1

Composite Legacy: A Study of Visual Repertoire of Early Buddhist Art

By Dr Lalit Gupta

Former Faculty, Dept. of Art History, Institute of Music & Fine Arts, University of
Jammu.

‘Indian art is an expression of Indian life and thought attuned to its vast natural
background and its socio-religious traditions.  It is not exclusive or sectarian in the
narrow sense of the term.  Its style, technique or general tenor has nothing to do
with any particular religious outlook.  It is fed and fostered upon a vast store-house
of pan-Indian traditions, symbols and designs.  The term Hindu, Jaina or Buddhist
art is but a popular nomenclature to distinguish one group of monuments, including
painting, cave-temples and architecture, etc., from another stand point of the
predominance of one or the other religious theme’.

The formal and technical excellence and extraordinary sophistication as exhibited

by the third millennium BCE Saraswati-Indus Valley arts: architecture, sculptures,
pottery, seals etc., has remained the touch stone of the earliest expressions of
Indian art. The age-old rich artistic tradition also finds its echo in “many references
to actual techniques and works of sculptures and architecture in Vedic hymns,
which were composed sometimes between 1500 and 800 BC”. i While the
Mahājanapada period followed by 6th century BCE Śisunāga-Nanda interlude and
the fourth century BCE Mauryan empire, saw the foundation and development of
many vidyās like grammar, exegesis, phonetics, astronomy, medicine, dramaturgy,
architecture, law and several branches of arts and crafts, (Jātakas mention that
artisans were organized in eighteen guilds—wood workers, smiths, painters, ivory
carvers etc.) There was also the continuation of the age old religious institutions,
shrines, images and the icons and the associated rituals, in the day to day life in
ancient India. Be it the worship of trees, flowers, rivers, mountains, Yakśas, Nāgas,
Sūrya and Candra, Svastika, Pūrṇa-Kumbha, Cakra, Yupa, Stambha, Sapta-
Ratna, Padma, Kalpa-Vṛkśa, Sumeru, or large number of divinities and cult figures
—all were visualized as images and icons and worshiped as part of a universal
language employed by masses irrespective of ethnic or cultic associations.
 2

Since the place of laity was not well defined in the initial phases of Buddhism, the
laymen appeared more as supporters than the actual adherents of Buddhism.
They revered the Buddha and his disciples, listened to their teachings and
observed some of the precepts, and occasionally uttered the formula of trisarana-
the only mark that distinguished a devotee of the Buddha from the others. This,
however, did not affect their social status, which in India has always been
associated with cast and religion, as they continued to be the members of their
respective societies.

So, when the need for exclusively Buddhist imagery arose after the
mahāparinirvāna of Buddha, the already prevalent symbols, images and
institutions were accepted and adopted without hesitation as some of them like the
stūpas had even found approval of the Buddha himself.

Likewise the then floating and popular techniques and fundamentals of the visual
arts: architecture, sculpture and painting, in terms of presentation of images, icons
and their artistic handling were employed by the architects and artisans, not only in
different parts of the country but also in outside lands which came under the
influence of Hinduism and Buddhism.

Aniconic Phase: A chronological study of the Buddhist art reveals two distinct
phases, namely the earlier aniconic and the later iconic. The extant archaeological
examples of the aniconic phase of Buddhist art and its clear manifestations date
back to the time of emperor Aśoka during the Mauryan era (322-180 BCE), through
his building of numerous stūpas and erection of pillars marking the holy places
associated with Buddha. In the aniconic phase, the Aśokan lāṭa-pillars occupy a
significant position in early Buddhist art. The tall and tapering monoliths with
sculptured capitals, rising to an average height of 40 feet from the base to the
summit, they stand isolated at sacred sites as self contained units in open space.
The imposing capitals of the Aśokan pillars are generally in the form of an animal
fixed on top of the shaft. The animals shown over an abacus which in turn sits on a
pūrṇa ghata with a large overflowing inverted lotus (padma-kośa), include lion, bull,
 3

elephant singularly or in a group of four. In other variety the animal has been
replaced by a cakra.

