Copper in Ancient India c9.s2.5

c9.s2.5

In India besides being used as art ware, bronze was also used in casting statues of various gods and goddesses. The Eastern school of bronze-casters of Bengal in the eighth or ninth century was famous and it was from this school that Nepal and Tibet obtained their knowledge of bronze casting. Lāmā Tārānāth, the celebrated Tibetan historian of Buddhism, is of opinion that “the Nāgā productions of Nāgārjuna’s time were rivalled by the creations of Dhimān and his son Bitapāla, natives of Varendra (Bengal) who lived during the reigns of Devapāla and Dharmapāla (8th and 9th centuries). Both father and son were skilled alike as painters, sculptors and bronze founders. Bitpāla, who remained in Bengal, was regarded as the head of the Eastern school of bronze casting.”¹ Several excellent specimens of this Eastern school of bronze-casters in the shape of statues have been collected in the Archaeological Section of the Indian Museum.