Maurya

Refers to the sculpture and stone-cut architecture created under the Mauryan emperors, and more specifically to art created during the forty-year reign of Ashoka, the third Maurya emperor (died 232 BCE), who ruled over all of India. Earlier sculpture had generally been made of wood but during the Maurya period stone became the preferred medium. Polished monolithic edict pillars with intricately carved capitals were erected throughout India. The capitals, made of a tan sandstone called Chunar, are the best remaining examples of Mauryan imperial art; their unique surface gloss is known as the 'Mauryan polish.' The subjects of the capitals often represent aspects of Buddhism in symbolic terms as well as Ashoka's position as an enlightened world-ruler. The style of carving is strongly influenced by Persian or, more specifically, Achaemenid sculpture. The practice of erecting monumental columns may be indigenous to India; recent evidence suggests that the Ashokan edict columns come out of ancient tradition of a cult of the cosmic pillar, or 'Axis Mundi.' Only a few Mauryan figural sculptures have survived: the earliest known two sculptures of Jain Tirthankaras as well yakshi and yaksha figures (female and male earth-spirits). They are noted for their monumentality and voluptuousness. The oldest surviving Indian architecture is from the Maurya period: these rock-cut chambers built by Ashoka for monks were the beginning of a long Indian tradition that came to be important to all of India's religious communities.