The representation of the human form of Buddha is one of the most

enigmatic developments in Buddhism that has changed the course of

narrative of art in India. The discovery of classically inspired images of the
Buddha in Gandhara in North-western India led to their association with
the Indo-Greek rulers of the first century. This discovery led Foucher to
conclude that the image of the Buddha was a Greek invention thus
prompting an artistic revolution in India. His conclusion followed from his
argument that at Sanchi and other early sites, the Buddha was represented
symbolically. This assertion was challenged by the nationalist art historian
Ananda Coomaraswamy who cited a different set of Buddha images
produced in the same period at Mathura.
In the first century CE, northern India was ruled by monarchs of the
Kushana dynasty who were aware of the issues that could arise in an empire
straddling with a wide range of ethnic and cultural boundaries. Under
Kushana patronage, the anthropomorphic image of the Buddha became
popular in art, the earlier preference of a symbolic representation was now
abandoned in favour of embodiment. With far-sightedness and awareness
of cultural differences, the Kushanas sponsored the production of two
distinct types of Buddha image, one in western part of their empire and the
other in the plains of India, the Gandhara and Mathura schools of Art
respectively. One has to also keep in mind the changing nature of the
Buddhist religion during this time.
Gandhara School
Images of the Buddha with youthful features and wavy hair, clad in a
monastic robe draped in heavy classical folds are reminiscent of the
Gandhara School of Art. The images of the Buddha were fashioned in a
local grey schist, using Greco-Roman Apollo type as the model. Thirty two
signs of the Buddha’s superhuman perfection, formulated in the Buddhist
texts, which the artists drew to create a visual lexicon of the Buddha. It is
important to note that due to the aesthetic sensibilities, sculptors disguised
these signs, the ushnisha, a wisdom bump on the head of the crown of the
Buddha was transformed into a curly top-knot and the urna, the curl of hair
rests between his eyebrows is depicted merely as a dot. Additionally, the
artists gave a halo to the Buddha, a sign of divinity. It was commonplace
that the artists deferred to Buddhist sacred texts and depicted the Buddha
in different ways like with a webbed hand.
The Greeks had modelled their gods as examples of perfect male physique
long before Indians began to give humans for their gods. The changeover of
the image of the Buddha was facilitated by the Greco-Roman tradition that
had always been anthropomorphic. The creation of the Buddha image
happened most likely during the reign of Kanishka as confirmed by his
coinage although dated images have not been found.
To understand the origins of this eclectic art, one must look into the legacy
of Alexander the Great and the Seleucid empire. Bactria was an important
Seleucid province until around 250 BC when it broke away to establish
itself as an independent kingdom under Greek governor Diodotus.
Excavations at Bactrian cities like Ai Khanum and Surkh Kotal reveal Greek
colonnades, Corinthian capitals, sculptures and inscriptions. The Kushanas
who had no monumental artistic heritage of their own adopted the
lingering Greek traditions of Bactria when they captured it around 130BC.
The emergence of Gandhara art coincided with the expansion of Buddhist
theology, which accommodated multiple divinities. These, therefore, were
ideal themes for sculpture and painting. As a result, images of Buddhas and
bodhisattvas were popular themes of this school of art, hence it is
sometimes referred to as Graeco-Buddhist art.
Upon encountering Buddhism, the Kushanas adopted it and began building
monasteries and stupas, the style being heavily adopted from its Bactrian
predecessor. The vibrancy of the Gandharan art was also influenced by the
imported craftsmen of the eastern Hellenistic empire and also possibly
from Persia. The Kushana emperors had an eye for the beautiful and were
connoisseurs of art. Excavations at their palace have Begram unearthed
treasures including Roman painted glass goblets, a bronze mask of Silenus
and a weight shaped as Athena from the Mediterranean, items of Chinese
lacquer and ivories of Indian manufacture.
Kanishka was an exemplary Buddhist devotee. He gave the Buddhist world
one of its wonders, the remains of which can be seen in Shahji ki Dheri
today. Miniature models of the Kanishka stupa created as souvenirs for
visiting pilgrims are conveyors of its erstwhile splendour.
Most of the sculptures of the Buddha made in the Gandhara style have
similar features.The facial features and curly/ wavy hair, muscular body,
and finely delineated folds and pleats of robes are the major elements of the
Graeco-Roman influence. Standing Buddha images are very common. Most
of the standing Buddha images of the Gandhara school have the following
features: the Buddha is barefoot and his robe covers both shoulders; his left
hand seems to be holding his robe; his right hand is raised in the
protection-granting gesture or abhaya mudra; his curly hair is piled on top
of his head in a knot or ushnisha; a halo encircles his head; and his
elongated earlobes recall his early life as a prince, when they were weighed
down by ear ornaments.
In addition to these, there are also seated Buddha images. The gestures or
mudras of these figures include the dharmachakra mudra or teaching
posture and the dhyana mudra or meditative pose. Some of the Buddha
images have a moustache. Interestingly, in this school of art, Greek gods are
shown paying obeisance to the Buddha. Another fascinating, unique
example of Gandharan art is the image of the emaciated Buddha.
Apart from Buddha figures, the Gandhara school also produced bodhisattva
images. The figure of Maitreya with a vase in his left hand seems to have
been a popular theme and so was Avalokiteshvara or Padmapani who holds
a lotus. The bodhisattva figures, unlike the Buddha images, were usually
heavily ornamented and had elaborate hairstyles and/or turbans. Some of
them wear sandals and sport moustaches. The Gandhara artists depicted
incidents connected with the present and past lives of the Buddha in their
sculptures and relief panels. However, they handled the themes differently
from the artists of the early Buddhist sites of central India and Andhra.
