HARAPPA ARCHITECTURE – HUB OF ART AND CULTURE

India is a multicultural subcontinent resulting from a history of migrations of diverse peoples and establishment of new communities. The newcomers, often arriving as invaders, carrying their cultural baggage with them, were gradually absorbed into Indian culture. Art generally means sculpture and painting and often includes architecture, but human artefacts may embrace a wider category of material remains that includes the decorative and minor arts such as jewellery, pottery, metal, wooden utensils and even toys. The artefacts of the earliest inhabitants of India, the Stone Age societies, go back many millennia: rock paintings of central India used different pigments to depict humans and animals, Neolithic pottery was ornamented with natural and geometric patterns, while terracotta figurines suggest the universal cult of the Great Mother. Around 2500 BCE, the urban culture of Harappa sprang up in the North – West of India along the Indus River, continuing down to the West coast. They constitute an area of 8,40,000 square miles, which is must vaster than that of any contemporary civilization elsewhere. Hailed as the land of urban culture, Indus Valley has captured the imagination of historians and common people alike. But amazingly, the inception of the Indus Valley Civilization is devoid of any kind of battles. The Indus Valley people rather made deals, not war and created a stable, peaceful and prosperous culture. It was known for its spectacular city planning. Archaeological investigations in the Indian sub-continent during the last two decades have contributed significantly to an overall understanding of various cultures. Of these, the Harappan studies have attracted the attention of various scholars. Harappans, an ancient people who lived in the Indus Valley were advanced for their time, especially in architecture.