Art History - South and Southeast Asia

Northern style Indian Temple

-rounded, beehive shape
-temple to Shiva, series of chambers for religious rituals and offerings to gods
-womb chamber (Garba griha) to house image of god
-set on platform, elevated from earthly realm
-post and lintel
-erotic sculpture
1000 c.
-crowned wi

Southern Style Indian Temple

-stepped
-temple to Shiva, series of chambers for religious worship and offerings to gods
-womb chamber (garba griha) to house image of god
-roof extends forward, axis mundi
-resemble mountains
-mandala
1000 c.

Garba griha

-inner womb chamber of Indian temples designed to house image of god
-high priests visited this to feed/clothe/give offerings to god

Puja

Hindu ritual of offering dance, food, clothing, etc to deities

Darshan

seeing the god, being seen by the god

Tantra

a movement in Hinduism and Buddhism that goes to the extreme and taboo ("dark side")

Bhakti

-personal devotion and intimacy with personal god
-the erotic is a main manifestation of the divine

Kama

pleasure sought by Hinduism

Mithuna

amorous couples in Hindu sculpture

Shiva Nataraja

-bronze
-Chola Dynasty, 11th C., Southern India
-one manifestation of Shiva
-"raja" = lord, "nata" = dance
-dance both creates and destroys universe
-stomping on dwarf that represents ignorance
-the world is a dance of Shiva ("can you see the dancer?")
-s

Epicene

sexually ambiguous

Borobudur, Indonesia

800 c.
-marks end of a processional route
-72 smaller open stupas surrounding large bell shaped stupa
-large walls along terraces with bas reliefs (spiritual journey and teachings)
-moral lessons at bottom, abstract teachings towards top
-smaller stupas h

Angkor Wat

-Cambodia, 12th c.
-worship Vishnu
-king was decided to devote himself to Vishnu, which was different/radical
-temple faced setting sun > funerary practices
-united political and religious themes
-reliefs depict story of Vishnu and the elixir of immortali

Mandapa

spaces for ritual in Hindu temples

Jahangir and Shah Abbas (1618)

-watercolor, gold, and ink on paper
-tension between Shah Abbas and Mughal throne
-Jahangir is much larger, Shah Abbas bows to Mughal emperor
-stands on predatory lion, nudging lamb out of its territory (lion sits on Shab Abbas' holdings in Afghanistan an

Jahangir Preferring a Sufi Sheikh to Kings (1618)

-watercolor, gold, and ink on paper
-Sufi was Islamic mystic
-flames of gold create a halo around Jahangir
-emperorship and divine truth (harmonious fusion of sun and moon)
-slight hierarchical scale, emperor sits on elevated platform
-Sufi Sheikh humbly

Taj Mahal

-Mughal period, 1632-1648, white marble
-floral arabesques, semiprecious stones, calligraphy
-mausoleum for Shah Jahan and his favorite wife
-iwans, vaulted opening with arched portal
-cenotaphs (funerary monuments) of Shah Jahan and wife
-includes mosque