(PDF) What The Buddha Really Looked Like

Log InSign Up

• Log In
• Sign Up
• more
• • About
  • Press
  • Papers
  • Terms
  • Privacy
  • Copyright
  • We're Hiring!
  • Help Center
  • less

Outline

keyboard_arrow_downTitleAbstractdownload

Download Free PDF

Download Free PDFWhat The Buddha Really Looked LikeDipobhasadhamma Anacaryiako

2016, What the Buddha Really Looked Like

visibility

…

description

5 pages

descriptionSee full PDFdownloadDownload PDF bookmarkSave to LibraryshareShareclose

Sign up for access to the world's latest research

Sign up for freearrow_forwardcheckGet notified about relevant paperscheckSave papers to use in your researchcheckJoin the discussion with peerscheckTrack your impact

Abstract

What The Buddha Really Looked Like Little do we realize that Alexander the Great lived, roughly, about two hundred years after the Buddha died in the early part of 300 B.C.E. Alexander conquered much of the north western Indian continent. The images of the Buddha that we have become so familiar with are the result of Greek influence on the art of the time. The curly-haired Buddha with his fine robes and saintlike face is very far from what the Buddha really looked like. The modern image-concept of the Buddha is of an ancient origin, but not as ancient as the Buddha himself. Around 250 B.C.E. the Bactrian-Greco empire bordered on China, the Himalayas, northwestern India (Mauryan Empire) and the Alexandrian conquered Egypt of the Ptolemies. The Greco-Bactrian Empire was known for its fine art, metal work and superior coinage.

... Read more

Related papers

Aesthetic Refinement by Successive Incorporation of ‘Extraneous’ Features: Towards a Typological-Stylistic Sequence of Early Gandhāran Buddha Images in Stone, 1st–3rd CenturiesCorinna Wessels-Mevissen

Ancient Pakistan, 2022

This paper proposes, for the first time, a chronological sequence of stages in the early development of the anthropomorpic representation of the Buddha in Gandhara (modern Pakistan and Afghanistan). The so far tentative model has been established through detail observations of the head portion continuing for a several decades, and by implementing the ‘typological method’ developed in the 19th century, by Oscar Montelius.

downloadDownload free PDFView PDFchevron_rightA Comprehensive Study of Bhadrāsana Buddha Images from First-Millennium ThailandNicolas Revire

Rian Thai: International Journal of Thai Studies, Vol. 5, pp. 91-152, 2012

This article presents in detail a study of a particular type of Buddha image, those seated in bhadrāsana, that is the posture with both legs extended and the feet firmly planted on the ground or on a lotus pedestal. There are few of these seated Buddha images left from the first millennium CE compared to the large corpus of Buddhas seated crossed-legged or standing images. However, this iconography is often found – albeit not only – in central Thailand during the commonly labelled “art or period of Dvāravatī” (ca 7th-8th c.), one of Thailand’s oldest religious and artistic cultures.

downloadDownload free PDFView PDFchevron_rightThe Unintended Legacy of Hellenism: The Development and Dissemination of the Buddha ImageChukyi Kyaping

Ursinus College Digital Commons, 2016

This paper traces the development and evolution of the Buddha image from the first century CE in Gandhara to the fifth century CE in Luoyang, China and discusses the circumstances that allowed the image to adapt to different cultural environments. The emergence of the Buddha image marked a significant shift in the perception of the Buddha himself, through which Buddhism had effectively transformed from a philosophy into a religion. Due to the syncretic nature of the Gandhara region, the Buddha image incorporated elements from multiple cultures, most notably from the Hellenistic artistic tradition. The dissemination of the Buddha image, traced through cave complexes from Afghanistan to eastern China, display a progressive Sinitic transformation over time. However, the simultaneous iconographic continuation from the Gandharan Buddha, seen in the same Sinicized Buddha images almost five centuries later, represents the significant and enduring legacy of Hellenism in Buddhist art.

downloadDownload free PDFView PDFchevron_rightThe Spread of Sarnath-Style Buddha Images in Southeast AsiaHeejung Kang

