use j/k or left/right arrow
to navigate through the photos below
Reliefs from North to East
Auspicious Reliefs
Two ladies, symbols of fertility, stand atop their respective columns, holding up lotus flowers. They have bangles on their ankles, wrists and upper arms, they wear necklaces and earrings. In their hair are combs.
This relief has six men on the left and six women on the right, and two male dwarfs (gaṇas) in the bottom left and right. One of the men holds an umbrella over the unseen Buddha. Atop a lion-pillar is a Dharmacakra.
A most unusual relief with two kings on ther back of elephants, along with their minature mahoots. There are three Devas in the air. Four women stand next to the vajrāsana. One man holds up an axe, and another what may be a scroll. Notice the face on that man’s stomach.
Narrative Reliefs
A large ensemble relief showing the taking of the Bodhisattva’s turban to heaven. Five Devas are holding the crown aloft, some are already in flight. One of the characters at the feet of the main Deva is a gaṇa (dwarf).
King Aśoka was greatly distressed by the death and destruction caused by the Kāliṅga war, in which at least 100,000 died. We see the king walking through the battlefield, and on the floor the dead and dying. Some have been decapitated. Fires have been lit to cremate the bodies.
King Aśoka saw the death and destruction on the fields of Kāliṅga and resolved afterwards to rule by Dharma. He therefore had edicts erected throughout his empire proclaiming the Dharma. Probably the fence on the left means that the people are outside his actual territories, but he still reaches them with Dharma.
King Aśoka, trusting in Ven Moggaliputratiṣya, called monks into his presence and had them explain the Dharma according to their own understanding. Those in line with the Vibhajyavāda he approved, those who taught something else he expelled. When the Saṅgha had been thus purified he called a Third Council to confirm the teachings once more.
After the successful completion of the Third Council, King Aśoka decided to send trustworthy missionaries to the farther reaches of his empire and beyond. They taught the Dharma and also established the twofold Saṅgha everywhere they went, including in Sri Lanka.
The mission that went to Sri Lanka did not have any bhikṣuṇīs with it, so when Queen Anulā requested ordination, Mahindra Thera requested that his sister, Ven. Saṅghamitrā, come to the country. King Aśoka eventually agreed, and gave her a sapling of the sacred Bodhi tree to take with her.
When they reached Sri Lanka, King Devānampriyatiṣya came to the shoreside and went into the waters in order to receive the sapling of the Bodhi Tree, which Arhat Saṅghamitrā and 12 other nuns had brought from India. He then made the tree sovereign over the country for seven days, before planting it in his capital Anurādhapura, where it still stands till this day.
In the first century BCE there was a great famine in Sri Lanka and the Saṅgha saw the possibility of the teachings, which were all held only in memory, being lost. They decided therefore to gather at the Aluvihāra near Matale, and write them all down to ensure their preservation.
Following a dream that the Chinese Emperor Ming had, he send emissaries to India to bring the Buddha’s teachings to China. He then built the White Horse Temple for them, not far from Luoyang. This was in CE 68. It was the first Buddhist Temple in China, and, though it has undergone many changes, it still stands today.
Āryadeva was a leading disciple of Nāgārjuna, and is one of the most important writers for the East Asian traditions. Many think he was originally from Sri Lanka. He was invited to the famous Buddhist University at Nālandā to debate the non-Buddhist magician Mātṛceṭa. Āryadeva won the debate and Mātṛceṭa then converted. Some believe Mātṛceṭa, Āryasūra and Aśvaghoṣa are the same person, but this seems to result from a confusion, and they are best thought of as separate writers.
Throughout its long history many kings and queens from various countries supported the Śāsana, and built monasteries for the Saṅgha. They provided them with protection, and also with the requisites so they could continue their work of propagating Buddhism for the benefit of Devas and humans.
According to tradition the Nāgas kept safe the advanced Prajñāpāramitā texts until the people were ready to receive the teachings. They then passed them to Ācārya Nāgārjuna who taught them to his disciples and established the Madhyamaka teachings on emptiness. Traditionally Nāgārjuna taught at the monastery named after him at Nāgārjunakoṇḍā.
Following King Aśoka’s establishment of 84,000 monasteries throughout his empire, and his redistribution of the Buddha relics, the worship of stūpas and the relics they contained became an established part of Buddhist practice, and up to this day having a relic stūpa in considered a necessary part of a Buddhist monastery.
