Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East (Vol. I: Champa; Vol. II: Suvarnadvipa) v2.c21.s6.t2.2

v2.c21.s6.t2.2

The earliest sculptures in Bali are the Buddhist figures engraved in relief on small clay tablets. These are found with small clay stūpas containing small clay seals inscribed with the well-known Buddhist formula ‘ye dharmā hetuprabhavā etc.’ The purely Indian alphabet of these inscriptions may be referred to the eighth century A.D. The relief figures of the Buddhas and the Bodhisatvas may also be approximately referred to the same, or perhaps a little later period, and show a purely Indian style. Stutterheim describes this style as ‘internationally Buddhistic’ and says that such figures could as well have been found in the mountains of Tibet or the hills of China. But he has not adduced any evidence in support of his assertion. The style is, however, predominantly Indian, and these figures might well have been mistaken for Indian sculptures of the late Gupta period. This can only be explained by a predominant Indian element in the population of Bali who had carried their art traditions direct from India, and had not yet been subject to indigenous influence, at least to any considerable degree. The figures were presumably impressed upon clay by means of bronze stamps, and the tablets were perhaps regarded as sacred objects or amulets with magic properties¹.