Certain Buddhist statues discovered in Southeast Asia were sculpted after Sarnath-style sculptures. Thus, these statues were produced between the late fifth and early sixth centuries. Considering the sea route during that period, it was natural that Buddhist statues would be introduced from Sarnath to Funan in its prime via the Ganges and the Indian Ocean. Buddhist sculptures conveyed through that channel became the foundation for early Buddhist art in Southeast Asia. Based on the style created at Sarnath in India, this art is significant because it reveals the first stage of Buddhist art in Southeast Asia. These Buddhist sculptures reflect the Central and Southern Indian styles of the Gupta period. Hence, Buddhist art forms must have spread to Southeast Asia by different routes. Certain sculptures that were recently excavated in Shandong have no traces of drapery and have slender physical outlines. Such features were most likely influenced by styles employed in Sarnath Buddhist sculptures. These Shandong sculptures were most likely modelled after Buddhist statues discovered in Southeast Asian regions such as Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, indicating that Central Indian Buddhist art was introduced earlier than Southern Indian art and conveyed from the Ganges to the South China Sea through the Gulf of Bengal via the sea routes. Thus, Southeast Asian Buddhist sculpture was the "missing link" that connected Central India to East China, and it was highly valuable as the first stage in the area.

downloadDownload free PDFView PDFchevron_rightThe Shift from Aniconic to Anthropomorphic Buddha in Greco-Buddhist Iconography: How Anthropomorphism Advanced BuddhismDave Puzak

Artistic representation is the byproduct of a complex set of cultural interactions.

downloadDownload free PDFView PDFchevron_rightThe frieze of the Buddha and the nude Vajrapani at Jamal GarhiSathasara Perera

The Gandharan school of art can be recognized as an Indian school of art with Greek influence. The hitherto known archaeological evidence at the sites of Gandharan school of art reveal art and architectural elements which attest both oriental and Hellenistic elements in depiction as a result of "the cultural influence of the Indo-Greeks and the indo-Parthians who had mingled with the local population" 1. Among the prominent art and sculptures found in the Gandharan art, the depiction of Vajrapani as the protector of Lord Buddha in reliefs is significant. The objective of the paper is to highlight the importance of the selected frieze where the nude Vajrapani is depicted turning complete backward unlike any other Indian or Hellenistic art found so far. Further the paper will discuss both the Hellenistic and oriental elements in the selected illustration of the Buddha and the Vajrapani in the relief found at the monastic site of Jamal-Garhi, Gandhara. Further, the discussion will be extended by focusing on the fact whether the artist of the specific relief is an Indian or a Greek artist based on the analysis of the relief and examine how the artist have amalgamated both the oriental and Greek values in the same relief in order to serve the purpose of the particular art. The ancient region of Gandhara is comprised of the Northwestern part of ancient India which includes the Peshawar valley and the Swat valley. In the modern map, this is the part of Afghanistan and Northwestern Pakistan. The region of Gandhara belonged to the Achaemenide 2 empire and was under the Persian domination during the 6 th century BCE. Once Alexander the Great conquered the Persian empire in the late 4 th century BCE, Gandhara came under the power of Macedonia. In 320 BCE, Chandra Gupta Maurya initiated the Maurya dynasty. The edicts or the pillars erected by King Ashoka (268-232 BCE) proves that he declared Buddhism as the religion of the state and became a patron of Buddhism during his 1 (Agrawala, 1964) 2 Ancient Persian Empire from 770-330 BCE

downloadDownload free PDFView PDFchevron_rightThe Buddha Images of Early Konbaung Period in Myanmar (1752-1819Khin Thidar

In Myanmar, the statue of the Buddha and the pagodas are called Bhurā:. The Lord Buddha was MyatswaBhurā: -the most exalted Lord and the Buddha icons were Bhurā: Chan:tu, the form of the Lord.Bhurā: Chan:tu, images, which are cast and curved on behalf of the Buddha. According to SamyuttaNikāya, the Buddha discourages people to make the Buddha image. People, however, insisted to do some resemblance in the form of an image for worship, as they are so accustomed to offer gifts to gods and pray for some rewards in return. This being the case they use images to worship and adore. The images of the Buddha are made and venerated with the belief that all these would help the Religion prosper. In sculpturing or carving images, it is believed that the images closely resemble the Buddha when he was alive. Iron, bronze, silver, gold and alloy are cast into Buddha images. Buddha images are also made of emerald, amber, jade and glass. This paper is to find out how people made the Buddha images in Early Konbaung Period in Myanmar. It also analyzes the style and shape of the images and which styles are found in that period under survey. Key Words: the Buddha, Image, Bhurā:, early Konbaung

downloadDownload free PDFView PDFchevron_rightThe Evolution of Buddhist Art in the Regions of India and NepalBritiany DaughertydownloadDownload free PDFView PDFchevron_rightConsolidation of the Image of Buddha during the Gupta PeriodDr. Uday Dokras

INAC, 2022

Consolidation of the Image of Buddha during the Gupta Period

downloadDownload free PDFView PDFchevron_rightSaṅgama of Buddhism in the Asiatic Diaspora: Imageries of Monks - Bodhidharma and Aṟavaṇa-aṭikaḷ in Visual ArtR.K.K. Rajarajan

