bhartiya ancinent kowedge ......................................

bhartiya ancinent kowedge ......................................

1. Bharatiya's ancient knowledge regarding the preparation & uses of bricks, stones, plasters and Glass Central University of Himachal Pradesh Department of Tourism & Travel Management Submitted to : Dr. Debasis Sahoo Presented by: Saurabh Kumar

2. Bricks A  brick  is a type of block used to build walls and other elements in  masonry construction . Properly, the term  brick  denotes a block composed of dried  clay. Bricks are produced in numerous classes, types, materials, and sizes which vary with region and time period, and are produced in bulk quantities. 2

3. The History of Bricks: The Indus Valley Mesopotamia 3 From Mesopotamia, brick-making spread to Egypt, Persia and to  the Indus Valley ,(India and Pakistan). The Indus Valley is traversed by the Indus and Saraswati Rivers.

4. lothal -well-and-drainage-canals The cultures pivoted upon clay, literally and figuratively. The main type of dwelling, Harappan house, was of ingenious design and the bricks they were made with have lasted thousands of years. Homes had indoor and outdoor kitchens and were made of fired or sun-dried bricks. The photo above shows an example of an ancient well and the brick drainage canals in Lothal , India, a port city which used kiln-fired brick extensively in its ancient dockyards. 4

5. Great bath at-Mohenjo-Daro The bath is basically a water tank made of brick. In  The Indus Civilization: a Contemporary Perspective, by Gregory L. Possehl , the author states that funnel-shaped updraft kilns were used for firing clay, however, I am, as yet, unsure whether this type of kiln was used to fire bricks or ceramics, in general. “ millions of bricks” are among the ruins at  Mohenjo-Daro The photo to the right shows the Great Bath at Mohenjo-Daro. 5

6. T ypes of brick Mud brick Unfired bricks, also known as  mud bricks, are made from a wet, clay-containing soil mixed with straw or similar binders. They are air-dried until ready for use. Fired brick Fired bricks are burned in a kiln which makes them durable and hard. Chemically set bricks Chemically set bricks are not fired but may have the curing process accelerated by the application of heat and pressure in an autoclave. 6 Three basic types of brick are un-fired, fired, and Chemically set bricks .

7. development of bricks A ccording to time 7 Mud brick Kilns Fired brick Chemically set bricks

8. Stone A hard solid substance that is found in the ground. The stones are derived from rocks which form the earth’s crust & have no definite shape. 8

9. 9 Stone Age Paleolithic Mesolithic Neolithic

10. 10 Bhimbetka rock shelters The Bhimbetka Rock Shelter has the oldest-known rock art in India , as well as is one of the largest prehistoric complexes to be seen. An archaeological treasure, Bhimbetka has  around 243  rock shelters They contain rock paintings from the  hunter-gatherer societies of the Mesolithic to the historical period. This site comprises five clusters of rock shelters in the foothills of the  Vindhya Range . AMAZING BHIMBETKA rock shelters

11. AMAZING BHIMBETKA Cave paintings dating back to approximately 30,000 years . Rock shelters that were home to humans, millennia ago. And a rich flora and fauna surrounding these, indeed, make Bhimbetka a gift to us from our earliest ancestors.  The paintings found in the rock shelters here have a striking resemblance to the ones discovered in Kakadu National Park in Australia; to the cave paintings of Bushmen in Kalahari Desert and Upper Palaeolithic Lascaux cave paintings in France . 11

12. 12 Zoo Rock The most densely painted rock shelter, it has paintings from the Mesolithic period to the medieval age. Turtle Rock This spot in B himbetka is known as the Turtle R ock for its formation of turtle.

13. 13 Auditorium Rock Shelter Cup like depressions and the end of this shelter are believed to be around 1 lakh years old. Bhojpur Temple A 10 th century old Shiva temple, standing testament of time, known for its single stone Shiva linga .

14. There are known  more than 1,500  rock-cut temples in India, as well as other structures that were created 2,300 – 800 years ago. Many contain artworks of global importance, and most of these cave temples are adorned with unbelievable, intricate stone carvings and sometimes – paintings. Mundeshwari Devi Temple, Bihar Tungnath Temple, Uttarakhand Jagatpita Brahma Mandir, Pushkar, Rajasthan Konark Sun Temple, Odisha Dilwara Temples, Mount Abu, Rajasthan Temples of Hampi, Karnataka Mauryan dynasty Ajanta Caves Ellora Caves

