Iconography of a Chiva at Yankuli Bahar

Cast in India and Donated in Nepal? The case study of the 591 AD Buddha in the Cleveland Museum of Art EASAA Cardiff, 4th-8th July 2016 A metal image depicting a standing Buddha Śākyamuni in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art (1968.40) is generally acknowledged as the earliest metal image from Nepal on the basis of paleographic evidence (Slusser and Vajracharya, 1975/76; von Schroeder, 2001; Pal, 2003). There is, indeed, an inscription on the pedestal supporting the statue that provides precious information: it is dated to 313 of the Śaka Saṃvat, corresponding to 591 AD, and tells that the statue was commissioned by a Nepalese nun who resided in the Kathmandu Valley and meant to be donated to a monastery situated nearby. In this paper, I challenge the assumption that the CMA Buddha originated in Nepal and contend that it was cast in a center of Northeastern India and then brought to the Kathmandu Valley for the purpose of donation. The constructing and decorating methods employed by the artists to produce this image proves to be crucial to uncover the geographical provenance. The medium matters and metal images carry out through their material presence historical and context-bound information. Then, I draw the attention to a cluster of related portable metal images. Among them stands out a Buddha kept in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It looks virtually identical to the CMA Buddha and offers not only a rare term of comparison but allows for further considerations on the production and consumption of metal images in ancient times. The main issues addressed above, i.e. the transfer of an image from one cultural region to another by a pious donor and the existence of a copy, are complementary and have far-reaching implications. Can they help in identifying a popular image-type, highly requested and recognized in different regions? Within this argumentation, the concept of cultural mobility represents an effective theoretical framework for interpreting the phenomena of production and patronization of portable religious icons at the very end of the Gupta period.

The purpose of this article is to identify a sculptural specimen of Khasarpana Avalokitesvara which has been incorrectly identified as Buddha by Sudhir Ranjan Das and the specimen is popularly known as Raghunath or Vishnu. While assigning a date to this specimen on stylistic ground, this Khasarpana Avalokitesvara appears to be similar with the Mahakali specimen of Khasarpana Avalokisvara kept in the National Museum of Bangladesh in Dhaka. Claudine Bautze Picron compared the stylistic features of various images and enabled grouping them within a specific chronological bracket through which the direction of the movement of stone carvers from Bihar to Bengal can be assumed between ninth to twelfth century CE. The Khasarpana Avalokitesvara of Amarkundu helps us bridge the temporal and spatial gap of transmission of stylistic features and understand their variations.

Journal of Bengal Art, Vol.22, pp. 31-40, 2017

Some years ago, I discovered that, besides the well-known representations of different variants of the VajradhatumaJ.l<;lala throughout early Tibetan monuments, and in particular in the monuments of the western Himalayas, there are also a number of Central Tibetan scroll paintings or thang ka closely related to the Vajradhatumal).<;lala. These paintings are part of a series of at least five, where each is dedicated either to the centre or a quarter of the mandala. As the main deities on these paintings are the five Tathagatas or Jinas of the five Buddha families, the relevant thang ka have generally not been identified precisely and differentiated from other depictions of the five Jinas. 2 As I have briefly noted in the case of the first example of such a painting that I discovered and published in a review article (Luczanits 2001: 137-38), when seeing a thang ka dedicated to one of the Jinas, one has to differentiate between those paintings that depict the five Tathagatas with the secondary Bodhisattvas displayed symmetrically and with only the standing Bodhisattvas individualized, and those where all secondary Bodhisattvas clearly convey an iconographic meaning by being individualized. While thang ka of the former type may be described as 'Five Jina Thang ka', those of the second type have to be identified by the more general subject depicted.

2016

Shastric Traditions in Indian Arts, ed. A.L. DALLAPICCOLA in collaboration with C. WALTER-MENDY and S. ZINGEL-AVÉ LALLEMANT, Beiträge zur Südasienforschung 125 (University of Heidelberg), Stuttgart: Steiner, 1989, pp. 35-50

The stone images recovered at Kurkihär have not so far been dated prior to the 9th c.r Dating remains in a general way problematic and does not often result from a precise analysis, i.e. with reference to securely dated material, but reflects rather, the author's feelings as can be seen from the various dates proposed for each of the images.2 The study of the production at Kurkihär until now was based on a selection of the images3 without an explanation of the criteria which determined the selection. Thus, a systematic survey of the material has not yet been done-as is also the case for other archaeological sites of the area. Our approach differs inasmuch as it does not select some images and reject others. Since the production is ahundantn a careful study of the whole corpus lies beyond the limits of the present article. Criteria must be introduced which help to classify the material. Such a classification results in the constitution of limited groups which can be more easily considered. The two criteria of stylistic evolution (and its chronology) and of iconography have been used.