The other Buddhist religious structures and objects of veneration as a rule also
made use of symbolic images which included stūpa, dharmacakra, and animals
like vṛṣabha-(bull) , aśva-(horse), gaja-(elephant) and siṁha- (lion), singularly or in
a heraldic group of four. The Dharmacakra (Wheel of Law) stood as symbol of the
Lord’s teaching of the Āaryasatya (Four Noble Truths) and also the ‘fourfold
pattern of individual life, society and cosmos symbolized as four sides of the
Anotatta or Mānasarovar lake, each marked by one Great Animal (Mahā Ājāneya
Pāśu)ii.
‘The tradition of four animals along with horde of other symbols had come down
from the Indus Valley and was deeply ingrained in popular consciousness and
accepted by them as an essential element in cult worship’. iii That is to say that ‘the
animals forming the crowning members of the capitals of the pillars are not
particularly associated with Buddhism alone. Lions, either singularly or in group of
four, appears on the majority of the capitals, elephant on the Sankisa (Saṅkāśya),
Bull at Rampurva, and in a group of four at Salempur and horse at Rummindei.
These four animals are also represented around the abacus of the quadri-partite
capital at Sarnath. Though some scholars have tried to find Buddhist association of
these animals like the lion means the Buddha as the “Śākya Lion” (Śākya siṁha);
horse with the ‘Great Renunciation’; elephant with the legend of the conception of
the Buddha, bull to denote the Buddha who is often addressed as muni-puńgava
or as Śākya- puńgavaiv. Such a practice of raising of standards (dhvaja-stambha)
in ancient India have to be seen in the context of already existing practice like the
Garuḍa pillars of the Brāhmanical tradition v and not limited to the sectarian context
of Buddhism only.
The other symbols that found expression during aniconic phase on relief panels
decorating architectural edifices like stūpa and caityas included: the Bodhi Vṛkṣa
as the tree of Enlightenment, the Dahramcakra-wheel of law, Vajrāsana-the throne,
Catra-the parasol, the Pillar encircled by flames, the Buddha Pada - Lord’s
footprints, Buddha's Hair and Turban (Chuḍā), Triratna and the Stūpa (as a
 4

symbolic representation of nirvāna).

A detailed study of these symbols as done by eminent scholars like Vasudev

Sharan Agarwal, reveals that most of these symbols were already present in the
popular religion with well defined meaning. “For instance the Stūpa now associated
primarily with Buddhism had a much earlier origin. It goes back to the Ŗigveda
where the flaming pile of Agni's light is spoken of as a Stūpa. The idea of a
descendant of Aṅgiras (one of the names of Agni) called Hiraṇya-stūpa, the
Golden Stūpa, who had invoked god Savitā as the supreme pile of splendor
implying that both Agni on earth and Savitā in heaven are like the two golden
Stūpa from which cosmic life emanates. In Vedic symbology Gold exemplifies the
Seed of Life (Prāṇa), and thus the Mound of Gold (Hiraṇya-stūpa ) or the Pillar of
Fire was regarded as the appropriate symbol of the life principle as it exists in the
individual and the universal in pre-Buddhist tradition the Stūpa had come to be
accepted as the monument associated with the life of a Mahāpuruṣa, who was
regarded as a "Mound of Gold" , "Pile of Light" (Agni Skandha). Verily, in nature
Surya or Savita is such a Pillar of Light or Mound of Gold, a vast conflagration of
Divine Resplendence. The Buddha who had obtained such perfection of
knowledge and become the Enlightened One (Bhagavan Samyak-Sambuddha),
was truly the object of worship through the symbol of the Stūpa ”.

As tradition says, the Buddha’s ashes were parceled out into eight portions, and
each of them was deposited in a commemorative Stūpa . Of these eight, seven
were raised by Kshatriyas, viz. temporal powers, and the eighth by a Brāhmaṇa
representing the spiritual authority of the Buddha. It means that the original Stūpa
symbolism associated with the Buddha represented completely the two essential
elements of his nature, viz. the Buddha as a Cakravarti and the Buddha as a Yogī
which later on played an important part in the formulation of the Buddha's image,
i.e. sovereign ruler with Chatra and Camara and a Yogic teacher of universal
Dharma seated on diamond of Padmāsana.

