SSC Selection Post 2025 PYQ — Question 24

Correct Answer

Indian indigenous themes with some Hellenistic influence

Explanation

The Mathura school of art flourished primarily during the Kushana period (around the 1st to 3rd centuries CE) at the strategic crossroad city of Mathura. It is distinguished by its deep rootedness in Indian indigenous traditions and themes, while gradually incorporating certain Hellenistic (Greek) elements due to its geographic and political ties with the contemporary Gandhara region.

Initially, the Mathura style developed out of the early indigenous terracotta and stone carving traditions of Bharhut and Sanchi, focusing heavily on local Brahmanical, Buddhist, and Jain imagery. The sculptures are readily identifiable by the signature use of spotted red sandstone quarried from Sikri. While the core spiritual icons—such as the massive, muscular early seated Buddhas with shaved heads and right hands in Abhaya mudra—sprang from native aesthetic concepts of Yaksha figures, the school later absorbed subtle foreign traits. These Hellenistic nuances manifested in finer drapery folds, geometric symmetry, and secular motifs, blending foreign execution styles with fundamentally Indian spiritual concepts.

Key Points

Unlike the contemporary Gandhara art which focused almost exclusively on Buddhist themes, the Mathura school was highly secular and religiously inclusive, simultaneously producing spectacular sculptures of Buddhist deities, Jain Tirthankaras, and Hindu gods like Shiva, Vishnu, and Surya. It is also famous for creating the majestic headless portrait statue of King Kanishka wearing leather boots and a heavy overcoat, demonstrating its role in royal court art.

Important Questions and Answers

Question: Which specific type of building material serves as the primary identifying characteristic of sculptures belonging to the Mathura school of art?

Answer: Spotted red sandstone.

Question: Under the patronage of which ancient Central Asian origin dynasty did both the Mathura and Gandhara schools of art reach their absolute peak?

Answer: The Kushana Dynasty.