Footfalls of Indian history . at the Buddhist world itself ascribedthe origin of the Masters image to Magadha. Thesupreme example of this school of sculpture is un-doubtedly the Great Buddha of Nalanda, which isto this day the pride of the country-folk at Baragaon,who call it Mahadev. To the same school belongsalso the Buddha of the temple at Bodh-Gaya. Andwe cannot do better than take as an example of thetype the Buddha from Anuradhapura in Ceylon. These are true statues, not mere bas-reliefs. Andperhaps the great proof of their early occurrencein the Buddhist series lies precisely here, that
Footfalls of Indian history . at the Buddhist world itself ascribedthe origin of the Masters image to Magadha. Thesupreme example of this school of sculpture is un-doubtedly the Great Buddha of Nalanda, which isto this day the pride of the country-folk at Baragaon,who call it Mahadev. To the same school belongsalso the Buddha of the temple at Bodh-Gaya. Andwe cannot do better than take as an example of thetype the Buddha from Anuradhapura in Ceylon. These are true statues, not mere bas-reliefs. Andperhaps the great proof of their early occurrencein the Buddhist series lies precisely here, that theywere found in Ceylon, where the enthusiasm ofIndian intercourse was a marked feature of theage immediately succeeding Asoka, and where theHinayana theology would not be friendly tostatuary like the images characteristic of a richmythology. The clay seal is of extraordinary interest. TheBuddha himself appears to be seated in somethinglike the temple of Bodh-Gaya, with branchesof the sacred tree appearing behind and OLD INDIAN CLAY SEAL FROM BODH-GAYAOrisfinal in the Berlin Museum THE ANCIENT ABBEY OF AJANTA loi The plain stupas all round show the contempo-rary development of that symbol. Now therewas a moment when, by the simultaneous modifica-tion of all its five parts, the stupa was transformedinto something very like what we now recognise asa temple. Specimens of this phase abound in theneighbourhood of Nalanda, and indeed some handhas gathered a quantity of representative examplestogether and placed them on the bathing ghdt atBaragaon. Except in the instances of this clay sealfigured by Griinwedel and a stupa which is to beseen in the Sonar Bhandar Cave at Rajgir, however,I do not remember ever to have seen this phaseof the stupa associated with an image. The panelledexample at Rajgir would seem to be old becauseof the stiffness with which the standing Buddhais portrayed. He stands with feet apart, as in thedrawings of children. But never have I seen a workof ar
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidfootfallsofi, bookyear1915
