Editing Sculpture (section)

==== Indian subcontinent ====
{{see also|Sculpture in South Asia|List of rock-cut temples in India|Sculpture of Bangladesh}}
[[File:Met, india (uttar pradesh), gupta period, krishna battling the horse demon keshi, 5th century.JPG|thumb|Hindu [[Gupta art|Gupta]] [[terracotta]] relief, 5th century CE, of [[Krishna]] Killing the Horse Demon [[Keshi (demon)|Keshi]]]]
The first known [[sculpture in the Indian subcontinent]] is from the [[Indus Valley civilization]] (3300–1700 BCE), found in sites at [[Mohenjo-daro]] and [[Harappa]] in modern-day [[Pakistan]]. These include the famous [[Dancing Girl (prehistoric sculpture)|small bronze female dancer]] and the so-called [[Priest-king (sculpture)|''Priest-king'']].  However, such figures in bronze and stone are rare and greatly outnumbered by pottery figurines and stone seals, often of animals or deities very finely depicted. After the collapse of the Indus Valley civilization there is little record of sculpture until the Buddhist era, apart from a hoard of copper figures of (somewhat controversially) {{Circa|1500 BCE}} from [[Daimabad]].<ref>Harle, 17–20.</ref>  Thus the great tradition of Indian monumental sculpture in stone appears to begin, relative to other cultures, and the development of Indian civilization, relatively late, with the reign of [[Asoka]] from 270 to 232 BCE, and the [[Pillars of Ashoka]] he erected around India, carrying his edicts and topped by famous sculptures of animals, mostly lions, of which six survive.<ref>Harle, 22–24.</ref>  Large amounts of figurative sculpture, mostly in relief, survive from Early Buddhist pilgrimage stupas, above all [[Sanchi]]; these probably developed out of a tradition using wood that also embraced [[Hinduism]].<ref name="Harle, 26–38">Harle, 26–38.</ref>

The pink sandstone Hindu, [[Jain]] and Buddhist sculptures of [[Mathura, Uttar Pradesh|Mathura]] from the 1st to 3rd centuries CE reflected both native Indian traditions and the Western influences received through the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara, and effectively established the basis for subsequent Indian religious sculpture.<ref name="Harle, 26–38"/>  The style was developed and diffused through most of India under the [[Gupta Empire]] ({{Circa|320}}–550) which remains a [[Gupta art|"classical" period for Indian sculpture]], covering the earlier [[Ellora Caves]],<ref>Harle, 87; his Part 2 covers the period.</ref> though the [[Elephanta Caves]] are probably slightly later.<ref>Harle, 124.</ref>  Later large-scale sculpture remains almost exclusively religious, and generally rather conservative, often reverting to simple frontal standing poses for deities, though the attendant spirits such as apsaras and [[yakshi]] often have sensuously curving poses. Carving is often highly detailed, with an intricate backing behind the main figure in high relief. The celebrated bronzes of the [[Chola]] dynasty ({{Circa|850}}–1250) from south India, many designed to be carried in processions, include the iconic form of [[Shiva]] as [[Nataraja]],<ref>Harle, 301–10, 325–27</ref> with the massive granite carvings of [[Mahabalipuram]] dating from the previous [[Pallava dynasty]].<ref>Harle, 276–84.</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-daro.jpg|The "[[Dancing Girl (prehistoric sculpture)|Dancing Girl]]" of [[Mohenjo-daro]], 3rd or 2nd millennium BCE (replica)
File:Asokanpillar-crop.jpg|[[Pillars of Ashoka|Ashoka Pillar]], [[Vaishali (ancient city)|Vaishali]], [[Bihar]], {{Circa|250 BCE}}
File:Didarganj_Yakshi_statue_in_the_Bihar_Museum.jpg|''[[Didarganj Yakshi]]''. Uncertain date, but it has the fine Mauryan polish associated with [[Mauryan art]]
File:Column, Sanchi.jpg|[[Stupa]] gateway at [[Sanchi]], {{Circa|100 CE}} or perhaps earlier, with densely packed reliefs
File:Buddha from Sarnath.jpg|Buddha from [[Sarnath]], 5th–6th century CE
File:Elephanta Caves Trimurti.jpg|The Colossal [[Sadashiva|trimurti]] at the [[Elephanta Caves]]
File:Ellora cave16 001.jpg|Rock-cut temples at [[Ellora Caves|Ellora]]
File:Shrine with Four Jinas (Rishabhanatha (Adinatha)), Parshvanatha, Neminatha, and Mahavira) LACMA M.85.55 (1 of 4).jpg|[[Jain]] shrine with [[Rishabhanatha]], [[Parshvanatha]], [[Neminatha]], and [[Mahavira]], 6th century
File:NatarajaMET.JPG|Hindu, [[Chola]] period, 1000
File:The Hindu deity Vishnu - Indian Art - Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.jpg|Typical medieval frontal standing statue of [[Vishnu]], 950–1150
File:Khajuraho8.jpg|[[Khajuraho Group of Monuments|Khajuraho]] Temple
File:WLA lacma Celestial Nymph ca 1450 Rajasthan.jpg|Marble Sculpture of female [[yakshi]] in typical curving pose, {{circa|1450}}, [[Rajasthan]]
File:Natarajartemple1.jpg|[[Gopuram]] of the [[Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram]], [[Tamil Nadu]], densely packed with rows of painted statues
File:ജലഗന്ധേശ്വരർ ക്ഷേത്രത്തിലെ ദ്വാരപാലകശില്പം.JPG|Sculpture of Guardian at the entrance of the Mandapam of Sri Jalagandeeswarar Temple, Vellore, Tamil Nadu
</gallery>