Eastern Indian School of Mediaeval Sculpture c7.2

c7.2

One of the most important features of the eastern school of mediæval sculpture, during the period of its existence, from the middle of the eighth century A.D. to the end of the twelfth, is the evolution of a particular style in which artists of the eastern provinces of Northern India represented scenes from the life of Buddha. The north-eastern provinces of India, specially Bengal with all its constituent parts (northern, central, eastern, southern and western), remained, for the most part, Buddhist in faith, even after the disappearance of Buddhism as a dominant religion from other parts of India. The artists of this part of India devoted their ingenuity to the discovery of new forms of the representation of the important incidents of the life of the great Master. Their efforts have come down to us in two different styles. There may have been other styles also, but the destruction of all ancient Buddhist structures in Bengal and Bihar has made it extremely difficult, at present, to ascertain whether the styles, specially in basreliefs, of the older schools of Gāndhāra, Mathurā and Benares, were continued in north-eastern India in the early mediæval age or not. Sufficient evidence, however, has been discovered to prove that the artists of the eastern school of mediæval sculpture evolved at least two entirely different styles for the representation of incidents of the life of the Master. These two different styles, however, were adaptations of the basreliefs, with which students of ancient Indian art are familiar in the older schools of sculpture, such as Gāndhāra, Mathurā, Amarāvatī and Benares. These two different modes of representation of the incidents of the life of Buddha are also to some extent alike. In the first mode we find an image of Buddha representing one particular incident of the Master's life surrounded by numerous other images or small basreliefs, representing either particular incidents or the majority of the important incidents. This particular class of basreliefs therefore can be sub-divided into two other groups. In the first group are included those specimens which are surrounded by the majority of the incidents of the Master's life and in the second group we find that the main figure represents one particular incident of the Master's life, while on the backslab seven other principal incidents are portrayed. The second mode consists of the representation of a single incident of Buddha's life in the form of an image. The beginnings of both of these styles are to be found in the Benares school of sculpture. Thus, an image dedicated by a Buddhist elder named Bandhugupta, discovered in the first excavation of Sarnath in 1904-05, represents the Buddha seated on a rocky throne in the attitude of touching the earth (*bhūmisparśa-mudrā*), while in front of the pedestal a female is to be seen rushing upwards with a vase or jar in her hand¹. In this particular image is represented the incident of the enlightenment of Buddha, his call on the Earth-goddess to witness his perfection and her response to the call of the Master. In the basreliefs of the Benares School this particular incident is very often combined with the defeat of the legions of Māra, who are seen either assailing the Master or flying after their defeat. The difference between the basreliefs and the new style of representation consists in having an image proper in the centre, which is made much larger in comparison with the attendant figures.