Evolution of The Buddha Image

Abstract

Sculpture is a very important facet of the visual arts. As time passed, the Indian sculptors skilfully started making images of the Buddha (either in very high relief or detached) thereby heralding a new era in the Buddhist art of India. In the rendition of the Buddha in anthropomorphic form, the standardized norms were followed. There were, however, a number of stylistic variations. With popularization of bhakti as a religious doctrine, the yearning for a direct and identifiable object of worship increased manifold among the followers of various sects such as Buddhism, Jainism, Shivaism, Vishnuism etc., resulting in a marked increase in the number of images. Without going into many details about how, when and where the Buddha image came into being –a subject intensely debated by several scholars- the present article is an attempt to trace the evolution of the Buddha image in the Indian subcontinent. The similarities and dissimilarities between the Buddha images produced under the two most important schools of art namely the Gandhara and the Mathura schools of art, shall also be briefly outlined.