15. Uses of stone in M auryan dynasty 15 Pillars Ashoka pillars, (usually made of  chunar sandstone ), as a symbol of the state, assumed a great significance in the entire Mauryan Empire. Stupa Stupas were burial mounds prevalent in India from the Vedic period Cave Architecture During the Mauryan period, caves were generally used as   viharas ,  i.e. living quarters, by the Jain and Buddhist monks Sculptures Two of the most famous sculptures of the Mauryan period are those of  Yaksha and Yakshi S T

16. 16

17. The art of plastering is as old as civilization. Plaster  is a building material used for  coating protecting and  decorating internal walls and   ceilings. 17 Plaster

18. Big concept Mankind’s ability to leave the cave, raise a shelter of stones or reeds, and coat that shelter with an earthen plaster, enabled him to create the “cave” wherever he desired. Building permanent dwellings close to fresh water, upon a fortifiable position, or adjoining arable land, allowed extended families to gather, and the first cities to be born . The very first plasters were earthen. Being simple mixtures of clay, sand and straw, they required no furnaces and dried with the sun. The mixture was cast as bricks and the same basic formula was used as the mortar and stucco. Earthen plasters such as cob and daub are still the most commonly used plasters worldwide . Calcium plasters such as gypsum and lime were likely discovered through the process of pottery making. By chance, rocks of gypsum or lime were selected to form the crude kiln for firing pottery. 18

19. Çatalhöyük city One of the earliest archeological examples of both civilization and plaster is Çatalhöyük (ca. 7500 BC), located in present day Turkey. A densely populated town, Çatalhöyük’s dwellings had mud brick walls and floors coated with a locally available clay marl that made a suitable plaster. What little we know of this ancient civilization survives in lime frescoes, depicting numerous scenes of hunting, volcanoes and geometric patterns of purely decorative expression. 19

20. The best preserved examples of plasterwork in the pre-Classical period are found in the monumental architecture of ancient Egypt dating from the 3rd millennium BC. C ontaining gypsum and lime mortars, the exteriors of which originally received smooth lime stucco. In fact, the lime and gypsum plasters produced in Egypt were in many cases of superior quality compared to commercially available quality today. 20 Pyramids of Giza

21. 21 History of plastering A form of plastering was used by primitive civilizations, creating durable and weather-resistant structures using mud. The Egyptian pyramids contain plasterwork comparable to that used today that remains hard and durable some 4,000 years later. Greek artisans used plaster, mainly to cover the exterior of temples but sometimes also interiors. Through history, plaster ceilings became increasingly ornamental, with those during the Tudor period being particularly extravagant .

22. Houses range from 1–2 stories in height Mud mortar and gypsum cement are also in evidence and mud plaster and gypsum plaster are also found to have been used. Mud mortar is most evident at Harappa .

23. Carboniferous lime stone is commonly used in India’s most of ancient monuments with beautiful plasterworks. On the basis of mineralogical/chemical composition data, it is observed that dolomitic lime were used in the plasterworks of group of monuments at Alampur (6-7th AD) constructed by Chalukya’s of Badami with higher addition of hydraulic component to give strength & durability to the plasters. Studies also indicate that lime used in the preparation of plaster of Lotus Mahal , Hampi WHS (1336-1570 AD) may not always be of same origin as at some places slightly dolomitic lime source quite different to other has been used in the course of construction. 23

24. Timeline 24 1 3 5 4 2 Mud Plaster Lime plaster Cement plaster Clay plaster Gypsum plaster

25. 25 G lass

26. Timeline 26 1600 AD 600 BC 1700 BC 1800 BC 2100 BC 3000 BC The Egyptian and Mesopotamian regions Evidence of glass beads from the cemeteries in Mesopotamia Takshashila was an important centre of the North-western province of the Mauryan Empire Glass also started to be used as a medium of artistic objects, from about the 11th to 16th century AD in Europe. Glass-producing factories in Egypt Black and brownish coloured glass beads found at Hastinapur

27. .

28. Kopia , situated on the bank of the river Anoma in the Basti district of Uttar Pradesh, had perhaps a glass factory as a large number of glass objects were found there (c. third century BC to third century AD ). The archaeological excavations in Brahmapuri and Kolhapur in Maharashtra State (second century BC-second century AD) reveal that there was also a glass industry in that area, especially for the production of lenticular beads. Protohistoric archaeological sites, which have produced glass objects, special mention needs to be made of Ahichchhatra , Maheswar , Nasik, Nevasa , Prakash , Ter , Kaundinyapura , Ujjain, Sravasti , Nalanda and Kopia , and in South India , Brahmagiri , Maski and Arikamedu .

29. 29 Thanks! Any questions ?