Eastern Indian School of Mediaeval Sculpture c8.s3: III. The Tārās

Eastern Indian School of Mediaeval Sculpture c8.s3

Language: English

III. The Tārās

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The original order of the division of the female deities of Buddhism was a generic classification according to the Dhyānī Buddhas. The introduction of the Tāntrika ideas into Buddhism led to the conception of the female counterparts of the Buddhas (Buddha-śaktis). Such are:—

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(1) Vajradhātviśvarī.
(2) Lochanā.
(3) Māmakī.
(4) Pāṇḍarā.
(5) Āryatārā.

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Later Buddhism added a sixth Dhyānī Buddha to this group, viz., Vajrasattva, and his female energy is entitled Vajrasattvātmikā. The remaining goddesses are divided into seven classes according to their spiritual ancestors, the Dhyānī Buddhas as follows:—

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I. Emanations of Amitābha: Kurukullā, Bhr̥kuṭī and Mahāsitavatī. II. Emanations of Akshobhya: Parṇaśavarī, Prajñāpāramitā, Vajracharchikā, etc.

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Under this heading mention should be made of a rare specimen in the collection of the Varendra Research Society. The figure is inscribed with the word "Charchikā" on the back slab. It has been included by the compilers of the catalogue of this institution under the species "D. Śakta images"¹. The similarity between the Sādhana of Vajracharchikā quoted by Mr. Bhattacharyya and this figure is remarkable. The Vajracharchikā possesses three eyes in one head, is seated in the ardha-paryaṅka posture, on a dead body, is emaciated, wears a garland of human skulls and possesses six hands. She holds a thunderbolt, a sword and a wheel in the right hands, while a human skull-cup, a jewel and a lotus are held in the left hands. The specimen in the Rajshahi Museum is seated in the ardha-paryaṅka posture, on a dead body, is emaciated and possesses three eyes in one head. It differs from the Vajracharchikā in the absence of the Dhyānī Buddha Akshobhya on the head-dress and in some of the symbols; because it holds a sword, a thunderbolt and a skull-cup in the right hands, while a trident, a shield and human head are held in the left hands².

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¹ A Catalogue of the Archæological relics in the Museum of the Varendra Research Society, 1919, p. 16, No. D (d) 101, 280.

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² See pl. LVIII c.

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III. Emanations of Vairochana: Mārīchī, Uṣṇīṣavijayā, etc. The most important specimen in this class is Mārīchī. She is the Buddhist goddess of Dawn and Fecundity and possesses a number of different forms:—

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(a) Aśōkakāntā, (b) Ārya-Mārīchī, (c) Mārīchī-pichuvā or Saṅkṣipta-Mārīchī, (d) Ubhaya-varāhānanā-Mārīchī, (e) Vajradhātviśvarī-Mārīchī, and (f) Daśabhujāsita-Mārīchī.

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The most common form is that of the Mārīchī with eight hands. The gradual evolution of the abnormal forms can be traced in the Sādhanas.

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Originally she had only one head and two hands. Such is the Aśōkakāntā and the Ārya-Mārīchī. The abnormal forms are those with three, five and six heads; six, eight and twelve hands. The eight-armed form of Mārīchī was identified by M. Foucher in 1905¹. A specimen discovered in Nālandā and I. M. No. 6268 are exactly similar. In the case of the latter a human bust appears on the pedestal between the seven sows².

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¹ Étude, etc., 2eme partie, fig. 7.

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² See pl. XLII c-d.

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Among the other abnormal forms the type called Ubhaya-Varāhānanā Mārīchī in the Sādhanas is represented in the Indian Museum collection (I. M. No. 6267)³. In this case the heads on the sides are those of a boar. The Sādhanas describes a particular variety of this Mārīchī with two hands only:—

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³ See pl. XII b.

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Mārīchī-rūpēṇa ātmānaṁ vichintayet rakta-vastrāṁ dvibhujāṁ lalita-vyāghra-charmma-nivasanāṁ uddha-(ūrddhva)-jaṭāṁ rakta-mukuṭinī-trimukhīṁ ubhaya-varāhānanāṁ.
—Ms. A. S. B. Ga. 8059, fol. 158 obv.

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The specimen in the Indian Museum possesses six hands and is in the ālīḍha posture as opposed to the pratyālīḍha of the regular Mārīchī figure. The objects held in the hands are:—

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This group includes Uṣṇīṣavijayā, a splendid specimen of which the twelfth century A.D. was identified by M. Foucher in 1905⁴.

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⁴ Étude, etc., 2eme partie, p. 86, fig. 6; Buddhist Iconography, p. 100, pl. XXXI c. See pl. XLII a.

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IV. Emanations of Amoghasiddhi: Khadiravani-tārā, Vaśyatārā, etc.

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V. Emanations of Ratnasambhava: Mahāpratisarā, Vasudhārā, etc.

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VI. Emanations of the five Dhyānī Buddhas: Prajñāpāramitā, Vajratārā, etc. A fine metal figure of the Vajratārā was discovered at Patharghata in the Bhagalpur District and identified by M. Foucher in 1905⁵. A second metal specimen has been collected for the Dacca Museum⁶ but the Curator, Mr. Nalinikanta Bhattasali, thinks that the specimen does not correspond to the Sādhana of the Vajratārā of the class of the emanations of the five Dhyānī Buddhas.