Journal of Fine Arts, 2019

Buddhism is a creative religion in Asiatic civilization, creative in the sense the proliferation of a rich literature and visual art leading to Universal Harmony. Beginning with the Buddha (6th century BCE), a galaxy of scholars have contributed brainwork to the cultural inheritance of Mahāyāna-Buddhism. The present article is an attempt to examine the imagery of Buddhist monks in visual arts with special reference to Bodhidharma/ Aṟavaṇa-aṭikaḷ, propagator of the Buddhist creed (c. 5th century CE). Bodhidharma hailing from Kāñcīpuram lived in China to propagate the Buddhist dharma (Ch’an and Zen) in the land of Confucianism (Confucius in Hutchinson’s n.d.: I, fig. p. 74) and Taoism (“Ultimate Tao… the Golden Man… Mystery beyond all mysteries” cited in Rawson 1981: 75). Aravaṇa-aṭikaḷ is a Buddhist master in the Tamil epic, Maṇimēkalai (c. 200 to 500 CE). The imagery of Bodhidharma is popular in Chinese and Japanese annals and visual art through the ages. We do not have any painting or sculpture that purports to portray Aṟavaṇa-aṭikaḷ. I have found a few sculptures in the mahastūpa of Borobudūr (Indonesia), which most probably illustrates Aṟavaṇa-aṭikaḷ teaching the Buddhist law to Maṇimēkalai. Maṇimēkalai, the bhikṣunī, appears in the Tamil twin epics, Cilappatikāram and Maṇimēkalai. We could hazily visualize these icons from a study of literary evidences. Sculpture or painting is an authoritative source to demonstrate how a personality was viewed some 1000 or 2000 years ago, e.g. the murals and fresco in the Ajaṇṭā caves that illustrate the Buddhist annals (see the many faces of the Buddha Fig.11). The Buddha’s nativity was Nepāḷa, which means his physiognomy should have been of the Mongoloid milieu. The article examines the facial anatomy of the Buddha with reference to monks that propagated Buddhism. Bodhidharma or Aravaṇa-aṭikaḷ was of the Tamil stock, which means what anthropologists normally designate Drāviḍian (Tirāviṭaṉ). Āryan (Āriyaṉ) and Mongolian (Maṅkōliyaṉ) are of different genres and pigments, viz. Āryan-white, Mongolian-yellow (or golden) and Drāviḍian-black. By the way, the personality of the Mongol reflected in Vassili Yan’s novel Jenghiz Khan is corroborated while dealing with facial anatomy that is known as mukhalakṣaṇa in Indian iconographic jargon.

downloadDownload free PDFView PDFchevron_rightSee full PDFdownloadDownload PDF

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.

Related papers

Does Iconography Really Matter? Iconographical specification of Buddha images in pre-esoteric Buddhist art_2023Juhyung Rhi

Gandharan Art in Its Buddhist Context, 2023

downloadDownload free PDFView PDFchevron_rightMirror of the Buddha: Early Portraits from Tibet.pdfDavid Jackson

Masterworks of Tibetan Painting Series 3. New York: Rubin Museum of Art, , 2011

Traditional Tibetan art is largely the fruit of Buddhism; it is meant to convey spiritual truths.In their art, Tibetans aimed at faithfully transmitting and preserving Buddhism as a spiritual discipline as they had learned it from Indian Buddhist teachers. Each thangka painting was a small contribution to the larger cause of keeping Buddhism alive and radiant. In this third volume in the Masterworks of Tibetan Painting Series, David Jackson and Christian Luczanits investigates painted portraits of early Tibetan teachers. Images of these eminent personages embodied Buddhist ideals in human form. In creating these depictions, Tibetan painters of the 12th through the 14th centuries imitated the artistic conventions developed in Pala- and Sensa-ruled eastern India (Bengal). This style, called Sharri, spread from India to many parts of Asia, but its classic Indian forms, delicate colors, and intricate decorative details were emulated most faithfully by the Tibetans. Contributions by Christian Luczanits.

downloadDownload free PDFView PDFchevron_rightThe Image of the Buddha: Buddha Icons and Aniconic Traditions in India and ChinaClaudia Wenzel

