Buddhist Art in India

The book is organized into four main chapters. Chapter I, “Introduction,” presents the historical and religious foundations of Buddhist art, discussing early Indian art, Vedic and Brahmanical backgrounds, the life of Gautama Buddha, Aśoka’s role, Buddhist monuments, the spread of Buddhism, and the emergence of major artistic regions such as Sāñchī, Bharhut, Gandhāra, Kārlē, Ajantā, and Amarāvatī. Chapter II, “The Early Indian Style,” examines the indigenous artistic vocabulary of India, including wood-carving traditions, throne-seats, railings, lotus decoration, yakṣas and yakṣīs, nāgas, garuḍas, ornamental motifs, narrative reliefs, procession scenes, Buddhist heavens, and symbolic representations such as the wheel, stūpa, tree, and footprints. Chapter III, “The Gandhāra Sculptures,” analyzes the historical background, stylistic character, iconographic forms, donor scenes, Bodhisattva imagery, devotional compositions, and the Graeco-Buddhist features of Gandhāran art, with attention to artistic influence, chronology, and the formation of Buddha images. Chapter IV, “Representations of Buddha and Bodhisattva,” studies the iconographic development of the Buddha figure, bodily marks, postures, gestures, attendants, previous Buddhas, Maitreya, Avalokiteśvara, Mañjuśrī, Tārā, Amitābha, and later Buddhist visual forms across India, Tibet, China, and Japan. The bibliography and index support the book’s function as a reference work for Buddhist archaeology, sculpture, and iconography.