Across the South of Asia: A Volume in Honor of Professor Robert L. Brown, edited by Robert DeCaroli and Paul A. Lavy, 2019

This study statistically sorts the iconography of bronze and stone sculptures from Nalanda, Kurkihar, Antichak, and Ratnagiri. The 750+ sculptures considered reveal some broad patterns of image production and sheds light on the importance of tantric or Vajrayana imagery at these sites.

Majumdar, Susmita Basu (ed.), Transcending Boundaries, Premodern Cultural Transactions across Asia. Essays in Honour of Osmund Bopearachchi. Delhi: Primus Books, pp. 309–331, 2024

Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology , 2023

This paper examines the Buddhist art (rock-carved image of Pañcatathāgatas) at Padum Zanskar, a prominent Buddhist site there. Located in the Himalayas, this region has long been a centre of spiritual and cultural significance. Buddhist art of Zanskar which mostly consisted of murals, thangkas, and monastic architecture in form of monasteries, also consists of rich visual imagery in the form of stone carvings that reflects the region's rich heritage and serves as a testimony to the harmonious coexistence of different cultural influences. Drawing upon historical, religious, and artistic perspectives, this paper deals with the significance of rock-carved image of Pañcatathāgatas at Zanskar, examining its theme, art, and the underlying spiritual expressions that make it an exceptional manifestation of Buddhist culture of Zanskar region.

3-credit course on Himalayan Buddhist Art and Architecture offered by Sikkim Central University, 2018

This is a 3 Credit Certificate Course offered by Sikkim Central University, conducted at Namgyal Institute of Tibetology, Gangtok, Sikkim, India. This course is designed to give exposure the students to analyze a wide range of artistic creations of Himalayan region of India, Nepal and Tibet by illustrating the influence and integration of scholastic traditions of Buddhism. A part of the course is to study the salient features of Buddhist philosophy and its impact on Himalayan art and culture; the Buddhist ritual practices and their interconnection with visual and performing arts and, the influence of tantric mandala on the development of Buddhist architecture. The course also points to the significance of the conservation of Himalayan Buddhist heritage.

The Cultural Heritage of Nepal, before, during and after the 2015 Earthquakes. Current and Future Challenges, Vajra Books & OCHSPA, Kathmandu, 2018, 2018

This paper was first meant to deal with the study of the Itum Bahāl iconography. This institution is an urban Newar Buddhist monastery whose restoration is in progress as these lines are written. With regard to the recent situation in Nepal the author decided to rather present the notion of iconographic studies as a necessary requirement in the context of an ethic rehabilitation of heritage monuments. Archaeological surveys are also considered as a must, however their practice just " re-entered " the Kathmandu Valley after a long absence.

Journal of Tibetology 四川大学中国藏学研究所 编 vol 22, 2020

In 1994, Ian Alsop's seminal research “The Metal sculpture of the Khaśa Malla Kingdom” provided clear characteristics to define the sculptural style predominant during the 13th and 14th centuries in the Khaśa kingdom, exemplified by several sculptures of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, the goddess Prajñāpāramitā and meditation deities. No sculptures of Buddha were examined in Alsop’s initial study. In the course of my research on the cultural history of Dolpo to prepare Hidden Treasures of the Himalayas, Tibetan Manuscripts, Paintings and Sculptures of Dolpo (Serindia Publications, 2009), subsequent research has yielded sculptures in stone still in-situ in the Karnali basin in western Nepal (the former Khaśa territory) as well as cast sculptures of the Buddha and a lama which share the distinctive aesthetic features Alsop identified as typical of Khaśa workmanship. Some were commissions for patrons in Dolpo, where they eventually graced the altars of both Buddhist and Bonpo monasteries, some were for unidentified patrons in Tibet and Nepal during 13th-14th century. The final example is a 21st century cast sculpture of the Buddha made in the Khaśa style in Kathmandu

From Bhakti to Bon. Festschrift for Per Kvaerne., 2015