INDIAN JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY

1.Catalogue of Terracottas kept at State Museum, Lucknow: Part- II: Terracottas dateable from Gupta period to Modern Period

Author: Vijay Kumar

This article by Vijay Kumar gives the second part of catalogue of terracottas kept in the State Museum, Lucknow Uttar Pradesh. An ethno-archaeological study of non-Brahmanical tradition of worship of village deities was taken up to understand the use of votive terracotta offerings made at the end of the ritual. This study throws light on the purpose of small figures of deities found during archaeological explorations & excavations. The figures of Mansa & Vasudhara (both of Mauryan period), Hariti (Kushan period) found in abundance all over Northern India appear to be votive offerings placed near the shrines of respective deities. The present day village shrine of Mansa in West Bengal can be seen piled with Mansa Baris, Mansa Ghats, elephants & horses, all made of terracotta. This catalogue covers the antiquities dating from Gupta period to the modern times. The 4th-5th century A.D. saw the rise of brick temples. The walls of the temples were decorated by terracotta panels showing the images of deities and different mythological scenes. Votive terracottas and toys were also made in large number during this period. The style of terracotta remained realistic and the artists adhered to high aesthetic standard. After 7th century A.D., the brick temples gave place to stone temples and the art of making terracotta images declined considerably. Even if the temple was made of bricks, the decorative images were made of stone. After 12th century A.D. the production of terracotta images stopped altogether. In Northern India, the use of terracotta panels for decorating temples started in late 19th century A.D. only. The 19th century A.D. terracotta were crude but the modern terracotta were made in realistic style. The modern terracottas were always fragile and lack the sturdiness of Gupta terracotta.