Transcultural Studies, 2011

This is a study of aniconic Buddhist art in India and China that refers back to the iconoclasm (Bilderstreit) of the 8th and 9th centuries in the Byzantine empire and the subsequent development of an image theory that justified the already well established image cult. By deliberately adopting methodological approaches and terms that have been used for some time in Byzantine art history, relevant visual and textual evidence about the Buddhist tradition will be restructured and evaluated, pointing out similarities and dissimilarities. Anthropomorphic Buddha images and aniconic representations of the Buddha in India and China are compared; furthermore, an overview of the establishment of a Buddhist icon cult with image worship in China is given, discussing related phenomena like narratives about the First Image, the True Countenance, and miracle-working Divine Images. Against this background, Chinese aniconic tendencies and the image discourse within the Chinese Buddhist community arou...

downloadDownload free PDFView PDFchevron_rightCan a Buddha Image be Untrue? The Grahi Buddha and the Way to Make Buddha Images in Southeast AsiaKlemens Karlsson

Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis, 2014

downloadDownload free PDFView PDFchevron_rightHELLINISTIC INFLUENCES and the Image of the BuddhaDr. Uday Dokras

Were it not for the Greeks, we would not see Buddha as we do today and in the form and art and sculpture as is commonly exemplified by the Image so prevalent. Alessandro-Alexander 'The Great"-A history steeped in myth

downloadDownload free PDFView PDFchevron_rightThe Gupta BUDDHADr. Uday Dokras

2023

This sculpture of the Buddha Sakyamuni can be assigned to the late 6th or early 7th century, a period in which the Gupta Dynastystyle of northern and north eastern India was at its summit. The Gupta period (4th to 6th century) is noted as a time during which the quintessential Buddha image was created, becoming an iconic form which was disseminated and copied throughout the Asian Buddhist world. Gupta style stands at a crossroads in art historical developments in the sub-continent. The Gupta style embodies the earlier figurative styles of north and north west India (Mathura and Gandhara), while achieving a new power and sophistication. It is noted for the full, sensuous modelling of faces and bodies, for a subtlety of expression and for the harmonious proportions of its figures. During these centuries the workshops at Sarnath, a monastic complex built on the site of the Buddha's first sermon, became especially artistically influential. A particular type of standing Buddha image was produced here whose body is covered by a diaphanous robe, which clings to the figure while flaring at the sides. This was to become the prototype for a multitude of later images including the Radiant Buddha.

downloadDownload free PDFView PDFchevron_rightPresenting the Buddha: Images, Conventions, and Significance in Early Indian Buddhism_2013Juhyung Rhi

Art of Merit: Studies in Buddhist Art and Conservation, ed. David Park et al, 2013

downloadDownload free PDFView PDFchevron_rightBuddhaQACHACHI NourdownloadDownload free PDFView PDFchevron_right(Re)presenting the Buddha: A Siamese Portrait of Nation and KingBryen Chen

In Melody Rod-Ari’s article, “The Buddha as [a] Sacred Siamese King”, Rod-Ari details the evolution of Buddha sculptures under King Nangklao’s rule in the 18-19th c. CE. Developing on the pre-existing tradition of crowned Buddhas in Siam, the King introduced a new element of clothing—patterned robes with floral motifs—that became part of the Buddha’s iconography. Capitalising on these changes to the Buddhist visual lexicon, my essay will trace the trajectory of Buddha icons from the Sukhothai era to that of King Nangklao’s rule, while examining how the codification of said icons is regenerated and syncretised. This essay also challenges Rod-Ari’s view that the artistic innovations heralded by King Nangklao were a mere reaction to the increasing threat of European colonisation. I argue that it was also fuelled by a personal impetus—by aligning himself with the Buddha and its status as a chakravartin, King Nangklao could leave behind a unique legacy.

downloadDownload free PDFView PDFchevron_rightEarly Buddhist Art: An OverviewMugdha Pandey, BEST Journals

This article is a humble endeavour to provide an overview of the Early Buddhist Art. Buddhism has been one of the earliest religions in India to have inspired art. The purpose of art in Buddhism was to propagate the ideals of Buddhism. Beginning with the aniconic stage, we see an evolution in the art where comes the anthropomorphic representation of Buddha. Early form of Buddhist art has been divided into categories according to the dynasties that ruled during those times. Thus, the article looks into the characteristics of Buddhist art during Mauryan Empire, Kushana and Gupta Period.

downloadDownload free PDFView PDFchevron_rightkeyboard_arrow_downView more papers

• Explore
• Papers
• Topics

• Features
• Mentions
• Analytics
• PDF Packages
• Advanced Search
• Search Alerts

• Journals
• Academia.edu Journals
• My submissions
• Reviewer Hub
• Why publish with us
• Testimonials

• Company
• About
• Careers
• Press
• Help Center
• Terms
• Privacy
• Copyright
• Content Policy

580 California St., Suite 400San Francisco, CA, 94104© 2026 Academia. All rights reserved