Ancient South Asia

The Great Stupa at Sanchi

The Great Stupa at Sanchi

Priest-King Bust

Fasting Buddha Shakyamuni

The Buddha Mathura

The Bodhisattva Maitreya

Circumambulation

Act of walking around a sacred object or place

Jatakas

Collection of stories that describe the previous lives of Buddha

Aniconic

Symbolic or suggestive

Samsara

Cycle of life, death, and rebirth.

Yakshi

Female nature spirits associated with fertility, prosperity, love, and beauty.

Mahayana Buddhism

Branch of Buddhism; accepts main teachings of early Buddhism but also adds new sutras and doctrines

Theravada

One of the first and oldest surviving Buddhist schools

Bodhisattva

A person who can reach nirvana but delays doing so out of compassion to save suffering beings

The Vedas

Collection of ancient Sanskrit texts that are the oldest surviving literature of India

Dharma

Code of righteous behavior that is considered to be by the order of the universe

Ushnisha

3D oval-shaped cranial bump on top of the head that represented Buddha’s enlightenment, omniscience, and divine knowledge.

Urna

Circular dot or curl of hair on the forehead of Buddha

Vishnu

Preserve and protector of universe while Brahma creates and Shiva destroys

Shiva

Destroys to create

Brahma

God of creation, knowledge, and the Vedas.

Vishnu

Main subject of narrative relief sculptures from the temple at Deogarh

Toranas

Gateways in the stone fence around a stupa are located at the cardinal points of the compass and depict narratives about the past lives of Buddha

Halo, urna, elongated earlobes, mudra gestures, and ushnisha.

The Buddha can be identified through a variety of iconographic elements.

Linga with Yoni

Aniconic depiction of Shiva celebrates the generative creation of male and female aspects of the universe