When Āryadeva came from Sri Lanka to Andhra he met the great teacher Nāgārjuna who saw potential in him. Nāgārjuna gave a bowl full of water to the wise disciple, signifying his own vast knowledge, and Āryadeva dropped a needle into it, signifying his ability to plummet the depths of the teaching.
Ācārya Nāgārjuna composed the Madhyamaka texts, including the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā and the Śūnyatāsaptati, which became the foundation texts for this school, and inspired many commentaries, all of which were translated into many languages, and were widely used in far away places like China.
One of the most influential translators was Kumārajīva, who was a monk and missionary from Central Asia. He translated a lot of the texts and commentaries of the Madhyamaka school into Chinese, laying the foundation for the Three Treatises tradition.
Auspicious Reliefs
The man worshipping on the left has a large rosette in his turban, signifying his high status, the man on the right has a much smaller rosette. Both sit on the ground worshipping the stūpa. In the air, with both hands full of offerings, two Devas fly by.
Two women stand either side of the signs, one holds her hands up in worship, the other holds up a chowri. On either side of them are a man and a woman, both of them worshipping; while on the floor sit two men also both worshipping.
In this relief two couples stand either side of the signs, the two men have rosettes in their turbans and hold up lotus flowers, and one of the women has flowers to offer also.
Full Size Icon
Prajñāpāramita started off as an idea of the Perfection of Wisdom, known to all schools of Buddhism as a necessary requirement for a Bodhisattva; but then the idea became personified. As prajñā is a feminine noun, the personification was feminine. Here she is seen holding the Dharmacakra posture. She sits in full lotus, and wears a Deva-like crown.
Narrative Reliefs
Here five elephants and their riders are seen taking the reliquary caskets away after the cremation and division of the relics. In the background women look on from the balconies of their houses. The elephants are particularly well-drawn.
The relief show women dancing and playing instruments. Owing to the position of the relief we can be pretty sure this shows the festival that the Mallas put on for seven days before the cremation of the Buddha took place. One of the musicians blows on a conch; another has a rattle, and the one on the left is seen with a santoor, which is played with a mallet.
The Brahmin Doṇa was brought in to try and settle the dispute that had arisen between the various kings who claimed a share of the Buddha’s relics. He divided them into eight portions, and they took them away. I think Doṇa must be second from the left at the top, the others all have princely costumes.
Aśvaghoṣa wrote the Buddhacarita, or Life of the Buddha, one of the masterpieces of Sanskrit literature, covering the Buddha’s whole life from birth to passing. In this relief we see Aśvaghoṣa writing his work on palm leaves, with two scenes from the work illustrated behind: the Awakening, and the settling of the dispute between the Koliyans and the Śakyans.
King Kaniṣka was the Central-Asian head of the Kuṣāṇa dynasty which spread over the north of India, and had capitals at Puruṣapura (Peshawar) in Gandhāra, and Mathura in the Indo-Gangetic plain. He convened the Fourth Buddhist Council known to northern sources in Kashmir which was presided over by Vasumitra and Aśvaghoṣa.
Asaṅga and his half-brother Vasubandhu were instrumental in working out the Vijñānavāda (Consciouness-Only) school of thought. Asaṅga was possibly from Puruṣapura, and was originally part of the Śrāvaka school of the Mahīśāsaka, before converting to the Mahāyāna. They both were considered amongst the 17 masters of the Nālandā tradition.
In Sri Lanka Ven. Buddhaghoṣa had learned the Theravāda scriptures in Pāḷi and Sinhala, and proposed translating the commentaries into Pāḷi. As a test, the monastics of the Mahāvihāra asked him to write a manual summarising the teaching. He wrote the Viśuddhimarga to demonstrate his proficiency. The Devas twice took the finished manuscript away, so he wrote it a third time. When the Devas returned the first two manuscripts they were all found to be in agreement.
The Ikṣvāku kings would celebrate the beginning of the ploughing season, normally held in the month of Jyeṣṭha (June), by beginning the ploughing themselves. This would get the season off to an auspicious start. The Bodhisattva’s father, King Śuddhodana, also held a ploughing festival each year.
