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________________ GAMBHIRPUR ROCK PAINTINGS Ravi G. Hajarnis The village Gambhirpur (latitude N.P. 23deg5% east longitude 7303') is about three kms. to the north of Idar in the Gujarat State. The erstwhile idar State, now merged in the Sabarkantha District, is rich in antiquities. The territory of the former Idar State lay mostly to the east of River Sabarmati and north of the River Mahi, between 23deg6' and 24deg30' north latitude and 72deg49' and 73deg43' longitude. The State had an area of 1,669 square miles. The Arvalli hills lay on the southern borders of the State. These granite hills almost surround Idar, and some isolated hills occur as far as Himatnagar. The main river system in this territory is formed by the Sabarmati and its tributariesthe sai, Harnav, Hathimati, Mesvo, Vatrak and Majum which flow through the plains of the western and southern parts of the former State. History U. P. Shah traces some connection of Pratihara King Venivatsaraja (c. A. D. 783-808) with Idar hills on the basis of folk-lore. According to a legend, the king's mother, consort of the king of Srinagara (i.e. Teheri Ghadhval District of the Himalayan region), was brought to the Idar hills by a monster-bird during her pregnancy. The Chinese pilgrim Huen T'sang (c. A. D. 640) mentions a place which he calls "O-cha-li", or Valari. Cunningham identifies this place with idar (also Rasmala, 235).3 The Bombay Gazatteer Vol. V, however, identifies Valari with Vadali (23deg56' N. 73deg3' E) to the north of Idar.4 According to Shah, Vadali, which is referred to in Huen T'sang's accounts, was under the Maitraka rule, with Anandapura to its west, Malva or Malavaka to the east, and Khetaka to its south. He further guesses his route of travel to be from Dasapura (Mandasor), or Ujjain area, to Bfgukaccha via Dungarpur through Bhiloda, Samalaji, Harsapura (Harsol) to Karpatavanijya (Kapalvanj), Kathlal, and Nadiad in Khetakamandala. Devnimori, about 45 kms. to the south of Idar was one of the great Buddhist settlement during the late Ksatrapa period. The cultural and artistic activities of this region, however, go back to a period anterior to Ksatrapa times. The present author, during the course of his explorations discovered rock paintings from Sapavada, Laloda and Idar which has cast fresh light on the art history of this region from stone age to historical periods.?
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________________ 102 Ravi G. Hajarnis The Samalaji evidence proves the association of this area with Buddhism. The author recently has brought to light one other series of rock paintings showing signatory association with religious, cultural and art-activities of the Buddhist period. In all, there are seven stupas depictions painted on the inner vertical surface of the rock shelters at Gambhirpur (Idar). These are for the first time discussed in English here. Description of the paintings : Shelter 14 This shelter faces full front; the figure of a stupa is visible even from the road side. The stupa-figure is painted with thick red lines of geru (Indian red) colour. It is flanked by chatra-yasti. Chatra is shown with (a sort of) perspectivity in view. The platform of the stupa cannot properly be discerned. The pataka (flag) is drawn by red lines with no block-filling. Although the proportions are not perfect, the figure is useful as an idea representation of the contemporary stupa shape. The pigment used here is geru and a white colour as a fillar (Fig. 1.) Shelter 15 The paintings in shelter 15 are not well preserved. Two stupa figures, however, can be clearly recognised; their configuration is delineated in red, the inner area rendered in white (Fig. 2). The first figure from the left is larger than the second. The stupa's outline has somewhat suffered due to weathering. The shape of the chatra-yasti and of the platform etc. cannot therefore be fully discerned. The configurative lines of second stupa figure are also damaged. These two stupa figures illustrate the more developed form compared to the figures of shelter 16 to be discussed below, being the work arguably of a superior artist. The space distribution and the force of line are remarkable. The chatra-yasti and the hermika are carefully drawn. The chatra is drawn after moon-shape. Shelter 16 Three stupa-figures are met with here. The first stupa figure from the left side is not drawn with perfect symmetry. The lines too are uneven in thickness and reflect irregularity in proportions. The uneven rock-surface may have contributed to this "mishappen" appearance. The second, which is the middle, stupa figure is in better condition than the first stupa figure, drawn carefully as it is. The lines are fine and more accurate compared to the preceding instance. However, the rendering of the chatra-yasti and the hanging pataka is not very accurate. The third stupa figure in this shelter is by far the superior of the three. The method in drawing adopted here is slightly different. Because of the uneven
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________________ VILUMINA Fig. 1 Painted stupa in shelter 14 Fig. 2 (A) Fig. 2 (B) Painted stupas in shelter 15
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________________ Fig. 3 Painted stupa in shelter 16
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________________ Gambhirpur Rock Paintings 103 rock-surface, the entire figure is directly drawn by the artist. The chatra portion is semi-rectangular. But its top part is not clearly visible (Fig. 3). Shelter 18 It is located on the way leading to 'Idario Gadh', Idar, near the place locally called Ruthi Rani-no Mahel. There, on the inner wall of shelter a superimposed painting is discernible. Although superimposed, the semi-circular shape of the stupa and some Brahmi letters above it can be discerned. The entire writing is not preserved or clearly legible. (A few letters may be read as "Rajas".) Palaeographically, the characters are assignable to the 4th and the 5th cent. A. D. All these painted stupa configurations may, therefore, be assigned to the bracket 4th-5th cent. A. D. Such painted configurations of the stupa inside rock-shelters are not reported from any other part of the country. The paintings prove the prevalence in this area of Buddhism in the early Gupta period. Notes and References 1. U. P. Shah, "Sculptures from Shamalaji and Roda", Bulletin of Museum & Picture Gallery, Baroda 1960, p. 2. 2. Ibid. 3. Gazatteer of Bombay Presidency, Vol. 5, Bombay 1880, p. 434. 4. Ibid. 5. Shah, Sculptures., p. 5. 6. Ibid. 7. Ravi Hajarnis and M. D. Verma, "Saberkantha man mali avela Gufa citro" (Gujarati), Kumar, Feb. 1979; also by the same authors, "Sabarkantha nan citro nun Samayankana" (Gujarati), Vidyapitha, July-August 1980, pp. 47-49; and the same authors with C. K. Date, "Gujarat madhil gufa-citre" (Marathi), Svarajya, 2nd Oct. 1982, p. 12. During his work relating to the project on Rock-paintings, the author was assisted by Sarvashri B. S. Makwana, M. D. Verma, and O. P. Ajwalia (Photographer). The author wishes to thank them all. The drawings are reproduced here with the courtesy and assistance of the Department of Archaeology, Government of Gujarat.