Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Buddhist
Asia1
Papersfrom the First Conference
of Buddhist StudiesHeld in Naples
in May 2001
Editedby
GiovanniVerardi and Silvio Vita
ffi
It would be impossibleto list here all the projectscarriedout by the Italian Archaeological Mission in Swat, the most recent overview having appearedin 1982 (P.
Callieri ed., balan ArchaeologinlMissionQsMEO).Pakittan,Sltdt, 19t6-1981). I
therefore refer the reader to dre IsMEO (now IsIAO) publications, esp. to the periodicalEan anl Wen and the series"Reports and Memoirs".
Apart fiom the first survels made by A SreinQ4nArchaeolagcal
Tour in Upptr SaAt @d
Adjacnt Hill Traoq 1930)and G. Tucci ("PreliminaryReport on an Archaeologcal
Suweyin Swat",1958),in more recenryearssomeworkshaveappeared
dealingwith the
38
Anna Filigenzi
oF Sw.{r
THEMEINTHERocKScuLPU'ruR-E
A VAJMYAMC
39
40
Anna Filigenzi
sculpruresare datableessentiallyon stylistic groundsby vimre of comparison with similar material,and in the first placea certain number of bronzes
from Swat itself and neighbouringareas,suchas Glgit, Afghanisanand
Kashmir.Thus, the flourishing of rock sculpturesis placedin a period for
which we have disjointedand partially contradictoryevidence.Our
knowledgeof the history of Swat,and indeed of a large part of the
neighbouringregions,remainsvery patchy,in panicular for the period
hegemonyto the
running from the decline of the Kushano-Sassanid
Islamic conquest.However, literary sourcesand archaeologicaldataconcur
in reflecting the image of a region undergoing marked decline during the
period in question,as it sufferedfrom a seriesof concomitantproblems:
political instability,economiccrisisand-still more catastrophicin consideration of the broader picnrre----someseriousnatural calamity (seismic
even$,flooding).7
Nevenheless,we know that evenas the splendoursof the past dimmed
uking its toll on the ancientmonuments
and decayinexorablyproceeded,
that had set the region amongthe most popular of the sacredplacesof
ofthe Valrayana,the lastoffshootofa
Buddhism,Swatsawthe emergence
long tradition that would blossominto the extraordinaryflorescencewitl
This approximatechronological
which we are familiar elsewhere.s
4l
42
Anm Filigenzi
43
44
Anna Filigmzi
45
46
Anna Filigmzi
2l
See for instance G. Tucci, la religioni d.elTibet, 1995 (or. edn. Dre Religionm Tibets,
of Religion,1987,vol. III s.v.
1970),pp.4347; M. Eliadeet al. eds.,TbeFnryclopndia
124.
Mahsiddhas,
P.
Examplesof both gpes can easilybe found in te iconographicrepertories.A rapid
review is offered for insunce by the dated but still useful Myrlologie asatiqueillustre,
'l-ucci,
Inda-Tibetim,
I. "mc'odnen" e "x'a t'a" nelTibet
1928,pp. 13l ff., esp.l5l-58; G.
1932,pp. 102-6andtaw. )OOG4tr,b-)O, b; M.M. R-tlieandR.A.F.
indionoe otcd.anale,
Thurman, Tbe Stta'edArt of Tibet,1991,pp. 154-55,15 ff.; seealso P. Pal, Tbetan
Paintings,1984,pl. 40.
p. 124.
1987,vol. Itr s.v.Mahsiddhas,
ofReligion,
M. Eliadeet a.eds.,T/e Enqclopaed.ia
+8
Anna Filigenzi
The hieraticcharacterof the subjectand,aboveall, the repetitiveiconographic module conveythe impressionthat thesefigures are not simply
donors.Even if they were, however,they displayfeaturesand attributes
associatedwith a role such as to suggestidentification as a syrnbolic
Unfomrnately,in this asin most of the other caseslmown to us,
couple.2a
the amibutes are not recognisable.Nevertheless,in this particular casewe
might hazarda hypothesis,namely that the couple correspondto that
complementaryopposidon,well-known to us in Tibetan iconographyand
This hypothesismight also be extendedto
Iiocrrgy,of uajra ar'd gharyya.
other exampleswhere the preservedform of the attributes,if not identicompatiblewith thesetwo objecs.
fiable,at leastappears
Occurrenceof the uajralghntta prg in Swat and within the chronological horizon we are dealingwith is proved by at leastone example-well
this time-that leavesabsolutelyno doubt aboutidentificauon
preserved,
of the amibutes.This is one of those"Buddhistaureoles"that wereslotted
onto the back of cenffal cult images (fig. 8). This type of-more or less
complex-composition must, moreover, have been very frequent, as
attestedby the presenceof tenonsand socketson the backof many bronzes
that havesurvivedin isolation.2sIn the particularcaseof our stela,the
profile conservedand the grip ofthe malefigure on his amibute are closely
The female
echoedin a bronzedepicting a fierce aspectof Vajrapni.'Z
figure is still more poorly preserved,but her attribute doesnot appear
if we seeher asholding it on the palm of the
incompatible with a ghary1d,
left hand, holding the handle in her right hand. The complementary
620-2r).
For a rapid overview of tle published materiasI refer the reader to P. Pal, Bronzesof
Ktshmir, 1975, where this occurrenceis illustrated by many examples.
lbid., pp. 164-65,no. 0.
A. Filigenzi
Figs.I - 3
Figs.4- 5
A. Filigenzi
r79r7
/9.
A. Filigenzi
Figs. - 7
Fig. 8
A. Filigenzi
Figs.9
A. Filigen:.i
t-r
.,
|f
:\,
fii
J;Qf
F i e .l ( t
Iig. l0
'['ilrctrrn
b I o n z c \ t 1 t u c t t c c p r r s c t i l gl ) r r l n t r r s r r r ] l l r rht . . t r
-l'hulnrrn
.\lrrr Ihie irnrl
l r ) ( ) 1 .l l . l i .
F i e .l 1
.1. ili,4,tt- i
7cr
r{
\
L-l
Figs.12- 13
A. Filigenzi
+9
50
Anna Filignzi
lr
5l
Anna Filigenzi
)z
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