Red Sandstone.
There are socket holes in the neck and shoulders for the attachment of head and arms.
Legs are broken.
The shoulders are well baked and the abdomen slightly prominent.
One of the well carved and finished work.
Bronze Casting:
Bronze casting was practiced in wide scale in almost all major sites of the civilization.
The technique used for Bronze Casting was Lost Wax Technique.
[Initially, the figure needed is made of wax and covered it with clay. After allowed to dry the clay, the whole thing is heated so that the wax inside the clay will be melted. The molten wax was then drained out through a tiny hole made in the clay part. The hollow mold of clay thus created was filled with molten metal. Once it cooled, the clay cover was completely removed].
Human as well as animal figures are present in the Bronze casting.
Amongst animal figures the buffalo with its uplifted head, back and sweeping horns and the goat are artistic merits.
Copper dog and bird of Lothal and the Bronze figure of a bull from Kalibangan shows that Bronze casting was popular at all centers of Indus valley civilization.
Metal casting continued even after the Indus valley civilization through late Harappan, Chalcolithic people, etc.
Examples of Bronze casting are:
Dancing Girl
Found from Mohenjo-Daro.
Made up of Bronze.
One of the best-known artifacts from Indus valley.
Approximately 4-inch high figure of a dancing girl.
This exquisite casting depicts a girl whose long hair is tied in the bun and bangles cover her left arm.
Cowry shell necklace is seen around her neck.
Her right hand is on her hip and her left hand is clasped in a traditional Indian dance gesture.
She has large eyes and flat nose.
Bull from Mohenjo-Daro
Bronze figure of the bull found in Mohenjo-Daro.
The massiveness of the bull and the fury of the charge are eloquently expressed.
The animal is shown standing with his head turned to the right.
There is a cord around the neck.
Terracotta:
Terracotta figures are more realistic in Gujarat sites and Kalibangan.
In
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