South Asian arts

Introduction
Literature
- Sanskrit, Pāli, and Prākrit literatures: 1400 bc–ad 1200
  - Sanskrit: formative period (1400–400 bc)
  - Sanskrit: epic and didactic literature (400 bc–ad 1000)
    - Mahābhārata
    - Rāmāyaṇa
    - Harivaṃśa and Purāṇas
  - Pāli and Prākrit literature (c. 200 bc–ad 200)
    - Buddhist texts
    - Jaina texts
  - Classical Sanskrit kāvya (200–1200)
    - The mahākāvya
    - The short lyric
    - The theatre
    - Narrative literature
- Dravidian literature: 1st–19th century
  - Early Tamil literature (1st–10th century)
    - Śaṅgam literature
    - Eighteen Ethical Works
    - Epics
    - Bhakti poetry
  - Period of the Tamil Cōḷa Empire (10th–13th century)
  - 14th–19th century
- Indo-Aryan literatures: 12th–18th century
  - Hindi
  - Bengali
  - Assamese
  - Oriya
  - Marathi
  - Gujarati
  - Punjabi
  - Kashmiri
- Islāmic literatures: 11th–19th century
  - Arabic
  - Turkish
  - Regional languages
  - Persian
  - Urdu
    - Qasīdahs
    - Ḥaju and shahr-āshūb
    - Mars̄iyeh
    - Mas̄navī
    - Ghazal
- Sinhalese literature: 10th century ad to 19th century
- Modern period: 19th and 20th centuries
  - Bengali
  - Assamese
  - Hindi
  - Gujarati
  - Marathi
  - Punjabi
  - Rajasthani
  - Tamil
  - Malayalam
  - Kannada
  - Urdu
  - English
  - Sinhalese
Music
- Folk, classical, and popular music
  - Rural areas
  - Classical music
  - Nonclassical music of the cities
- Antiquity
  - Vedic chant
    - Compilation of hymns
    - Chant intonation
  - The classical period
    - Qualities of the scales
    - Mode, or jati
- Medieval period
  - Precursors of the medieval system
  - Further development of the grama-ragas
- The Islamic period
  - Impact on musical genres and aesthetics
  - Theoretical developments
- The modern period
  - Rhythmic organization
    - South India
    - North India
  - Musical forms and instruments
    - South India
    - North India
  - Interaction with Western music
Dance and theatre
- The performing arts in India
- Indian dance
  - Classical dance
    - The dance-drama
    - Techniques and types of classical dance
    - The bharata natyam school
    - The kathakali school
    - The kathak school
    - The manipuri school
    - The kuchipudi school
    - The odissi tradition
    - Other classical dance forms
  - Folk dance
  - Modern Indian dance
  - Dance-training centres
- Indian theatre
  - Classical theatre
  - Folk theatre
  - Modern theatre
- Sri Lanka
  - Dance
    - Tovil dance
    - Kandyan dance
  - Masked drama
- Dance and theatre in Kashmir
- Pakistan
  - Folk dance
  - Performing arts in the Punjab
  - Theatre in Pakistan
    - Parsi theatre
    - Radio and television plays
- Bangladesh
Visual arts of India and Sri Lanka (Ceylon)
- General characteristics of Indian art
  - The unity of Indian art
  - The materials of Indian art
  - Indian and foreign art
  - Indian art and religion
  - The artist and patron
  - The appreciation of Indian art
- Indian architecture
  - Indus Valley civilization (c. 2500–1800 bc)
  - The Maurya period (c. 321–185 bc)
  - Early Indian architecture (2nd century bc–3rd century ad)
  - The Gupta period (4th–6th centuries ad)
  - Medieval temple architecture