The Stūpa exercised its fascination on the minds of the people. The learned
regarded it as a metaphysical symbol and the common man worshipped it as the
 5

visible symbol of the Great Light that once was and whose relics were still
enshrined within the heart of the Stūpa . The spherical or cylindrical drum, sited on
the ground and crowned by a harmikā, or Divine Mansion (Deva-sadana) was in
itself a complete symbol of the Mahāpuruṣa, the Great Being.

The Buddha was but a manifestation of the powers that inhere in that
universal Puruṣa whose symbol is Sūrya. As a scion of the solar dynasty, viz. the
race of the Īkṣvāku kings whose descent from Sūrya was well known, he
represented an individual ray of that light which is the Divine Supernal Sun. It was,
therefore, a problem of the early metaphysicians in Buddhism to fix upon an
appropriate symbol to commemorate the Enlightened One. - The Cakra and the
Stūpa were selected as two symbols by the early Buddhist teachers. The Wheel or
Cakra became the symbol of Dharma, i.e. the World Order of which the Buddha
was an exalted exponent -The Dhamma is the foundation and support of the
cosmos, and is the perfect symbol. The Stūpa as the second symbol represents
the solar light or the Sun which is the source of the power that manifests in the
Dharma Cakra.vi

In Vedic symbology the Stūpa of Agni as the type of the cosmic Fire or the
universal principle of creativity, becomes individuated atone centre in the Yajña,
Yūpa, the Tiller. This association is evident in the funeral mounds of Lauria
Nandangarh where the Stūpa and the Yūpa were found together and also best is
best illustrated in the great Stūpa of Sanchi where Aśoka erected his pillar in front
of the original Stūpa. The symbolism or the representational basis of the Yupa was
completely transferred to the Stūpa as we find it in Buddhism. Yupa was comprised
of the following four parts: a) The portion that is dug in the ground. This is sacred
to world of the fathers (pitr), the departed ancestors in whose memory the Stūpa is
erected. b) The portion above the dug-in-part, up to be girdled rope. This is the
portion sacred to the world of men. c) The portion above the girdle up to the top-
ring. This is sacred to the world of gods (devaloka). d) The space of two or three
fingers' breadth above the top-ring. This uppermost portion is sacred to the world
of the archetypal gods.vii
 6

In the Hindu temple also, of which the architecture followed similar meta-
physical principle, this fourfold division is found in the form of the basement
(jagatī), the cubical portion (garbhagṛha), the tower (śikhara), and the kalaśa
placed on the amalaka-sila as its base and surmounted on the top by the dhvaja or
the emblem of the deity corresponding to the yasti and chatra in the centre of the
harmikā. It is evident that the ancient Stūpa and the Prāsāda were developed from
an identical religious consciousness and both were symbolical representations of
the manifest cosmos and un-manifest divine. In one case the deity is the Buddha,
in the other the Deva, both enshrining the great light. The Stūpa, from this point of
view, although raised on the relics of a Māhapuruṣa when he had passed away,
actually was not a mournful sign but an emblem of greatest festivity. That the Great
Man had entered parinirvāna was no cause for sorrow. The idea behind it was one
of universal joy and felicitation—a thanksgiving that the Mahapurusha had
appeared on earth and lighted a flame which was going to be perpetual, a light
which would never be put out, a ray emanating from his forehead that would
encompass all regions of space. Thus the Stūpa was verily the mound of gold
(Hiraṇaya-stūpa ), standing as the dominant symbol of Wisdom, Dharma and
Sovereign Spiritual Authority, This is shown in the numerous scenes of dance and
music as well as the varied life of gods and men amongst the carved scenes on
the railings and gateways of the Stūpa and later on as at Amarāvatī and
viii
Nāgarjunikonda even on the casing slabs”.

Stūpa, therefore emerged as a complete example of the indigenous

religious spirit rooted deep in the soil and in the hearts of the people. It was not an
exotic innovation and did not depart from the belief universally held. Thus we find
the entire community of the people dedicating themselves to the building and the
worship of the Stūpa.

