Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c4.21

c4.21

Chapter X, Kushāṇa Art at Mathura, besides giving a factual description of the Mathura Stūpas and sculptures, both Buddhist and Jaina, discusses the important question of the origin of the Buddha image. It shows that all the available evidence of art and literature is in favour of Indian origin in the Mathura School under the overall influence of the religious movement of Bhakti, which touched deeply not only the Bhāgavatas but also the Buddhists and the Jainas. The main line of enquiry persues an analysis of the elements of the Buddha's iconography clearly showing that all the elements, excepting the halo, were rooted in the traditional forms of a *Chakravartī* and a *Yogī* which were combined for producing the Buddha image. Only the halo was borrowed from Iran where it was known as *Hvarr* or the Disk of Divine Glory seen round the head of religious prophets and kings. A special section on Brāhmanical images in Mathura Art has been added for the first time. The other noteworthy feature of this study is the interpretation of the female figures on the railing pillars of Mathura in the light of the different poses and the scenes associated with female garden- and water-sports, of which a detailed list is available in the early Sanskrit Kāvyas and Purāṇas like the Matsya Purāṇa (Chap. 255).