A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c13.s7.21

c13.s7.21

In Java, as elsewhere, the late Mahāyānist Buddhism so closely approximated to Hinduism, that sculptures which at first sight appear to be purely Brahmanical may be really Buddhist. ‘Brambanam and Chandi Sewa,’ Mr. Sewell observes, ‘are to all external appearances purely Brahmanical, though we learn on examination that Brahmā, Vishnu, and Siva were there held to be Bodhisattvas and not gods. And this is the case everywhere in Eastern Java, the temples being mostly Hindu in type (though always with a difference), and having statues adapted generally from Brahmanical originals.’