Essay name: Buddhist iconography in and outside India (Study)
Author:
Purabi Gangopadhyay
Affiliation: University of Calcutta / Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture
This work aims to systematically present the development and expansion of Mahayana-Vajrayana Buddhist iconography from India to other countries, such as China, Korea, and Japan. This study includes a historical account of Indian Buddhist iconography and the integration of Brahmanical gods into the Mahayana-Vajrayana phase.
Chapter 4: Japanese Buddhist Iconography (a Comparative Study)
7 (of 101)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
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Although there were no direct contact between Japan
and India, in a senge Indian influence on every field of
Japanese culture had been immense. Prof. B.H. Chaberlain
says that "Buddhism brought civilisation" and question of
Indian influence on Japan "is vast and somewhat obscure" 1.
As it appears it was with the introduction of Buddhism in
Japan that the essence of Indian Philosophy and culture as
a natural embodiment of that great religion cast a profound
influence on Japanese way of life.
It would not be exaggeration to say that amazingly
Japan is a living museum of Indian gods known as 'Ten' or
'Devas'. In every corner of Japan Brahm膩, Visnu, Siva,
Sarasvati, Leksmi, Surya, Soma and other Brahmanical gods
are often enshrined with different Buddhist gods.
The late Nara period witnessed the creation of some
of the most beautiful Buddhist statues. For this reason
the late Nara period is usually considered to be the golden
age of Japanese sculptural activities. Previously, the
sculptors had worked mainly with wood and bronze, but now
they began also to use clay, lacquer and lesser degree stone.
The main stylistic development can immediately be seen by
'comparing the F眉k眉-Kensaku Kannon in the Hokke-d艒 (middle of
the 8th century A.D.) with Sh艒-Kannon (Nilaka峁囜弓ha Avaloki鈥�
te艣vara), Yakushi-ji. This Sh艒-Kannon is the example of the
1. IJ, p. 246.
Q
