The Indian Buddhist Iconography, Mainly Based on the Sadhanamala and Other Cognate Tantric Texts of Rituals c9.18

c9.18

At Simbhu in Nepal one can witness the grandeur of an excellent Buddhist museum where the finest specimens of Buddhist sculptures are preserved round about the Stūpa itself and in the surroundings. At the Macchandar Vahal or the temple of Matsyendranātha the great Nātha Yogin, there can be found 108 different forms of Avalokiteśvara painted on a running panel in colour.¹ Images and forms of deities that are not available in India are to be found in plenty in the Buddhist monasteries in Nepal. Anywhere in Nepal round a central stūpa tiers of small chapels rising from the ground to the top are found to contain first class artistic specimens of Buddhist gods and goddesses. In monasteries which are run by courteous and learned Tāntric monks one can find quite a number of images, sculptures, bronzes, paintings and illuminated manuscripts. It is possible to have an idea of the enormous wealth of cultural remains in Nepal, when it is remembered that the number of monasteries at Kathmandu alone exceeds five hundred.