During the Mauryan period there was a great development in the field of art and architecture. The main examples of the Mauryan art and architecture that survived are
The famous city of Pataliputra was described in detail by Megasthenese, references of which are found in the writings of Strabo, Arian and other Greek writers. It stretched along the river Ganga. It was enclosed by a wooden wall and had 64 gates. Excavations have brought to light remains of palaces and the wooden palisade.
The Mauryan wooden palace survived for about 700 years
because at the end of the 4th century AD when Fa Hien saw, it was
astounding. The palace and also the wooden palisade seem to have been
destroyed by fire. The burnt wooden structure and ashes have been found from
Kumrahar. Seven rock-cut caves in the Barabar and Nagarjuni hills show that
the tradition of rock-cut caves in India began with the Mauryas. These caves
were caused to be excavated by Ashoka and his grandson Dasaratha for the
abode of Ajivika monks
The most extraordinary object of Mauryan period was monolithic stone pillars
of up to 15m height with a capital. The pillars comprise two pars a shaft
tapering from the base with a diameter from about 90 cm to 125 cm. These
pillars had a capital at the top which was adorned with animal figurines.
The main animal figurines were lions, horses, bulls and elephants. The
pillars and the capitals were made of sandstone near Chunar in Mirzapur
dist. They were all polished which gave them a shine. Some Yaksha and
Yakshini figures have been found from Mathura, Pawaya and Patna. They are
large sized statues representing folk art of the period.