Women were the main sponsors of Buddhism during the Ikṣvāku period. Sometimes they were queens, or connected to the court. One of the main sponsors was the Mahā Upāsikā Bodhisirī, who was a particularly generous supporter of the Sri Lankan lineages at Nāgārjunakoṇḍā. Here she is seen worshipping at the feet of one of the statues she has commissioned as monks and lay look on.
Sudhana’s story is told in the Gaṇḍavyūha, one of the main texts of the Mahāyāna. There the Buddha reveals the Dharmadhātu to his followers, including Mañjuśrī, who then travels south where his own devotees gather round him. He points out Sudhana to them and establishes him in Bodhicitta. Sudhana then sets out on his quest for Awakening in which he meets with 53 spiritual advisors.
One of the spiritual friends that Sudhana meets with is the householder Vidvān. The elaborate relief shows Vidvān sitting on a high seat, and next to the flower vase below is Sudhana, who has a halo behind his head, indicating he is a Bodhisattva. Vidvān has been for a long time inspiring others to become Bodhisattvas and do good deeds.
Dignāga was a celebrated Buddhist philosopher who laid the groundwork for Buddhist logic and epistemology. He seems to have been born in Tamil Nadu, and later took Vasubandhu as his teacher. Dignāga’s system was clear and precise. He laid it out in his masterpiece the Pramāṇasamuccaya. Here he is pictured surrounded by students.
Auspicious Reliefs
A Nāga on horseback is riding through the sky, while an attendant holds onto the tail of the horse. On the ground below he is watched by three Nāginīs, two of whom hold their hands in añjali. Note that Nāginīs are always shown with just one hood over the heads.
A Nāga-king is shown sitting in his palace. Next to him the Nāga-queen appears to be concerned. Two more Nāginīs stand behind the couple, one of whom holds a fan. A noble, who appears to be human, is speaking to the king, and the king appears to ward off his words.
The exact scene represented here is not clear, but people sit on low and high benches looking on as the couple at the front engage is what appears to be a board game. The one on the right has oblong dice in his hand, ready to throw.
Full Size Icon
Ācārya Nāgārjuna is pictured sitting on the floor and studying the palm-leaf manuscript in his hand. Presumably this is the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, or perhaps a Prajñāpāramitā text. Around his head is shown a halo, indicating he is a Bodhisattva.
Auspicious Reliefs
Two humans sit on the floor and worship the stūpa which is decorated with, or protected by, a Nāga. In the air, as usual, there are Devas holding offerings. There are eight umbrellas over the stūpa.
What looks like two kings and their courtiers stand on either side of the Buddha-signs, some worship, some hold offerings. In the sky the Devas are almost horizontal as they fly and worship the signs.
Three women stand to the right of the signs, and somehow seem to look on unconvinced. One person, perhaps a king, sits worshipping on the left. Behind him everyone is paying their respects to the signs.
Bodhidharma was a great meditation master, reputedly the third son of a South Indian king, who had renounced the world. Later he travelled to China where he propagated his teachings, which led to the establishment of the Ch’an school in China, and the Zen school in Japan. He seems to have been active during the 5th century CE.
Faxian was the earliest of the great Chinese pilgrims and explorers who came to India in the 5th century and left a Record of the Buddhist Kingdoms he came across in Central Asia and the Indian sub-continent. While on his tour, which lasted 10 years, he gathered original teachings in Sanskrit and Pāḷi, and took them back with him to his homeland where he also translated them. He also described processions with Buddha statues, which is what we see here.
Śāntideva was possibly a South Indian, who studied at Nālandā in the 8th century, which is where he also composed his works, including the classic Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra. The latter is a guide to the life of a Bodhisattva. Here he is seen reading from his work, as his students listen. Many commentaries have been written on his works, and he remains a central teacher in the Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna tradition to this day.
King Harṣavardhana ruled the large Kannauj empire in northern India during the 7th century. He was well known as a patron of the arts and philosophy, and was highly praised by the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang. According to the latter Harṣa was a devout Buddhist who built monasteries and also hospitals for the sick. He was also a writer and three Sanskrit plays are associated with his name.
Xuanzang is probably the best known of the Chinese pilgrims who visited India and collected texts there. But he almost never made it. Besides the gruellingly hard passage over the Pamir mountains, on the other side he was captured by bandits, who wanted to sacrifice him to their god. The bandits though were swept away by a cyclone, and Xuanzang lived on to accomplish his mission.
