RECAP: Kushan Buddha Styles: Mathura vs.

Gandhara
Gupta Period, 4th-7th C.:

• Golden Age of the arts

• Prosperous era
• Marks peak & decline of
Buddhism in India
• Buddhism & Buddha
image exported to
other Asian countries
• Mathura & Sarnath are
major artistic centers
Note
locations of
Mathura &
Sarnath
Gupta period
Mathura
Buddhas, 5th C.

Increased
abstraction of
image to
create a divine
being
-use of
patterns &
geometrical
shapes helps
abstract form
-stocky
physique, full
of prana

sanghati
(monastic robe)
 -further
abstraction of
form to reflect
a transcendent
being
-attempt to
capture
features
described in
written texts
-mandorla
(body halo)
-abhaya &
varada
mudras

Gupta Buddhas, Sarnath, 5th -6th C.

Note progression in abstraction from Kushan to Gupta
Head of
Buddha,
Sarnath, late
5th C.

Abstraction of
image
according to
literary
sources &
references to
nature
Contrast Gupta Buddha from Sarnath vs. Kushan from Gandhara
Buddha Teaching,
Sarnath, 5th C. Gupta
Ajanta, 1st C. BCE-9th C. CE
Ajanta Caves (Gupta period most important)
• 29 rock-cut cave sanctuaries ranging from 1st C BCE to 9th C CE
• Comprise chaitya halls & viharas (monks’ quarters)
• Gupta period structures are elaborate, based on imitating
free-standing architecture
• Stupas in chaityas larger & adorned with sculpture, especially
image of Buddha seated or standing
• Gupta interiors replicate a divine celestial realm
• Earliest surviving examples of Indian wall paintings preserved
in a fresco technique – painting on a plastered surface
• Padmapani (“lotus in hand”), a form of the great bodhisattva
of supreme mercy & compassion Avalokiteshvara (“one who
looks down” on others with compassion), is a notable
example of Gupta-period painting from a vihara in Cave 1 at
Ajanta
viharas – monks’ living quarters
Chaitya, Cave 19, 5th C.
Fresco technique – pigment applied to plaster
Padmapani in situ at Cave 1, Ajanta
Padmapani (Avalokiteshvara),
Cave 1, vihara, c. 500
Padmapani (Avalokiteshvara), bodhisattva of
supreme mercy & compassion
Chaitya, 1st C.
BCE cave,
Ajanta

-simple
interior typical
of early
chaityas
Chaitya, Cave
26, Ajanta,
late 5th C.

-Gupta
chaityas
elaborate
-replicate a
celestial realm
-stupas
enlarged to
accommodate
Buddha
images
Cave 19, Ajanta, 6th C.
 Jainism
Founder: Mahavira,
6th-5th BCE

Tirthankara: “ford
crosser”
“jina” – “victor”
over samsara

• Note shrivatsa
mark on chest
• Nude – complete
renunciation
Jina, Mathura, 2nd-3rd C.
Jina, from
Mathura, Gupta,
c. 500

kayotsarga pose:
Standing in
meditative “body
abandonment”
Bahubali,
Jain saint
10th C. from
Dharmasthala
Developments in East Asia – 1st-6th Centuries
China: Buddhism becomes
popular 4th-6th C., Northern
Wei Dyn.

Yungang caves
Colossal Buddha Shakyamuni, cave 20, late 5th C.
Painted Tile with figures, Han Dyn., 1 st C.
Reflects Confucian standards of conduct - li
 Korea – Three Kingdoms period

Crown, c. 5th-6th C.; Bird Vessel, c. 2nd-3rd C.

Introduction of Buddhism in 4th C.
Style & iconography from China
Japan: Shinto shrine sites develop; dedicated to
kami, spirits that animate nature
Ise Jingu Shrine,
dedicated to
Amaterasu, sun
goddess & ancestor of
the Imperial family
Kofun or Old Tomb period, 3rd-6th C.
Tomb of Emperor Nintoku
Haniwa figures found on
exterior of tomb mounds
Buddhism introduced mid 6th C.
Horyu-ji temple, near Nara
Shaka Triad,
Horyu-ji

-style based on
Chinese models
Buddhist Art in Sri Lanka
Maha Bodhi Tree compound, Anuradhapura
Maha Bodhi Tree, Sri Lanka, planted in 249 BCE
Ruvanveli Stupa (“Gold Dust Stupa”),
Anuradhapura, 1st C. BCE
• Slightly bell-
shaped body
• Prominent
block-shaped
harmika
• Tapered spire
for chattra
• These
features will
influence
stupas in SE
Asia
Simplified surface vs. stupas in southern India
Parinirvana of the Buddha, Gal Vihara,
near Polonnaruva, 12th C.
Buddha, Met,
c. 10th-11th C.

Note flaming
ushnisha