Essay name: Buddhist iconography in and outside India (Study)
Author:
Purabi Gangopadhyay
Affiliation: University of Calcutta / Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture
This work aims to systematically present the development and expansion of Mahayana-Vajrayana Buddhist iconography from India to other countries, such as China, Korea, and Japan. This study includes a historical account of Indian Buddhist iconography and the integration of Brahmanical gods into the Mahayana-Vajrayana phase.
Chapter 1: Introduction (History of Indian Culture)
18 (of 18)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
i
- 18 -
When compared to the Indian Buddhist (and also Brahmanical)
iconography we shall see that many aspects in the forms and
features of the Buddhist icons have been broadly retained in
China, Korea and Japan. On the other hand, we shall also
observe that a great deviation has taken place in giving the
shape and form of a large number of deities. In the Buddhist
pantheon of Japan there are also some such deities or demi-
gods or malevolent beings included liberally and those deities
were given anthropomorphic forms that reflect in many cases
a rich imagination of the sculptors or painters and their skill
of delineation or depiction.
L