Motifs: Other than aniconic symbols, other important visual component that figures
predominantly in early Buddhist art, includes plethora of motifs. These decorative
motifs on the various parts of the Stūpa are comprised of the following
Aṣţmāṇgalika symbols, flower garland, row of animals, row of geese, festoons of
pearls and small tinglers, row of golden bells, garlands, clustered pearl pendants,
 7

full lotus medallions, crescent shaped rosette, stellar rosettes, row of Full Vases,
gods holding their bands in adoration, groups of dancing gods, gods playing on
musical instruments, gods bolding mirrors, divine figures with flowering sticks,
figures holding lotuses, row of jewels, row of Darmacakras, row of figures holding
daggers, row of figures holding bowl, and many other kinds of divine figures.

The Mahāstūpa of Sanchi and Bharhut present a comprehensive view of the

subjects represented in the sculptures that formed part of the ritual and decorative
imagery. These include Jataka scenes, scenes from the life of the Buddha,
superhuman beings like Yakṣas and Yakṣiṅīs, Devatās, Apasarās and Nāgarājas
—some of them inscribed with their names, and representations of their animals
and other objects, human beings like royal persons and religious persons, animals
—natural and fabulous, trees and fruits.

Also seen are the figures of Mahābrahmā, Śakra, Pañcaśikha holding a Vinā,
Māra with a thousand arms along with his female retinue, the four Mahārājika
gods, the thirty-three gods, thirty-two divine princesses, twenty-eight Yakṣa kings,
were represented. AIl the life-scenes of the Buddha beginning from his decision in
the Tuṣita heaven and up to his sitting on the Bodhimaṇḍa were depicted. The
Vessantara Jātaka specially was rendered in great detail.

Of special interest are the representations of garden sports known as Udyāna

Krīda in which woman are shown as standing under various flowering trees ix.
(Plate- 12)

The other symbols in the repertoire of images that were used as decoration of the
Mahāstūpa include lotus rizoms issuing forth from the mouth of pot-bellied Yakṣa,
or from his navel or disposed around a female figure or a series of full-blown
lotuses. The lotus flower with buds and leaves and creepers play an important role
in the decoration of a Stūpa.

One of the most important features of Stūpa decoration is the meandering

creepers showing ornaments and textiles and other objects of food and drink from
Kalpa-Vṛkṣa trees or creepers in the Uttarakuru country. x It represents indeed, the
 8

Kalpa-latā, wish fulfilling creeper of heavenly origin whose tendrils fulfill all desires
by producing pairs of Man and Women (mithuna), ornaments shown hanging from
the boughs like earrings, necklaces, girdles, anklets, etc. which are represented in
several shapes, costly textiles, wines in jars of jack fruit form, And also mango
shaped pendent containers for the lac-dye to paint the feet of the young ladies.

Iconic representations of the Buddha that started to emerge from the 1st century
CE in northern India mark the next important phase in the evolution of Buddhist
imagery. The two main centers of anthropomorphic creation have been identified
as the region of Mathura, in central northern India and Gandhāra in the west
Punjab (Pakistan).

The piety of the broad masses of the population was no doubt one of the strongest
driving forces towards the production of cult images. In their eyes the Buddha soon
became a merciful redeemer, to whom man could turn in every need, as one could
to the deities of the native mythology, whereupon he would help believers to attain
nirvāna or a blessed reincarnation in his heavenly realm. To make sacrificial
offerings to him, whether of a spiritual or material nature, was considered highly
meritorious, as an essential step towards obtaining a better karma. In many texts,
the Buddha himself is made to declare that the production and veneration of his
image is a meritorious act, which would bring its due reward. Eventually the point
was reached where the real Buddha was thought to reside in his image; by the
'eye-opening' rite and by depositing sacred objects inside the image; it was
believed that the latter could acquire a numinous vitality and even a magical
miracle working power.

Apart from these general reasons for producing a Buddha image, one on the
strictly metaphysical plane and the other on that of popular piety, it was also
regarded as necessary to justify the portrayal of the Enlightened One by linking his
image directly with his historical person, thereby deriving later Buddha images from
one authentic archetype.