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⁵ Étude, etc., pp. 70-72; Buddhist Iconography, pp. 123-26, pl. XXXVI (b). See pl. LXXII a-b.

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⁶ See pl. LXXII c-d.

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VII. Under the heading “Emanations of four Dhyānī Buddhas” Mr. Bhattacharyya places another form of Vajratārā⁷.

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⁷ Buddhist Iconography, pp. 129-30.

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Among independent deities are to be found Vajraśāradā, a specimen of which was discovered at Nālandā⁸, Sarasvatī, Aparājitā, etc. The subordination of the deities of the orthodox Hindu pantheon is to be found in the inclusion of Sarasvatī¹ and Gaṇapati² among the Sādhanas.

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⁸ Ibid., pp. 151-52, pl. XL c. See pl. XL b.

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¹ *Étude, etc.*, 2*eme* partie, *pp.* 89-90.

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² *Buddhist Iconography*, *p.* 142.

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It will be evident from the detailed examination of the inscribed specimens in the Indian Museum in Chapter III above that among them, the majority of the Buddhist images of the eighth and ninth centuries belonged to the cult of Lōkanātha or Lōkēśvara. Images of the Śaktis or Tārās are present, but they are very few in number. We do not find any images from this period which may be delegated to the Tāntrika forms of Mahāyāna Buddhism, *e.g.*, Mantrayāna or Kālachakrayāna. Outside the Indian Museum, such images belonging to the first period of the activity of the Eastern School of Mediæval Sculpture, *i.e.*, the eighth and ninth centuries, are altogether absent in the great Buddhist centres of Bodh Gaya, Kurkihar and Nālandā. In fact the recent excavations at Nālandā have not yielded even a single Tāntrika Buddhist image which can be safely relegated to the eighth and ninth centuries A.D. Tāntrika forms of Buddhism may have existed in the eighth and ninth centuries in the eastern provinces of Northern India, but it is extremely doubtful whether their tenets had become sufficiently popular to ensure public worship of their peculiar images in or near famous shrines or noted sacred places of Buddhism. The earliest form of Buddhist Śaktis is the ordinary Tārā, *i.e.*, the Sita or the Mahattarī Tārā. In the Indian Museum the only specimens of this period are Nos. 3820³ and 5862⁴.

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³ See *pl.* IX *c*.

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⁴ See *pl.* X *c*.

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In the second period of activity of the Eastern School of Mediæval Sculpture, *i.e.*, in the ninth and tenth centuries A.D., Buddhist Tāntrika images make their appearance for the first time. We find a larger number of Tārās and different forms of Bodhisattvas along with Vajra-Tārā⁵ and Mārīchī⁶. Minor deities, common to Buddhism and Hinduism, such as Kuvēra and Sarasvatī also make their appearance at the same time in Buddhist holy places, *e.g.*, I.M. No. 3917⁷ (Kuvēra) and the Dacca Museum image of Sarasvatī. But by far the greatest number of specimens produced by the artists of the Eastern School are Buddhas and Lōkanāthas or Lōkēśvaras, even in its second period of activity.

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⁵ See *pl.* LXXII *a-d*.

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⁶ See *pl.* XII *b*.

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⁷ See *pl.* XIII *a*.

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Towards the close of the tenth century and in the eleventh, during the first renaissance period of the Eastern School, the centre of artistic activity was shifted to Northern and Eastern Bengal and the finest specimens were produced by the artists of the metropolitan district of Mediæval Bengal, *i.e.*, the tract around the city of Gauḍa, consisting of the modern districts of Purneah, Maldah, Dinajpur, Rajshahi, Bogra and Pabna. Images of Buddha and Lōkēśvaras are no longer predominant. Tāntrika Buddhism is predominant everywhere. Even in the great centres of Buddhism in Magadha, Tāntrika Buddhist images are to be found in larger numbers and the majority of them are females, both ordinary and extraordinary. We find that particular type of Tāntrika Buddhist images, called Yab-Yum in Tibetan, for the first time in Buddhist holy places, especially at Bodh Gaya. In this period of activity of the Eastern School we find a complete assimilation of the different traits of provincial plastic art in the specimens produced in Eastern and Northern Bengal and South Bihar. The image of Vishnu discovered at Baghaura¹ in the Comilla district is essentially the same as certain of the best images in the Rajshahi Museum² and the image of Buddha dedicated in the eleventh year of the reign of Mahīpāla discovered at Bodh Gaya³.

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¹ See pl. IV d.

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² A Catalogue of Archl. relics, etc., pp. 17-21.

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³ See ante p.

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The fourth and the last period of activity of the Eastern School is essentially a period of decline for all forms of Buddhism and revival of Hinduism. Such Buddhist images which can be safely relegated to this period are mostly Buddhist Tāntrika. Such are the Khadiravanī Tārā (I. M. No. 5618)⁴ the Lōkēśvara (I.M. No. 3794)⁵, the well preserved Mārīchīs⁶ and Ushṇīshavijayā⁷ in the collection of the Indian Museum. The period is one in which we find Buddhist Tantrism gradually blending with Hindu Tantrism. Such union gave rise to the peculiar Saiva images such as that to be found at Kagachipara⁸ near Munshiganj in the Dacca district and the Tāntrika Yantras discovered both in stone and metal in the Rangpur⁹ and Dacca¹⁰ districts.

Eastern Indian School of Mediaeval Sculpture c8.s3: III. The Tārās

III. The Tārās

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