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), 2 nd to 3 rd 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), 2 nd 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