  - Medieval temple architecture: North Indian style
  - Medieval temple architecture: North Indian style of Orissa
  - Medieval temple architecture: North Indian style of central India
  - Medieval temple architecture: North Indian style of Rājasthān
  - Medieval temple architecture: North Indian style of Gujarāt
  - Medieval temple architecture: North Indian style of Karnataka
  - Medieval temple architecture: North Indian style of Kashmir
  - Medieval temple architecture: South Indian style
  - Medieval temple architecture: South Indian style of Tamil Nadu (7th–18th century)
  - Medieval temple architecture: South Indian style of Karnataka
  - Medieval temple architecture: South Indian style of Mahārāshtra, Andhradeśa, and Kerala
  - Islāmic architecture in India: period of the Delhi and provincial sultanates
  - Islāmic architecture in India: Mughal style
  - European traditions and the modern period
- Indian sculpture
  - Indus valley civilization (c. 2500–1800 bce)
  - Mauryan period (c. 3rd century bce)
  - Indian sculpture in the 2nd and 1st centuries bce
  - Indian sculpture in the 2nd and 1st centuries bce: relief sculpture of northern and central India
  - Indian sculpture in the 2nd and 1st centuries bce: relief sculpture of Andhradesha
  - Indian sculpture in the 2nd and 1st centuries bce: relief sculpture of western India
  - Indian sculpture in the 2nd and 1st centuries bce: relief sculpture of Orissa
  - Indian sculpture in the 2nd and 1st centuries bce: sculpture in the round and terra-cotta
  - Indian sculpture from the 1st to 4th centuries ce
  - Indian sculpture from the 1st to 4th centuries ce: Mathura
  - Indian sculpture from the 1st to 4th centuries ce: Gandhara
  - Indian sculpture from the 1st to 4th centuries ce: Andhradesha
  - Indian sculpture from the 1st to 4th centuries ce: terra-cotta
  - Gupta period (c. 4th–6th centuries ce)
  - Gupta period: Mathura
  - Gupta period: Sarnath
  - Gupta period: central India
  - Gupta period: Maharashtra
  - Gupta period: other regions
  - Gupta period: terra-cotta
  - Medieval Indian sculpture
  - Medieval Indian sculpture: North India
  - Medieval Indian sculptures: southern India
  - Medieval Indian sculpture: Maharashtra and Karnataka
- Indian painting
  - Prehistoric and protohistoric periods
  - Ancient wall painting
  - Eastern Indian style
  - Western Indian style
  - Transition to the Mughal and Rajasthani styles
  - Mughal style: Akbar period (1556–1605)
  - Mughal style: Jahāngīr period (1605–27)
  - Mughal style: Shāh Jahān period (1628–58)
  - Mughal style: Aurangzeb and the later Mughals (1659–1806)
  - Company school
  - Deccani style
  - Rajasthani style
  - Rajasthani style: Mewār
  - Rajasthani style: Būndi and Kotah
  - Rajasthani style: Mālwa
  - Rajasthani style: Mārwār
  - Rajasthani style: Bīkaner
  - Rajasthani style: Kishangarh
  - Rajasthani style: Jaipur (Amber)
  - Pahari style
  - Pahari style: Basohlī school
  - Pahari style: Kāngra school
  - Modern period
- Indian decorative arts
  - Pre-Islāmic period
  - Islāmic period
- General characteristics of Sri Lankan arts
  - Sri Lankan architecture
  - Sri Lankan sculpture
  - Sri Lankan painting

