Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c13.s5.68

c13.s5.68

Our attention is divereted to a class of Buddha images made of the usual Mathura red sandstone but which show such features that are typical of the Gandhāra school. For example, there are some Buddha images having moustaches and amulet string (*rakṣāsūtra*) and being seated on a high cane chair, shown wearing Greek sandals. The presence of the moustaches on the face of the Buddha does not fit in with the Indian tradition. It seems to have been a feature borrowed from the Hellenistic images. The presence of the amulet string again points to the borrowing from the west, viz. Iran. There the goddess Atargate was endowed with a conspicuous amulet string. With the growth of Tantrism and the belief in the magical mantras in Buddhism even during the Kushāṇa period, it seems reasonable that in some of the images of the Buddha, which were most probably developed or formulated under the auspices of the special Buddhist sects or schools, the amulet string became a prominent sign in the iconography of the Master's figure. For example, the Bodhisattva image found at Ganesrā village in Mathura district is for all practical purposes identical with the Katra Bodhisattva image. But the former had also an amulet string on the chest. [Fig. 152].