Kushan
3rd century A.D.
Bactria
Kushan
Terracotta, gouache
This rare Central Asian votive panel depicts a deity (with nimbus) being approached by a worshiper, probably nonroyal but portrayed as of equal stature to the god. Compositionally, they follow sce...
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Thakuri period
ca.1045
Nepal (Kathmandu Valley)
Copper alloy
Shiva linga are variously represented as an unadorned pillar or with one, four, or five heads of Shiva. This linga altar has a four-faced form (chaturmukha). It is banded, likely with munja grass h...
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Pala period
12th century
Bangladesh or India (Bengal)
Black stone
This is an extremely rare representation of Shiva as Mrityunjaya, the destroyer of death and disease. He is shown deep in meditation in yogic form, as indicated by his interlocked legs...
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Standing Bodisattva Maitreya (Buddha of the Future)
ca. 3rd century
Pakistan (ancient region of Gandhara)
Schist
Maitreya is the Buddha of the next age, much as Shakyamuni is the Buddha of our age. He resides in Tushita heaven waiting for his final rebirth. As befits his highest rebirth, he wea...
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Digital Rare Book:
The Indian Buddhist Iconography
Mainly based on The Sadhanamala
By Benoytosh Bhattachacharyya
Published by Firma K.L.Mukhopadhyay, Calcutta - 1958
The Great Departure and the Temptation of the Buddha
Ikshvaku period
ca. first half of the 3rd century
India (Andhra Pradesh, Nagarjunakonda)
Limestone
The lower scene shows Siddhartha on horseback leaving his father's palace in order to seek enlightenment. A groom leads the horse, whose hoofs ...
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Kushan period
ca. 2nd century
Pakistan (ancient region of Gandhara)
Schist
Female attendants and guards, one of whom holds a sword, surround Maya, who is sleeping on a bed that has turned legs and is covered with an elegant floral textile. Maya ...
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A highly important Sultanate gem-set gold Ring made for Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad bin Sam (AH 569-602/ AD 1173-1206), the first Muslim conqueror of Delhi.
All six gems in the ring are set in kundan technique; the ring with three bezel set octahedral diamonds, the underside of its bezel with an insc...
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A sandstone figural relief of Surya
Central India, 10th/11th Century
The solar deity standing in a frontal hieratic pose with both hands raised and holding a stylized blossoms, a small figure of his consort standing between his boots and accompanied by his two sons Shani and Yama standing on the...
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Sarasvati, goddess of speech, learning, and the arts, is revered by Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists alike. Associated especially with music and knowledge, she plays the vina (a stringed instrument) and holds a palm-leaf manuscript. Here, she a...
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Nan va Halva (Breads and Sweets)
Muhammad Baha' al-Din al-'Amili (1547–1620)
Illustrated manuscript
ca. 1690
India, Deccan, Aurangabad
Islamic
Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper Binding: leather
The text of this book is a series of moralizing poems on the merits of the ascetic life, three...
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Plaque with a Royal Family
Shunga period
1st century B.C.
India (West Bengal, Chandraketugarh)
Terracotta
This family scene and the touching intimacy that permeates it are unusual in Indian terracotta. With his left hand, the man, seated on a chair, holds the back of his wife's head: she stands ...
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New Book:
The Presence of Siva
By Stella Kramrisch
Published by Princeton University Press - 1992
One of the three great gods of Hinduism, Siva is a living god. The most sacred and most ancient book of India, The Rg Veda, evokes his presence in its hymns; Vedic myths, rituals, and even astronomy...
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