Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings — Cultural Developments (c. 600 BCE – 600 CE)

The middle of the first millennium BCE is regarded as a turning point in world history: it saw thinkers such as Zarathustra in Iran, Kong Zi in China, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle in Greece, and Mahavira and Gautama Buddha in India, among many others, trying to understand the mysteries of existence and the relationship between human beings and the cosmic order. In the subcontinent, the older Vedic sacrificial tradition was questioned, and the ideas of the Upanishads explored the nature of the self and the ultimate reality. Teachers travelled from place to place debating with one another, often in a kutagarashala — literally a hut with a pointed roof — or in groves. Among the views in circulation were those of the fatalist Makkhali Gosala, of the Ajivika tradition, and the materialist Ajita Kesakambalin.

• The tirthankaras: Jainas hold that Mahavira was preceded by 23 teachers or tirthankaras — literally those who guide men and women across the river of existence. Mahavira is the 24th.
• Core ideas: the entire world is animated — even stones, rocks and water have life — so non-injury to living beings, ahimsa, is central. The cycle of birth and rebirth is shaped by karma, and escaping it requires renunciation and asceticism.
• The five vows: Jaina monks and nuns took five vows — to abstain from killing, stealing and lying; to observe celibacy; and to abstain from possessing property.

Siddhartha, also known as Gautama, was the son of a chief of the Sakya clan. Moved by the sight of an old man, a sick man, a corpse and an ascetic, he left the palace in search of the truth, and after a long period of meditation attained enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, under a peepal tree. He gave his first sermon at Sarnath, near Varanasi, and passed away (mahaparinibbana) at Kusinagara. He taught that the world is transient (anicca) and constantly changing; that it is soulless (anatta), with nothing permanent or eternal in it; and that sorrow (dukkha) is intrinsic to human existence — which could be overcome by following the path of moderation between severe penance and self-indulgence.

The Buddha founded the sangha, an organisation of monks (bhikkhus) who lived on alms. At first only men were admitted; later women were also allowed — according to Buddhist texts this was made possible through the mediation of Ananda, one of the Buddha's dearest disciples, and the Buddha's foster mother, Mahapajapati Gotami, was the first woman to be ordained as a bhikkhuni. The Therigatha, part of the Sutta Pitaka, is a unique collection of verses composed by bhikkhunis. Followers came from many social groups — kings, wealthy men, gahapatis, and humbler people including workers, slaves and craftspeople. Later Sri Lankan chronicles such as the Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa carried the history of Buddhism in that region.

Stupas were sacred places because they held relics of the Buddha — bodily remains or objects he had used — and were built at sites associated with him. The stupa began as a simple semi-circular mound of earth, later called the anda. Above it was the harmika, a balcony-like structure representing the abode of the gods; from the harmika rose a mast called the yashti, often surmounted by a chhatri or umbrella. Around the mound ran a railing, the vedika, separating the sacred space from the secular world. At Sanchi and Bharhut the early stupas were plain apart from the stone railings, which resembled bamboo or wooden fences, and the toranas, the gateways, which were richly carved and placed at the four cardinal points.

• Symbols in place of the Buddha: early sculptors did not show the Buddha in human form. An empty seat stood for the Buddha's meditation, a stupa for the mahaparinibbana, the wheel for the first sermon at Sarnath, and a tree for the event of enlightenment. These have to be read with the help of texts.
• Popular traditions: a beautiful woman swinging from the edge of a gateway, holding a tree, was initially puzzling; she is a shalabhanjika, believed in popular tradition to cause trees to flower and bear fruit — a sign that people who turned to Buddhism enriched it with their own beliefs and practices.
• One image, two readings: a woman surrounded by lotuses and elephants sprinkling water on her has been read by some historians as Maya, the Buddha's mother, and by others as Gajalakshmi, the goddess of good fortune, who is frequently shown with elephants.

By the first century CE the Buddha came to be seen as a saviour, and the concept of the Bodhisattva developed — perfectly compassionate beings who accumulated merit through their efforts but used it to help others rather than to attain nibbana themselves. Worship of images of the Buddha and of Bodhisattvas became central. This new tradition was called Mahayana, the "great vehicle"; its followers described the older tradition as Hinayana, the "lesser vehicle", while those who followed it called themselves followers of Theravada, the path of old, respected teachers. At the same time, Vaishnavism, centred on Vishnu, and Shaivism, centred on Shiva, grew within what is now called Hinduism. Vishnu was thought to take ten avataras, or incarnations, to save the world whenever it was threatened by disorder; Shiva was often symbolised by the linga.

• Early temples were small square rooms called the garbhagriha, with a single doorway for worshippers to enter and offer worship to the image. Gradually a tall structure, the shikhara, was built over the central shrine, and temple walls were decorated with sculpture.
• Rock-cut tradition: some of the earliest artificial caves were made in the Barabar hills in the third century BCE on the orders of Asoka for renouncers of the Ajivika sect. The tradition culminated in the eighth-century Kailashnatha temple at Ellora, where the entire structure was carved out of a single piece of rock.
• Paintings: the paintings of Ajanta depict stories from the Jatakas — the stories of the Buddha's previous births — and life at court, processions, and men and women at work and celebration.