Editing Gupta Empire (section)

=== Art and architecture ===
{{Main|Gupta art}}
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Sanchi_temple_17.jpg|A [[tetrastyle]] [[prostyle]] Gupta period temple at [[Sanchi]] besides the Apsidal hall with [[Maurya]] foundation, an example of [[Buddhist architecture]] and [[Hindu architecture]].<ref>Harle, 111;</ref>{{failed verification|date=March 2023}}{{sfn|Rowland|1967|pp=219-220}}{{sfn|Michell|1988|p=94}} 5th century CE.
File:KITLV 87946 - Unknown - Pataini temple in British India - 1897.tif|[[Pataini temple]] is a Jain temple built during the Gupta period.
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The Gupta period is generally regarded as a classic peak of North [[Indian art]] for all the major religious groups. Although painting was evidently widespread, the surviving works are almost all religious sculptures. The period saw the emergence of the iconic carved stone deity in Hindu art, as well as the Buddha-figure and [[Jain]] ''[[tirthankara]]'' figures, the latter often on a very large scale. The two great centres of sculpture were [[Mathura]] and [[Gandhara]], the latter the centre of [[Greco-Buddhist art]]. Both exported sculpture to other parts of northern India.

The most famous remaining monuments in a broadly Gupta style, the caves at [[Ajanta Caves|Ajanta]], [[Elephanta Caves|Elephanta]], and [[Ellora Caves|Ellora]] (respectively Buddhist, Hindu, and mixed including Jain) were in fact produced under later dynasties, but primarily reflect the monumentality and balance of Gupta style. Ajanta contains by far the most significant survivals of painting from this and the surrounding periods, showing a mature form which had probably had a long development, mainly in painting palaces.{{sfn|J.C. Harle|1994|pp=118–22, 123–26, 129–35}} The Hindu [[Udayagiri Caves]] actually record connections with the dynasty and its ministers,{{sfn|J.C. Harle|1994|pp=92–97}} and the [[Vishnu Temple, Deogarh|Dashavatara Temple]] at [[Deogarh, Uttar Pradesh|Deogarh]] is a major temple, one of the earliest to survive, with important sculpture.{{sfn|J.C. Harle|1994|pp=113–14}}

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File:Vishnu Hood2 Deogarh.jpg|[[Vishnu]] reclining on the serpent [[Shesha]] (Ananta), [[Dashavatara Temple]] 5th century
File:SFEC BritMus Asia 030.JPG|Buddha from [[Sarnath]], 5–6th century CE
File:Elephanta tourists.jpg|The Colossal [[trimurti]] at the [[Elephanta Caves]]
File:Ajanta Padmapani.jpg|Painting of [[Padmapani]] Cave 1 at [[Ajanta Caves|Ajanta]]
File:Mukhalinga.JPG|The [[Shiva]] ''[[mukhalinga]]'' (faced-[[lingam]]) from the [[Bhumara Temple]]
File:Nalraja fort chilapata.jpg|Nalrajar Garh fortification wall in [[Chilapata Forests]], [[West Bengal]], is one of the last surviving fortification remains from the Gupta period, currently 5–7 m high
File:Nalanda University India ruins.jpg|[[Nalanda University]] was first established under Gupta Empire
File:Gupt kalin mandir bhitargaon.jpg|[[Bhitargaon|Bitargaon temple]] from the Gupta period provide one of the earliest examples of pointed arches anywhere in the world
File:Ajanta-3-aurangabad.jpg|Ajanta caves from Gupta era
File:MET DT5237 (cropped).jpg|Krishna fighting the horse demon [[Keshi (demon)|Keshi]], 5th century
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