Iconography Buddhist and Hindu

It is a treasure document enlightening the various stages of development of Mathura art from its earliest times. Introducing the socio-cultural background from the pre-historic times it furnishes a valuable account of the archaeological explorations and expeditions in the region since the first antiquity saw the light of the day in 1836. Indigenous by birth, the Mathura School of Art flourished on the banks of Yamuna, reached its pinnacle under the Kushana patronage, continued in the Gupta age followed by…

Beginning with a few aniconic symbols, like foot prints, a throne, the Bo tree or stupas, in the prechristian Indian art, Buddhism came to evolve a variety of picturesque representations of a Self-Existent, Superimmanent Principle: in myriad forms and emanations that range from the superbly magnificent to sheerly grotesque. Endowed with diverse iconographic attributes, Buddhist deities/saints/demons have grown, over the rolling centuries, into bewildering numbers, legions. Which all, leave alone the neophytes, not even the best of scholars can recognize!…

Man has, from times immemorial, exhibited a striking predilection for symbols. Which, through written words, drawings, sculptures or other visual/iconographic representations, seem to have shaped much of mankind’s culture. From the simplest, yet eloquent, drawings on the walls of the prehistoric caves, through the sophistication of Egyptian imagery, the sculptural embroidered wealth of a Khajuraho, or the convoluted elegance of a Mannerist painting — all interweave iconographic imagery so inextricably into their very core that, without its visual/didactic richness, these…

The worship of Saptamatrika; the seven Mother Goddesses (or the seven Saktis, the divine feminine powers), is over a millennia and half old, pan-Indian phenomenon. And, over the centuries, the Matrika concept has come to have varied ideational, literary, visual and ritualistic manifestations — which not just interconnect the totality of Brahmanical and non-Brahmanical religious traditions, but are integral components of the diverse historical processes of Indian society.

Maitreya is not just one of the myriad divinities of the Buddhist pantheon; he is revered by the devout as the Buddha of the fifth world cycle, the Ultimate Buddha, the Much-Awaited Deliverer, who (like Kalki — a would-be incarnation of Visnu in Hinduism) will descend on the earth, in human form, sometime in the distant future and lead people to both enlightenment and the final nirvana. The cult of Maitreya, however, goes as far back as to the second…

The Hindu pantheon is a bewildering profusion: a mix of deities, demons, and heroes, which perplexes not only the neophytes, but even the best of scholarly minds. Yet, despite the multitude of its divinities, Hinduism is not a polytheistic religion. Worshipped over countless generations in innumerable homes and temples, these deities are, in affect, likened to the many facets of a single crystal — concretizing, as they do, the basic Hindu world view of an Ultimate Spirituality that is implicit…

This work is a well-researched attempt to analyse the Vaishnava iconography of Orissa which is unique in that there are to be found an overwhelming number of Vishnu images in the region despite paucity of Vishnu temples and inscriptional evidence suggesting royal patronage. Dr. Donaldson here undertakes a detailed study under four heads: Vaishnava iconography proper including Hari-Hara and other composite images and those of Vishnus female consorts; images of Vishnu in his different avataras; depiction of Balarama, Krishna and…

Beginning with a few aniconic symbols, like footprints, the Bo tree or stupas, in the pre-christian Indian art, Buddhism, over the centuries, came to evolve a be-wildering array of deities — in ever-increasing number of pantheons. Interestingly, in Buddhism today, there are perhaps as many pantheons as there are countries, or internal regions or sects within them. Chou Fo Pu-sa sheng Hsiang Tsan, in focus here, is one of these many Buddhist pantheons and acknowledgedly the culmination of Lamaist art.…

In the Hindu world-view, Shakti is the Mother of the Universe: the highest primal power. She is, accordingly, the all-pervading, intagible energy principle that propels the cosmos and its endless human dimensions with the life-throbs of activity and culture. Many are her songs, countless her stories, numerous her names. Worship of Shakti, as a pan-Indian phenomenon, predates Sanskritic influences of every kind. Combining his extensive fieldwork with diverse published and unpublished sources: archaeological, historical and religious, Francesco Brighentis study traces…

