Eastern Indian School of Mediaeval Sculpture c8.s2.1

c8.s2.1

The Eastern School of Mediæval Sculpture flourished at a period when Hinduism had revived and Buddhism very distinctly degenerated. By imbibing Tāntrika ideals and incorporating a number of deities, which very roughly correspond to similar personifications of abstract qualities in the orthodox Hindu or Brahmanical pantheon, the later Mahāyānic Buddhists of the Eastern provinces created a vast pantheon of their own. A number of deities belonging to the regular Brahmanical pantheon were introduced into Mahāyānic worship but they were always relegated to a subordinate position. In this period the identification of Mahāyāna with the Tantras was almost completed and even now we find names of Buddhist gods and goddesses such as Amoghasiddhi and Akṣobhya, Pāṇḍarā and Kurukullā in very orthodox Hindu Tantras. Buddha is very often mentioned by name in many of the Tāntrika works and the sage Vasiṣṭha is said to have worshipped Buddha in order to obtain insight into the cult of Tārā. The mass of Tāntrika literature still extant, remains to be carefully analysed and our knowledge of the line of demarcation between the Buddhist and Hindu Tantras is still very imperfect. With the decrease in the number of Tāntrika Brāhmaṇas it has indeed become very difficult for us to understand the Tāntrika works and its mystic symbolism.