The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Mainly Based on the Sadhanamala and Other Cognate Tantric Texts of Rituals c23.4

c23.4

The Sādhanas in the Sādhanamālā were composed by men distinguished in the mediaeval age as great Tāntric authors. The Dhyānas contained in the Sādhanas laid down the essential features of different gods, and the sculptors and artists prepared images with the help of these general directions. The Dhyānas left much scope for the exercise of imagination on the part of the sculptors, and the products of their chisels were also very greatly influenced by the spirit of the age in which they flourished, as well as by the geographical situation in which they worked. The ornaments, dress and even facial expressions of the images reflected local conditions to a great extent, while the particular Tāntric rites in which the images were used had also a modifying influence.