Bodhisattva Maitre

Bodhisattva Maitre

 

Gandhar School,1st Century CE 

        Not only did the Gandhar artist give Lord Buddha a human form, he also increased the Buddhist pantheon. The noble souls who could reach Nirvana, but prefer to stay back in this world, in order to relieve the pain of others--the Bodhisattvas found myriad expressions in the hands of the Gandhar artists. This was crucial for the development of Buddhist art. From Gandhar these sculptures of Bodhisattvas would travel thru China, Korea and Japan. Indian art would become the basis of Asian Art. 
        Bodhisattva Maitre is the future Buddha. He can be recognised easily with his amulets around his neck, and one especially to the side. He stands erect, with his young muscular body draped in dhoti and yards of clothes. He wears a pair of sandles. He appears like a true prince with all his material finery. Yet he is lost to the world, lost in his deep thoughts. His compassion is apparent from his gentle smile, under his moustache, and his half-closed eyes. He is the ideal Man.

Lord Buddha

Lord Buddha

Gandhar School, 1st Century CE

 Unlike the Indian artist, the Greek artist emphasised the muscular structure of the body. Here we see a muscular Lord Buddha under his clothes. The rippling muscles of Greek art is combined with the serenity of Indian art. The 'abhay mudra' ( the gesture of blessing, of assurance, of saying 'fear not') is a typical gesture of Indian iconography. The Gandhar artist beautifully combined the materialism of the West with the spirituality of the East. That is the great achievement of this School of art.

Lord Buddha

Lord Buddha

Gandhar School, 1st Century CE

         Another fine example of an exquisite Lord Buddha. This sculpture is more alive than yesterday's one. Here Lord Buddha looks directly at the devotee. There is one to one relationship between Him and us. It seems as though He is about to speak. The realism of Western Art has given voice and expression to Eastern philosophy and spirituality.

Lord Buddha

Lord Buddha

Gandhar School,1st Century CE. 

 

 

 The Gandhar artist soon fell in love with the lyrical quality of the Indian face: the quite, meditative eyes, the acquiline nose, the bow arched lips, the long ears, the slender neck caught his attention. 

Believing in the Greek philosophy that Man is made in the image of the duvine, the Gandhar artist made Lord Buddha in human image. Till then, Lord Buddha was depicted symbolicly as in Sanchi. Gandhar artist gave Him an anthromorphic form. In fact, the iconography of Hindu art begins with Buddhist art-- a fact we rarely acknowledge. The serenity, the tranquility, the realism of this piece is unsurpassable. To look at this sculpture of Lord Buddha is to realize the Divine, and to feel blessed.

Two Ladies in Conversation

Two Ladies in Conversation

 Gandhar  School, 1st Century  CE

           In the ancient world the fine arts were dedicated  to religion. Thus, the awe inspiring  temples of Egypt,  Greece, India and China. But the Greek artist during  the period of Alexander  the Great started looking at the life around them. They started  depicting  the ordinary  people.
            Here is an instance of two urbane women talking to each other. The flowing robes  cover voluptuous bodies. The women  are so lost in their conversation  that they have forgotten  their own beauty.  They are oblivious  of the world around  them. The conversation  could be from mundane  to sacred.
          Slowly the Gandhar artist will begin to notice the beauty of Indian culture  and of its people.  Already the transition  has started. The voluptuousness of these ladies is more Indian than Greek. Gandhar  will produce the most beautiful  Buddha figures, will capture the humane quality of the Jataka stories, of the life of Buddha. It will give impetus to the Mathura  School and the ancient  Indian art will blossom under the Kushan dynasty.

Panchala and Hariti

Panchala and Hariti

 Gandhar School , 1st Century  AD

              Panchala was the god of wealth; his wife, Hariti was the goddess of food and later  on  she became the goddess of children  and child bearing.   Here the couple  is shown as a  Greek couple.  While he holds a cup of wine, and is offered a purse of money,  she holds a cornucopia, a basket  which supplies endless food. We see two children  (one of them broken  off) spilling water or milk from pots.
              These dieties  will find their way into Buddhist and Hindu iconography.  In Buddhism  they are Kuber and his wife Hariti. In Hinduism Hariti becomes either Annapurna--the goddess of food, or Bal-Lakshmi, the goddess  of children. 
             This sculpture  is  a  fine  example  of  our ability to assimilate  different  cultures.  We grow only when we learn from others.

Heracles--A Greek God

Heracles--A Greek God

1st Century  BCE

           The Greeks  brought  their  gods with them. The army of Alexander  must have worshiped  Heracles as He is the god of physical strength.
           This is a typical Greek sculpture  with its attention  to anatomical  details of the body. Since the Greeks believed  that  God made Man in his own image, and that Man was the center of the universe, the nude body  reflected the Divine spirit. Hence, the importance  of the Nude figures in Western  Art.
           Here Heracles  stands without his lion skin, and holds a club in his hand. Known for his brutish behaviour, He symbolises  the brute force inside all of us--a force we need to civilise.

Portrait of a Child

Portrait  of  a  Child

Gandhar  School, 1st  Century  BCE

            This is a portrait of a small child looking  at the world below. It is most likely  a funerary  figure,  a sculpture  which marks the grave of a small child. This beautiful  looking child must have died  early in life. He is a picture  of innocence.  Having  gathered a bed sheet about him, he looks out at the world from above, from heaven. Or is it a portrait  of an infantile Greek civilization  taking ginger steps in a new part  of  the  world, India?

Comic Mask

Comic Mask

 from Gandhar. 1st Century  BCE. 

             The Greeks  brought their culture with them. To the Greeks theater was an important  source of entertainment.  The Greeks, in fact, were the first one to write tragedies and comodies. This is a comic mask which would have been worn by a male actor for comic relief. One wonders if the comodies of Aristophenes were enacted in Bactria, the Greek kingdom in Afghanistan whose capital was Gandhar?

Portrait of a Philosopher

Portrait of a Philosopher 

1st Century  BCE.

                Alexander the  Great invaded India  in 326 BCE. With him came the Greek  or the Hellinic culture.  The Greeks settled mainly in Afghanistan, and Pakistan. But their kingdoms existed well into India till Madhya Pradesh. They have left a treasure  trove of art and science  in India. Gandhar  School of Art to Yunani Medicine.  The Yavan period and the Kushan period of our history is a period of exchange of ideas, of growth,  of assimilation. 
           This is a typical face of a Greek philosopher: mid-aged, bearded, looking at the world, studying the world. Unlike an Indian Sadhu or a God, the Greek philosopher does not look inward, but outward. His is the empherical mind which seeks data, analysis and conclusion. He imbibes the scientific  temper.
            The Greek  artist believes in realism; in depicting  the figure, the way he/ she is. The emphasis is on the muscles  of the body, the liveliness  of the figure, the here and now. The present is the moment  to be lived, to be enjoyed.