Question

The best specimens of Mauryan art are represented by theirs?
a. Stupas
b. Pillars
c. Chaityas
d. Caves

Answer 1

Hint: Mauryan art incorporates arts produced during the period of the Mauryan Empire. Mauryan art is the art produced during the period of the Mauryan Empire, which, between 322 and 185 BCE, was the first empire to rule most of the Indian subcontinent. This represented an important transition in Indian art from the use of wood to stone. It was a royal art patronized by the Mauryan kings, especially by Ashoka.

Complete solution:
The most prominent living are the pillars, stupas, caves.
The most important remains of monumental Mauryan art are the remains of the royal palace and an unbroken railroad at Pataliputra town, Sarnath, the Bodhimandala or altar resting on four pilgrims in the altar, rock-cut chaitya-halls in the Barabar caves. The inscription including Sudama Cave near Gaya has Ashoka's 12th reincarnation year, non-edit bearing and edit bearing pillars, animal sculptures cutting pillars with animal sculptures and vegetation reliefs adorning the abbey of capitals. Dhauli depicts an elephant from a living rock.

Anand Komaraswamy wrote in 1923 that there are three main stages of Mauryan art. The first phase is found in some examples of representations of Vedic deities (the most important examples being the reliefs of Surya and Indra in the Bhaja caves). However, the art of Bhaja caves is generally considered to be later than the Mauryan period, up to the first-second century BCE. The second phase was the courtly art of Ashoka, usually found in monolithic pillars on which their edges were inscribed, and the third phase marked the beginning of brick and stone architecture, as in the case of the original stupa at Sanchi. The small monolithic rail Sanchi and Lomus Rishi Cave in the Barbar Caves, with their decorative facades, reproducing the contours of the wooden structure.

Hence, the correct answer is option B.

Note:
Most scholars agree that Mauryan art was influenced by Greek and Persian art, particularly in royal sculpture and architecture. The political and cultural contacts between Greek and Persian cultures and India were intense and lasted a long time, encouraging the spread of their progress in the field of sculpture.