An analysis of the genesis of anthropomorphic form of the Buddha reveals that

earliest anthropomorphic images from Mathura based on the existing figural
 9

tradition as exemplified by sculpture of Yakṣa. xi The other aspect which had its
bearing was the general religious background of the movement advocating the
worship of images. What is called a the cult of Bhakti—the religious impulse which
characterized the followers of the Bhāgvata cult- is also considered at the root of
the sentiments of the Buddhist laity and the subsequent emergence of the human
form of the Master during pre and post Kuṣāṇa period. xii The third strand being the
various cultural and artistic factors like the mahāpuruṣa lakṣanas that seem to
solve the problem of conveying something of his transcendental nature in the
human figure.

The Buddha images which came after first century CE may be divided into two
principal types, viz. standing and seated. These types are distinctly different in
artistic conception from each other. Whatever be the source of these two main
types from the point of view of art, both are outcome of the single iconographic
formula which was basically conceived as combining the ideal of a Cakravartin and
the ideal of a Yogi, Buddha as well as Mahapurusha was endowed with the thirty-
two marks of the great man. These lent themselves easily to the iconographic
conception of the Buddha figure. For example, the uṣṇīṣa, on the top of the head,
spiral hair between the two eyebrows called urṇā, elongated ear-lobes, long arms
up to the knees, broad chest, palms of the hands and soles of feet marked with the
Dharma-cakra, webbed fingers of the hands etc.xiii All these features are present in
the human image of the Buddha and directly based on Indian tradition of an Ideal
Great Man. Then there are certain features contributed by the Yogic Ideal of the
Buddha, e.g. the gaze fixed on the tip of the nose resulting in the half-closed eyes,
cross-legged posture (padmāsana or dhyānamudrā) with hands either placed in
the lap or the right-hand raised to shoulder (abhayamudra) etc. The conception of
a Cakravartin also was responsible for some of the elements in the making of the
Buddhist iconography, e.g. the two cauri bearer attendants who were invariably
associated with royalty. Chatra also was an indispensable symbol for royalty as
seen in the Sarnath image of Bhikṣu Bala. They accepted halo round the head as
the suitable sign of the glory of the Buddha. The conception of halo was borrowed
from Zoroastrian deities on coins, round whose head is depicted the divine glory
 10

hvarr of Ahura Mazua. Kuṣāṇa artists who were also called upon to represent the
figures of the Iranian Yazatas (deities) on the coins of Kaniṣka obviously drew
upon the original figure of Ahura Majdā for the halo. The idea fitted very well with
Indian conception of the divine figures being surrounded by a radiant orb
(prabhāmaṇdala)' although no earlier representation of this feature can be traced
at Sanchi or Bharhut Gradually the halo became Indianized. Its Iranian origin was
forgotten and during the Gupta period it was believed that the halo represented the
shadow of the chatra held on the head of the king.

Elite and Folk: Interplay : Alongside the courtly or elite art of Asokan pillars, the
Mauryan folk art, which appears in the form of free standing statues discovered at
many places in north and western India, Bihar and in Orissa, carry with it a distinct
and almost parallel plastic tradition. The images mainly of Yakśas, Yakśis, and
Nāgas etc can be classified as representing the earliest statuary encountered in
the early-historic period in India. These free standing huge figures (more than life-
size), carved out in the round, but still conceived frontally, are symbols of power,
impressive in their sheer volume, powerfully built, colossal size, and imbued
unmistakably with divine character. The examples being the Yakśas; from
Parkham village and in Baroda village in Mathura district, Yakśi statue from Noh
village in Bharatpur district, Yakśi found from Besnagar near Bhopal, Yakśi holding
a fly whisk (cauri) from Didarganj, Patna, Yakśa from Patna, now preserved in
Indian Museum, Calcutta, Yakśa image from Kurukheshtra, and many others.

