The Gupta age is considered as the Golden Age of art and literature.
(i) Buddhism gave a great impetus to art in the Gupta period. Beautiful images of Buddha were created at Mathura and Sarnath.
(ii) The finest examples of Buddhist art during Gupta period are the paintings of Ajanta caves.
(iii) Depicting the life of Buddha and the Jataka stories, these paintings with lustrous colours have not faded even after fourteen centuries. The Ajanta caves are now included in the list of the World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.
(iv) It is for the first time in the Gupta period that the temples in the form of structures were constructed in north India. These temples were made in Nagara architectural style. Examples of these temples are—Bhitargaon in Kanpur made of bricks and Deogarh in Jhansi made of stone. Here the images of Vishnu are placed in the centre as a chief deity.
(v) The coins of Gupta period are also pieces of art. They are well designed and meticulously crafted. They carry aesthetically impressive depictions of the activities of the rulers.
(vi) The lyrist type of gold coins issued by Samudragupta show him playing a lute. Samudragupta also issued ashwamedha type of coins.
(vii) A huge body of religious and secular literature was compiled in this period. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata were finally completed in the fourth century. The stories of both the epics symbolise the victory of good over evil.
(viii) The Gupta period marks the beginning of the writing of the literature known as Puranas. The major Puranas written in this period are the Vishnu Purana, Vayu Purana and the Matsya Purana. Besides these, Shiva Purana, Varaha Purana, Vamana Purana and Narasimha Purana were also written.
(ix) Some Smritis or the law books were also compiled in the Gupta period. Narada Smriti is one of them. It throws light on the general social and economic rules and regulations of the period.
(x) During the rule of Chandragupta II, Kalidasa wrote Meghadutam, Abhijnana-shakuntalam, Raghuvamsa, Kumarasambhava and Ritusamhara.
(xi) The other famous dramatists in this period are Shudraka who wrote Mrichchhkatikam and Vishakhadatta who Mudrarakshasa.
