The Stupa of Bharhut is a fine example of -

Correct — option (4), Shunga architecture.

The Sunga attribution rests on an inscription on a pillar of Bharhut's east gateway. Benimadhab Barua and Kumar Gangananda Sinha's Barhut Inscriptions (1926) translate it as recording that the gateway and its stonework were made within the dominion of the Sungas, by Vatsiputra Dhanabhuti.

H. C. Raychaudhuri, in Political History of Ancient India, describes the Buddhist remains at Bharhut as erected 'during the sovereignty of the Sungas'. V. S. Agrawala's Studies in Indian Art dates the Bharhut Mahastupa to about the middle of the second century BC.

NCERT's Class XI Fine Art textbook places Bharhut among sites dating back to the second century BCE, when the Shungas, Kanvas and others took control of the former Mauryan empire.

The stupa is therefore an example of option (4), Shunga architecture.

The idea to remember: Bharhut: gateways built within the Sunga dominion, second century BCE; sculptures now partly in the Indian Museum, Kolkata.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  Chola architecture — Chola architecture belongs to South India over a thousand years later. NCERT's Class XI Fine Art textbook says the Shiva temple of Thanjavur, the Rajarajeswara or Brahadeeshwarar temple, was completed around 1009 by Rajaraja Chola.

  Chola architecture answers a question on the Brahadeeshwarar temple at Thanjavur.

• (2)
  Kushan architecture — The Kushana period comes after Bharhut. NCERT says Gandhara, Mathura and Vengi emerged as centres of art production from the first century CE, and that a large number of images from Mathura date back to the Kushana period.

  NCERT also records the headless image of Kanishka found at Mathura. Kushan architecture answers a question on Kushana-period art at Mathura.

• (3)
  Gupta architecture — The Gupta period is later still. NCERT places some of the oldest surviving structural temples in the Gupta period, at Udaigiri and Sanchi, and calls the early sixth-century Dashavatara temple at Deogarh a classic example of a late Gupta type of temple.

  Gupta architecture answers a question on the temple at Deogarh.

Bharhut was not built at one time. B. M. Barua's Barhut (Book III, 1937) traces three stages: the mound with its railings, later additions such as a pillar given by Chapadevi, and finally the gateways with their arches erected by Dhanabhuti.

NCERT describes the style. Bharhut's figures are tall like Mauryan yaksha and yakshini images, carved in low relief close to the picture plane, and its narrative panels show fewer characters than later work.

The panels tell Jataka stories and scenes such as Queen Maya's dream, shown with a descending elephant.

Key facts

• Barua and Sinha (1926) translate the gateway inscription as made within the dominion of the Sungas by Vatsiputra Dhanabhuti.
• Mitra and Cunningham read the inscription's opening words as the kingdom of Sugana (Srughna); Bühler, Hultzsch and Lüders read them as the reign of the Sungas.
• Raychaudhuri describes the Bharhut remains as erected during the sovereignty of the Sungas.
• V. S. Agrawala dates the Bharhut Mahastupa to about the middle of the second century BC.
• NCERT notes that some sculptures found at Bharhut are displayed in the Indian Museum, Kolkata.

Common traps

• Reading 'Suganam raje' as the name of a Sunga king: Barua and Sinha translate it as 'within the dominion of the Sungas', and name the donor as Vatsiputra Dhanabhuti, grandson of King Gargiputra Visvadeva.
• Following Cunningham's older reading: in The Stupa of Bharhut (1879) he took the words as the kingdom of Sugana (Srughna) and assigned the stupa to the Asoka period.
• Treating a stupa as one build: Barua traces three stages at Bharhut, ending with Dhanabhuti's gateways.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Bühler, Hultzsch and Lüders read the Bharhut gateway inscription as recording that the gateway was built during the reign of which dynasty?

  • (a)Maurya
  • (b)Sunga
  • (c)Kushana
  • (d)Satavahana
  Answer(2) — Barua and Sinha record that these scholars read the inscription as dating the gateway to the reign of the Sungas. Options (1), (3) and (4) are not the dynasty named in that reading.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  According to NCERT's Class XI Fine Art textbook, which temple was completed around 1009 by Rajaraja Chola?

  • (a)Rajarajeswara (Brahadeeshwarar) temple, Thanjavur
  • (b)Dashavatara temple, Deogarh
  • (c)Kailashnath temple, Kanchipuram
  • (d)Temple at Udaigiri near Vidisha
  Answer(1) — NCERT says the Shiva temple of Thanjavur, called Rajarajeswara or Brahadeeshwarar, was completed around 1009 by Rajaraja Chola. Options (2) and (4) are Gupta-period temples in NCERT's account; option (3) is not the temple NCERT dates to 1009.