Thus, for example, in the Gandhara reliefs, the Buddha‘s birth is
represented by his mother, Maya, grasping the boughs of a sal tree, with the
child emerging from her right side or standing near her foot. Indra is shown
receiving the baby with his attendants.
Other popular themes of the Gandhara sculptures and relief panels are the
yaksha king, Panchika, and his consort, Hariti. Panchika was associated
with wealth and Hariti, according to Buddhist tradition, was a yakshi who
was transformed from a child devourer to a protector of children by the
Buddha‘s intervention.
Gandharan architects moved away from stupa of large circumference
surrounded by railing such as those at Sanchi and Amaravati, their
emphasis instead was on verticality. Stupas consisted of a series of tall
square bases upon which rested a small circular dome. Railings were
eliminated and the stupa was situated within a rectangular court yard
enclosed by a row of shrines containing Buddha images, mostly clad in
monastic robes but also portrayed as a price before departure from the
palace. The bodhisattava or the Buddha to be was visualised as handsome
figure sporting a twirled moustache, clad in elaborate turban rich jewellery
and elegant clothes.
Narrative relief panels narrating the life of the Buddha were placed along
the base of the main stupa of a monastery and occasionally around votive
stupas erected in the monastic compound.
As the Buddha image gained popularity, narrative reliefs increasingly gave
way to epiphanic presentation in which the figure of Buddha is enlarged
beyond all proportions to the other players in the story. Occasionally, the
free large standing Buddha image takes over totally from the narrative.
The dating of the Gandharan Art is a vexed problem. Dated images are few
and scholars have variously applied those dates to the Old Saka era (122
BC) and the eras of Kanishka II (177AD). In addition, there is the theory of
the dropped 100s. It can be said with certainty that Hellenistic imagery
became prominent during the first century AD and some of the finest
Gandharan images belong to the second and third centuries.
Some art historians believe that the Gandhara school registered very little
stylistic change over time. However, it is possible that such changes did
occur but have not been properly identified. It has also been pointed out
that Gandhara art should not be taken as a uniform style due to the diverse
influences affecting it and that it should be analysed keeping this in mind.
Mathura school
Mathura emerged as a major centre of artistic activity during the Kushana
period. It was one of the prominent cities of north India, being the southern
capital of the Kushanas and an important centre of crafts, trade, religious
activity and artistic production. The Mathura school set the pace for much
of the artistic style in north India and images made here were exported to
other cities like Kaushambi, Ahichchhatra, and Sarnath, and even up to
Mahasthangarh in the east. The sculptors of this school used red sandstone
quarried at Sikri.
There are stylistic similarities as well as variations between the Gandhara
and Mathura schools of art. The sculptures share iconographic similarities
but the style is different in that the Mathura school is wholly indigenous
and shows no trace of foreign influence. It can, in fact, be seen as a
furtherance of the sculptural traditions of Besnagar, Sanchi and Bharhut.
Moreover, the craftsmen of Mathura were particularly skilled at
free-standing sculptures.The themes of the Mathura school of art are
varied, including yakshas, yakshis, nagas, nagis, Buddhas, bodhisattvas,
Jaina tirthankaras and Hindu deities.
A massive image of the Buddha found at Sarnath is considered to be typical
of the Mathura style. There are, in addition, separate images of the
bodhisattvas, especially Maitreya, Vajrapani and Avalokiteshvara. The
Mathura school also produced narratives from the Buddha‘s life. The
Mathura school also produced a large number of Jaina images that were
found at Kankali Tila. These include a pillar fragment with four standing
tirthankaras carved on its sides. In addition, there is a seated tirthankara
image with its head broken. There is some similarity between the
tirthankara images and those of the Buddha. Both sets have long earlobes
and some of them share an auspicious mark called urna between the brows.
The differences lie in their nudity, the emblems on their chests, and their
postures, gestures and attributes.
Along with Buddhist and Jaina images, the Mathura school also established
the iconographic traits of the images of Hindu deities in the early centuries
AD. Stone sculptures of Shiva, Vishnu, Surya, Durga and Lakshmi have
been discovered in Mathura. A seated Surya image from Kankali Tila shows
West Asian influence in his moustache, tunic, boots and ringed crown.
Shaiva images represent the god either in anthropomorphic or in aniconic
(linga) form, as well as in mukha-lingas and vigraha-lingas. An
architectural fragment found at Bhuteshvara near Mathura shows a Shiva
linga under a tree, surrounded by a railing and worshipped by winged
creatures.
Other early Shiva images from this area show him alone or with the Nandi
bull or, alternatively, with his consort Parvati. Shiva is also represented in
different forms such as the Chaturvyuha Shiva (Shiva with his three
emanations), Ardhanarishvara (the god who is half woman) and Harihara
(a combination of Vishnu and Shiva).
When one turns to Vaishnava images, there is a tremendous increase in the
number and variety produced in the Mathura area in this period. In fact,
Mathura was the most important centre of Vaishnava art. There are many
independent images of Vasudeva Krishna and of Vishnu—four-armed, on
garuda and in boar incarnation form. Besides these, there are kinship triads
of Vasudeva Krishna with his brother, Baladeva, and their sister,
Ekanamsha. The idea of the chaturvyuha (the four emanations of Vishnu)
crystallized in the late Kushana period. A colossal Narayana image found at
Mathura deserves to be noted here specially. Goddesses, too, form an
important part of the Hindu pantheon in the Mathura school. Apart from
nameless female deities, Matrikas and yakshis, there are images of Lakshmi
and Durga. Among the notable figures is a beautiful image, identified as
Shri-Lakshmi, which stands on two lotus buds that emerge out of a jar of
plenty (purna ghata). Mathura was also the centre of exquisite terracottas
in the period c. 200 BC-AD 300. These pieces of art display a great variety
of decorative motifs.
Please supplement with a suitable conclusion