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

Watch and hear a person playing the mridangam drum of the Carnatic music tradition

Watch and hear a person playing the sarod, a stringed instrument of Hindustani music

Pallavi Krishnan

Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India: Mahabodhi temple

Close-up view of the large stone Buddha sculpture at Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, India, showing serene facial features and draped robes against a clear sky.

elevation of a North Indian temple with the latina type of superstructure

elevation of a North Indian temple with the śekharī type of superstructure

plan of the sanctum of a South Indian temple

At a Glance

Southern gopura of the Shiva temple at Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India, c. 1248.

South Asian arts summary

South Asian arts: Media

Videos

Watch and hear a person playing the mridangam drum of the Carnatic music tradition

Watch and hear a person playing the mridangam drum of the Carnatic music tradition

The mridangam, the principal drum of the Carnatic music tradition.

Video: Wesleyan Virtual Instrument Museum 2.0 (https://wesomeka.wesleyan.edu/vim2)

Watch and hear a person playing the sarod, a stringed instrument of Hindustani music

Watch and hear a person playing the sarod, a stringed instrument of Hindustani music

The sarod, one of the principal melodic solo instruments of Hindustani music.

Video: Wesleyan Virtual Instrument Museum 2.0 (https://wesomeka.wesleyan.edu/vim2)

Images

ghatam

ghatam

The ghatam, an earthenware pot that is tapped with the fingers to provide...

Wesleyan Virtual Instrument Museum 2.0 (https://wesomeka.wesleyan.edu/vim2)

Pallavi Krishnan

Pallavi Krishnan

Pallavi Krishnan performing Mohiniyattam.

K K Gopalakrishnan

Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India: Mahabodhi temple

Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India: Mahabodhi temple

Mahabodhi temple, Bodh Gaya, Bihar state, India.

© RCH/Fotolia

Close-up view of the large stone Buddha sculpture at Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, India, showing serene facial features and draped robes against a clear sky.

Buddha sculpture at Mahabodhi temple

Buddha sculpture at Mahabodhi temple, Bodh Gaya, Bihar state, India.

© Rafal Cichawa/stock.adobe.com

elevation of a North Indian temple with the latina type of superstructure

elevation of a North Indian temple with the latina type of superstructure

Elevation of a North Indian temple with the latina type of superstructure.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

elevation of a North Indian temple with the śekharī type of superstructure

elevation of a North Indian temple with the śekharī type of superstructure

Elevation of a North Indian temple with the śekharī type of superstructure.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

plan of the sanctum of a South Indian temple

plan of the sanctum of a South Indian temple

Plan of the sanctum of a South Indian temple.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

elevation of a South Indian temple with the kūṭina type of superstructure

elevation of a South Indian temple with the kūṭina type of superstructure

Elevation of a South Indian temple with the kūṭina type...

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Kailasa temple

Kailasa temple

Kailasa temple (cave 16), Ellora Caves, northwest-central Maharashtra state, India.

© Brad Pict/Fotolia

Visitors gather in the large open courtyard of Jama Masjid in Delhi, India, with its grand Mughal architecture, three domes, and two tall minarets visible.

Jama Masjid

Originally called the Masjid-i Jahannuma (“World-Reflecting Mosque”), Delhi's Jama...

Dennis Jarvis (CC-BY-2.0) (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

steatite seal

steatite seal

Steatite seal, Indus valley civilization, c. 2300–c. 1750

P. Chandra

steatite seal

steatite seal

Steatite seal, the Indus valley civilization, c. 2300–c. 1750

P. Chandra

Replica of the Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath, showing four intricately carved lions standing back to back atop a round pillar with a wheel and animal reliefs.

Lion Capital of Ashoka

A replica of the Lion Capital of Ashoka, which topped an ancient memorial pillar...

© Wrangel/Dreamstime.com

Gupta terra-cotta

Gupta terra-cotta

Mithuna, terra-cotta sculpture from India, Gupta period, 5th century ce;...

Photograph by L. Mandle. Honolulu Academy of Arts, purchase, 2003 (12,476.1)

Stone sculpture of the reclining Buddha with serene expression, carved into the wall of Ajanta Caves, Maharashtra, India.

Ajanta Caves: reclining Buddha

Reclining Buddha statue, Ajanta Caves, north-central Maharashtra state, India.

© davidevison/stock.adobe.com

Large stone sculpture of Shiva Mahesamurti with three heads, flanked by guardian figures, set in a pillared hall in the Elephanta Island caves near Mumbai, India.

Sadashiva

Sadashiva, stone relief in a cave temple on Elephanta Island, India.

© Saiko3p/Dreamstime.com

dagger with a horse-head handle

dagger with a horse-head handle

Dagger with a horse-head handle, steel, jade, gold, rubies, diamond, and emerald,...

Photograph by L. Mandle. Honolulu Academy of Arts, gift of Drs. Edmund J. and Julie Lewis, 2002 (11851.1)

Southern gopura of the Shiva temple at Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India, c. 1248.

Southern gopura of the Shiva temple at Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India, c....

P. Chandra

Audio

tambura

The tambura providing a drone for a vocal rendition of a raga.

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