The emergence of Tantrism and Shaktism in the sixth-seventh centuries in ancient India symbolised a belief in fertility worship, worship of the female principle with the Devi/Goddess supreme as the Energy/Power — the substance of everything, pervading everything. In Orissa in particular, the shakta/tantra cults played a major role in the religion and culture of the region and this is testified by its many temples and sculptural wonders therein. In this work, Prof. Donaldson presents a rich and variegated picture…

Over the rolling centuries, Buddhism and Hinduism, two of the worlds oldest sustained faiths, came to evolve a complex, yet precisely defining, iconic language: not just for figural representations, but for the architectural plans of their temples and monuments as well — a language that allows interpretations of geometric proportions. Here is the first ever effort to brilliantly unravel the iconic idiom involved in the architectural plans of Buddhist and Hindu temples and monuments of India and the Indianized States…

The present monograph is unique in that it, for the first time, extensively treats the subject of Indian temple jalas or grilles together with an in depth discussion in the light of relevant medieval vastushastra passages in Sanskrit on Indian architecture. Besides identification, classification, and description of the different grille types as well as their forms, features, and ornamentation, it investigates their purpose and their relationship with the environment as well as their functional engagement with the building of which…

The book brings out the outstanding features of the palaces, pavilions and residences of the ruling class in medieval India — from the 13th to the 18th century. The focus is on structures that represent a group on religious and ethnic lines, i.e. Hindu/Islamic rulers, Indo-European Hindu or Dravidian Hindu or Afghani or Turk or Iranian rulers, and structures characteristic of particular periods and locales. Presenting some 31 famous buildings including the City Palace of Udaipur and Jaipur and the…

The work explores the physical and emotional interaction between Shiva and Parvati as represented in sculptural works in the Indian subcontinent. In two volumes, it examines a host of images supported by classifications of Shiva-Parvati figures in texts like the Shaiva Agamas and iconographic studies of the past decades. It surveys an astounding sculptural diversity of Shiva-Parvati icons particularly forms of seated or standing Umasahita-murti, standing Alingana murti and Tantric forms of the deities. The images are related not only…

This volume presents the plans of temples, tombs, palaces and pavilions found in the Indian subcontinent and the Indianised states of Java, the Khmer, Pagan, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. They contain detailed diagrams of plans of over 380 structures along with a brief note on each plan that covers the various segments/sections of each monument. The plans are precise and are presented along with their elevations which are proportional, i.e., depict major architectural forms and masses. The monuments covered, of…

The three volumes contain an iconographic analysis and compilation of the over 760 images from the six chapels of the Pao-hsiang Lou (Bao-xiang Lou) in the garden of the Tzu-ning Kung (Palace of Kindness and Tranquillity) in the Forbidden City, Beijing. The pavilion Pao-hsiang Lou, a two-storied simple structure with seven chapels on each floor, holds hundreds of Tibetan Buddhist images of remarkable quality. The volumes present the entire set of images, each reproduced and explained with great clarity. There…

Hardcover Pub. Year: 1996 Aditya Prakashan/48#c, New Delhi Pages, ills, maps etc., vi,438p., (4)pls.(3)col., (1072)ill., ind., 28cm.

Suresh Neotia fell in love with Indian art half a century ago, and developed a passion for appreciating and collecting objects of art. Over the years, his art collection increased and diversified at different places — Kolkata, New Delhi, Mumbai, Ambujanagar and, finally at the Kalamandapa (the Museum) at Jnana-Pravaha, Varanasi, which now houses the major part. The collection is being taken care of by Bimla Poddar under the supervision of Prof. R.C. Sharma, former Director-General of the National Museum…

The Encyclopedia of Hinduism contains over 900 entries reflecting recent advances in scholarship which have raised new theoretical and methodological issues as well as identifying new areas of study which have not been addressed previously. The debate over the term Hinduism in the light of post-Orientalist critiques is just one example of how once standard academic frameworks have been called into question. Entries range from 150-word definitions of terms and concepts to 5,000-word in-depth investigations of major topics. The Encyclopedia…

Beginning with a few aniconic symbols, like footprints, the Bo tree or stupas, in the pre-christian Indian art, Buddhism, over the centuries, came to evolve a be-wildering array of deities in ever-increasing number of pantheons. Interestingly, in Buddhism today, there are perhaps as many pantheons as there are countries, or internal regions or sects within them. Chou Fo P u-sa sheng Hsiang Tsan, in focus here, is one of these many Buddhist pantheons and acknowledgedly the culmination of Lamaist art…