Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c28.s8.t2.12

v1.c28.s8.t2.12

Unfortunately very few bronze/brass images of the Gupta Period have been found in the Nālandā or surrounding Magadha areas. One such gold-plated bronze image of Manjuśrī has been obtained from Mahasthan, Bangladesh. It is quite possible that some of these were removed to other sites and some destroyed, melted and recast by invaders and vandals. Hiuen-Tsang saw and reported a large number of teou-shih or brass images all around India. He described the brass Maheśvara of Varanasi “100 feet (?) high, its appearance is grave and majestic, and appears as though really living”. Where is this statue now? Similarly the huge 80 ft (?) high copper Buddha in Nālandā described by Hiuen-Tsang is not to be found although a recently discovered stone inscription corroborates that a king Śrī Purnavarmā indeed had this image made and installed. Was it later shifted to Vikramśīlā monastery near Sultanganj and now known as the Birmingham Buddha? The brass plate vihāra made by king Harṣavardhana was recorded by Hiuen-Tsang’s biographer, Kwui Li. (Beal, 1914)