Page 114 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

SCULPTURE 111

The Muslim rulers and their courtiers introduced new designs, methods and materials.
For the first time, tombs and mosques started to be built, mainly with brick,
occasionally encased with stone slabs. Due to the non-availability of hard building
material like stones and rocks, the Muslim rulers of Bengal heavily relied on bricks
for their building activities. In this, they adapted the indigenous methods of the people
of this area. To relieve the plain façade of the brick walls, the Muslim builders used
ornamental bricks with designs and carvings set on various parts of the buildings,
chiefly to break-up large flat surfaces and demarcate the variations in the
constructional designs. In this task the traditional use of terracotta ornamentation
which was Bengal’s age-old tradition was adopted by the new-comers as a
compromise with local traditions, but they remodeled its style and execution to suit
their own purposes. The terracotta ornamentation of this period mainly were used
around the Mimbar and arches on the western walls which were encased in broad
borders, filled not with the vegetal designs of the later times, but mostly with
interlocking abstract themes somewhat similar to the Central Asian monuments, from
where they originated. These included hanging chain and pendant, tassel and net
design within rectangular frame, multi-foiled arches, etc. 34 But gradually use of
terracotta gained popularity with the Muslim builders and under their guidance, the
later terracotta artists of Bengal developed the art to amazing perfection and used them
on various parts of the architectural scheme.
The Ilyas Shahi rule from the middle of the 14th century which caused cessation of
relationship from Delhi, brought self reliance and stability in the region and as such fig. 2.27 Plaques along
building activity grew. Of the surviving monuments of the period, Adina mosque at the circumambulatory
Hazrat Pandua (1375 AD) in W.Bengal, India, second largest of the open courtyard path of Paharpur Vihara
mosques of India, built by Sikander Shah, still contain evidence of the use of fine
terracotta ornamentation together with stone carvings, on
various parts of the monument. These include beaded
necklace with four petalled flowers and vegetal elements,
interspersed with tassels, interlocking creepers with rosettes,
knotty abstract patterns, stepped designs etc., all in terracotta
relief and separated from the other by narrow horizontal
moldings, decorate the inner walls, the tympanum and some
of the arches of the main cloister (fig. 2.29). On the Muslim
35
monuments of the period, local motifs like merlons or
kirtimukha somewhat stylized, kalpataru (wish full-filling
tree), baskets with fruits hung from branches, even animal
figures, point to the congenial atmosphere where local
craftsmen were allowed to use somewhat stylized version of
their traditional art forms and local elements. 36
This acceptance of local tradition and forces, to evolve a
common cultural heritage became more pronounced in the