Art of India and Southeast
Asia
The Great Stupa (Sanchi, India) completed first
century CE
Siddhartha Gautama/ Buddhism/ nirvana/ stupa/ path at the base of the dome/
symbols of the Buddha’s presence/ cosmic diagram of
the world mountain/ toranas
Use of sensuous figures (yakshi)
harmika/ yasti/chatras
Roman copy of the omphalos from
Delphi
The Enlightenment from the west gateway of the Great Stupa (Sanchi, India), c. 50-25 BCE
The Great Departure, the east gateway of the Great Stupa
The Great Departure, the east gateway of the Great Stupa
Interior of chaitya hall (Karli, India) c. 100
Section (left) and plan (right) of chaitya hall at Karli
Seated Buddha from Gandhara (Pakistan),
2nd to 3rd century, stone
a new image of the Buddha/ bhakti/
dukha and the Four Noble Truths/ bodhisattvas/
lakshanas/ ushnisha/ urna/ three bodies of Buddha/ asceticism/
Greco-Roman influence
The Four Great Miracles (Gandhara), 2nd century, schist
Seated Buddha preaching the first
sermon, from Sarnath (India) fifth century CE
Halo and the Bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya/ Deer Park near Sarnath/ strong degree of
abstract idealism found in the Gupta style/
mudra/ dharma/ long-lobed ears/ broad shoulders and thin waist/ image of a
yaksha
Left: Abhaya-mudra (granting protection to devotees and dispelling fear)
Right: Varada-mudra (denotes a deity’s charity, or power to grant a wish or fulfill a vow)
Left: Dhyana-mudra (denotes intense concentration during meditation)
Right: Dharmacakra-mudra, the “turning of the Wheel of the Law” (gesture of teaching)
Left: Vitarka-mudra (denotes exposition or argument, another form of teaching)
Right: Vajra-mudra (symbolizes the supreme widsom of Adi-Buddha (Vairocana), especially in
his Japanese manifestation as Dai Nichi; also symbolizes a mystical sexual union for Tantric
adepts)
Left: Bhumisparsha-mudra, or “touching the earth,” (most common in Thailand, a gesture
made at the point of Enlightenment)Right: Anjali-mudra (symbol of supplication or
adoration)
Shiva as Mahadeva in
rock-cut temple (Elephanta, India), sixth
century
Shiva as Mahadeva/
three colossal faces with three
different expressions
Garbha griha at Elephanta
garbha griha/ linga
Vishnu Temple (Deogarh, India),
early sixth century
Hinduism/ Brahma/ Vishnu/ use of
Hindu temple as a residence for a god/ darsan/
purusha/ mandala/ more sculptural
than architectural/ sikhara
Vishnu Reclining on the Serpent
of Eternity (Deogarh), early
sixth century
Vastupurushamandala
32 padadevatas (divinities in the square borders)/ nakshatras/ Brahmasthana
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