The Yakśa figure is of paramount importance in tracing the genesis and

development of early Buddhist art as the cult of Yakśas, Yakśis and Nāgas et al,
being widespread and deeply ingrained in the lives of the people finds prominence
in the artistic scheme of Stūpa architecture and thus emerge as first instance of
images and icons that were to become synonymous with the beginning of the
Buddhist art. These figures support a kind of modeling which is “very archaic, the
bodies are hardly lifted out of the stone block, the dress touches the pedestal, the
feet hardly under the costumes, the arms are pressed to the body, and the head is
 11

hardly distinguishable from broad neck and thick hair”. xiv “From the colossal size,
massive built with pronounced emphasis on muscular strength, usually carved in
round and therefore free-standing, the main effect is frontal, as if these sculptures
were intended to be seen from the front side only”. xv

These images belong to an art that is ‘conceptual’, where the figures

created as per the characteristics that correspond to the mental description of the
qualities which together with scale give the idols such an awesome
impressiveness. Further “the quality of surface tautness gives the form a kind of
pneumatic expansion. This is no more or less than a realistic representation of the
inner breath prāna; in this respect the Yakśa of Mauryan Period is simply a
perpetuation of the stylistic character of the torso from Harappa, dated 2500 B.C.”
xvi

Such an admixture of two stylistic approaches: one of that of naturalistic form and
volume that marks the animal sculpture on the Aśokan pillars, and the other
symbolic and conceptual is carried on by the artisans from Mauryan period into the
art of Śunga period. The Yakśa images carved on the monuments of Bharhut and
Sanchi are the proof of the continuity of the Yakśa tradition both in iconography
and the style in art.

Image of Buddha and Mathura :The Mathura artists were responsible for one of
the greatest creations of world’s art, the Buddha Image. For the first time we find
here that the Buddha is represented in a human form. The Buddha image consti-
tutes the most original contribution of the Mathura School in the field of Indian art,
and which had a universal implication on the variety of forms of the Buddha image
that developed in the north-west, central Asia and in south-east Asia.

Creation of the Image of Buddha is one of the significant markers of the religio-
aesthetic sensibilities that informed the life in ancient India in general and art in
particular. When the artists were called upon to evolve a formula of the Buddha
image, almost after eight hundred years of lord’s mahāparinirvāna, they were not
without a precedent, in the form of earlier examples of divine images. First in
importance came the Yakśa images of the colossal standing type like that of
 12

Parkham. The Parkham Yakśa is rightly spoken of as the grand ancestor of all
early Indian statuary. The standing Bodhisattva type was directly indebted to it.
Both are freestanding and carved in the round, both of a colossal size, both have
a muscular built, both are impressive by their sheer volume, in both the divine
character of the image is sought to be conveyed by means of its size and
dominant physical force. Both have their right hand held in abhaya mūdra. In both
the cases drapery is of simple character, consisting of a dhoti, a girdle and an
upper covering (uttariya) passing on the left shoulder. As Coomaraswamy has
very clearly shown in his famous essay on 'Origin of the Buddha image' the
colossal standing Bodhisattvas in the Mathura school were undoubtedly derived
from the Parkham Yakśa type. Stylistically there is a closest resemblance
between the Parkham Yakśa and the Sarnath Bodhisattva which are parts of the
same art cycle.

The search for the formula for the Buddha image must have been an
intensive one and the religious teachers as well as the artists would have gone all
out with their resources both in the matter of traditional motifs and
representations as well as religious traditions and beliefs in order to perfect an
iconographic form which would be acceptable by all. The type of image that we
find in the shape of the Katra Bodhisattva at Mathura does represent a synthesis
and co-mingling of several strands that were available in the eclectic religious
atmosphere of Mathura. An analysis of the Katra Bodhisattva acquaints us with
the following features:

(1) Buddha seated on lion-throne under a bodhi tree which gives a realistic touch
to the presentation of the Master shown as he would have been in actual life.

(2) Seated in Padmasana, with two legs crossed which was a typical yogic posture.

(3) The right hand is held in abhaya-mūdra and the left hand placed on the left leg.
This is an adaptation of the pose of hands, already seen in Yakśa images. The
abhaya mūdra is also entirely an Indian conception.

(4) The hands and feet are marked with Dharmacakra and Triratna symbols. They
 13

form part of the conception of an ideal superman.

(5) On the top of the head, Uṣṇīṣa or raised spiral locks of hairs which are believed
to have left over on the Buddha's head when he cut off his hair. Hair on the head
does not show any curve, as is the case in all images of Gandhāra School. This
type of hair has been called as that of a monk with a shaven head. There is an
Urnā between the eye brows, a circular small whorl of hair.

