As the cradle of Buddhism, northeastern India is home to many sacred sites, such as the place of the Buddha’s awakening at Bodhgaya.
As the cradle of Buddhism, northeastern India is home to many sacred sites, such as the place of the Buddha’s awakening at Bodhgaya.
Once renowned centers of learning like Nalanda and Vikramashila monasteries (destroyed in the late 12th and early 13th centuries) attracted students and scholars, and were also their own centers of text and image production. Northeastern India was thus a focus of pilgrimage and learning for Tibetans well into the 13th century. As such northeastern India was also an important source of images and material culture such as texts, portable scroll paintings and sculptures, as well as pilgrimage souvenirs, which inspired early Tibetan art. Important Indian teachers, such as Atisha (982-1055?) and Shakyashribhadra (1127-1225), were also invited to Tibet.
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Northeastern India
10th century
For early Tibetan Buddhists the holy sites of northeastern India were important pilgrimage sites. This sculpture is modeled after images of the Buddha located in and around Bodhgaya, the place of the Buddha’s awakening (see adjacent model of the Mahabodhi Temple). In this region Tibetans encountered images of the Buddha standing in a rigid pose, facing forward, with his legs together and clothing clinging to his body. Many Buddha depictions of this period are crowned and bejeweled, a characteristic that became popular beginning in the seventh century and is occasionally quoted in early Tibetan painting.
Learn about a northeastern Indian crowned Buddha sculpture that traveled to Tibet
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