Xuanzang eventually made it to Nālandā where he studied for many years, and learned all the new Mahāyāna teachings from direct successors of the originators. Xuanzang also traveled to many other places in India, and returned to China with more than six hundred manuscripts which he spent the rest of his life translating.
Prince Danta was the son of the king of Ujjeni. When he visited Kāliṅga he married Princess Hemamālā, who was the daughter of the king. When the Tooth Relic, which was being held in Kāliṅga, was in danger of being destroyed, the royal couple disguised themselves and set sail for Sri Lanka, with the relic hidden in the princess’ hair.
The couple sailed from Tamralipti, and after several miracles on the way, they made it to Sri Lanka, where King Kirti Śrī Meghavarṇa received them, and built a special shrine for the relic. Over the course of centuries the relic had many homes, but is now famously held in the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy.
Anagārika Dharmapāla was part of the movement responsible for the revival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, which was suffering during the colonial rule. In the 1890s he travelled to Bodhgayā where he discovered the temple was no longer under Buddhist control. He then set up the Mahā Bodhi Society to work for its restitution to Buddhists. The Society also helped in the renovation of the temple in the same decade.
The opposition to colonial rule in India was also strong, and the Independence movement engaged in many tactics to regain control of the country. One of these was Taking Hold of the Truth (Satyagraha), which was a non-violent struggle against the British rule. Mahātma Gandhi and many others worked in this way for Independence.
Eventually, following the Second World War, Independence was granted to India, and Dr. Ambedkar was tasked with drawing up the Constitution of the new country. In it he enshrined the main principles of the new state: equality under the law; equal rights for all, including the low-castes and women; and that India would be a secular state where all religions would be acknowledged and accepted, besides other things.
Dr. Ambedkar, who was born a low-caste Dalit, had for many years wished to free himself from the Hindu caste system, which he saw as unjust and a drain on society’s potential. In 1956 he converted to Buddhism along with 500,000 of his followers in Nagpur. Since then the revival of Buddhism has been making steady progress in the land of its birth.
Dhulikatta was a major Buddhist centre in Telangana which was established during the first phase of Buddhism in Andhradeśa in the 2nd century BCE. There was a Mahā Stūpa there, equipped with Āyaka platforms, and decorated with Nāgas; as well as vihāras, stores, wells and drains. Many other antiquities were also found there.
Phanigiri was another major site of Buddhism in Telangana. It had a Mahā Stūpa on top of the hill, which would have been visible in the fields for miles around. There was also a Toraṇa, showing the removal of the Bodhisattva’s turban; Chaitya Halls; enclosures for the worship of the Buddhapāda; vihāras for resident and visiting monastics; and other buildings. The monastery appears to have been on a trade route, and many coins were found there, including from far-away Rome.
Nelkondapalli was another centre for Buddhism in Telangana, which had a Mahā Stūpa, and all the other, regular buildings associated with a monastic complex. The stūpa there is in good condition, and many limestone statues were also found at, or nearby, the site. It appears it may have been a centre for statue production in the area.
Auspicious Reliefs
Two people, one male and one female, kneel either side of the stūpa and worship, while Devas fly through the sky with their hands full of offerings. The stūpa is marked with a protective Nāga, presumably indicating this is the Rāmagrāma stūpa. A rosette of flowers covers the dome. Again something uncertain hangs down from the umbrella over the harmika.
Four people sit and stand around the three signs, the one sitting on the left, presumably a lady, holds a pot which she will offer. The two standing figures have chowris in their hands. The male on the right worships.
Two couples stand either side of the signs. The male on the left holds lotuses for offerings. The two females also hold up offerings.
Two figures kneel and worship on either side of the stūpa, while Devas fly by with offerings. The stūpa is decorated with lotus flowers, medallions and a rosette.
Two males with chowri whisks stand either side of the signs, while two other males sit and worship. As always the Devas fly in the air with offerings. The vajrāsana has cushions on it, and there is a stool beneath it, but I do not see the Buddhapāda.
Two couples are standing on either side of the signs, three of them hold up pots, presumably of water, an offering to the Bodhi Tree. Devas fly horizontally holding offerings.