(6) There is behind the head a plain undecorated halo with a scalloped margin.

(7) The drapery consists of a cloth fastened by a girdle as in the case of early
Yakśa figures. The bust is covered with a saṅghātī which leaves the right shoulder
bare. Only a few folds are shown on the left arm and the shoulder.

(8) The Buddha is attended by a chauri-bearer on either side. These cauri bearers
are dressed like the householders. They have been identified as Indra and Brahma
or Avalokitesvara and Maitreya.

(9) In the upper two corners are shown flying Devas, throwing flowers on the
Buddha.

Each one of the above features, perhaps with the only exception of the halo, is
derived from the Indian religious conceptions, associated with a Yogi or Cakravarti
in general and the Buddha in particular.

In the early iconography, in case of the standing figures a chatra parasol is shown
over the Buddha's head, which was also included in the paraphernalia of the
Cakravarti. The feature of the two cauries and the chatra was already the sign of
royalty in the early art as seen at Bharhut, in the figure of Mandhata: at Bhaja and
at Sanchi. The formula of the Buddha's image seems to have evolved by
combination of the ideal Yogi seated in meditation and the ideal Cakravarti seated
on a siṁhāsana with two chowri-bearer attendants with a chatra held above. In the
case of seated figures, the chhatra seems to have been replaced by the halo.

Thus, It appears that on the strength of the comprehensive basic formula

comprising a good number of traditional Indian elements, the seated and standing
 14

types of Bodhisattva images were perfected in Mathura school of sculpture.

Naturally there were variations in the main types due to the intensive fervent of
religious thoughts and beliefs among the Sarvāstivāda and the Mahāsaṇghika
teachers whose activity was primarily responsible for the origin of the Buddha
image.

 Buddhist art originated in the Indian sub-continent, especially in the eastern part of
the country in the centuries following the life of the historical Gautama Buddha
before evolving through its contact with other cultures and its diffusion through the
rest of Asia and the world.

The corpus of the images and icons, adorning Buddhist architecture or cult images,
presents a composite legacy wherein the older religious institutions and symbols
were assimilated and adopted along with new ones in the gamut of socio-religious
practices and rituals centered around three-dimensional objects and built
structures that became the centre of devotional expression for Buddhists: monks
as well as the laity. In 6 th century BCE, the vast repertoire of existing folk and tribal
cult images and icons (Yakṣa, Naga), the old Brahamanical practice of
representing Vedic deities as cult symbols, along with Buddha’s tactical nod in his
umpteen utterances to the prevalent modes and expressions and religious symbols
seems to have guided the way for the Buddhist monks and laity when it came to
pay homage to the Master during his life time as well as after his mahāparinibbāna.
(end)
i
Benjamin Rowland, Art & Architecture of India. Penguin Books, 1970. p..43.

ii
V.S.Agarwal, Indian Art, p.91.
iii
Ibid, p.91.
iv
Op cit, S.K.Sarswati, p. 26.
v
R.G.Bhandarkar, Vaiśnavism, Śaivism and Minor Religious Systems, p.1. Heliodora's Garuda Pillar, Sanchi 2nd century BCE.
vi
Op Cit., V.S. Agarwal.
vii
Op Cit., V.S. Agarwal: quote from Satapatha Brahamana

viii
Ibid, p. 122.
ix
Śalabhanjika was one such sport that figures predominantly in the bracket figure of Sanchi stupa.
x
Uttarakuru, the mythical land of abundance finds mention in Māhāvaṅija Jataka (Agarwal, p.142). The flowery description of this idyllic
land of Uttarakuru had been received from great antiquity, and is reinforced by the literary tradition recorded in the epic literature and
Puraṇas.
xi
Op cit., A.K. Coomaraswamy, Origin of Buddha Image
xii
Op. Cit., V.S. Agarwal,p.236
xiii
Buddhacharita of Asvaghosa, quoted by V.S. Agarwal, Indian Art, p.239.
xiv
Herman Goetz, Five Thousand Yeas of Indian art, 1964, Bombay, p. 52.

xv
Op. Cit., V.S. Agarwal, Indian Art, p. 113.

xvi
Op Cit, Benjamin Rowland, p. 73.