Digitization of Gandharan Artefacts

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Digitization of Gandharan Artefacts

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07/02/2024

The is part of a curvilinear frieze depicting scenes from the Last Existence. The scene on the right is unidentified, while the one on the left depicts the Visit to the Ascetic. Siddhārtha enters a grove where he meets a group of brahmins. One of them describes to him the ascetic practices.
Siddhārtha, is standing in three quarter profile slightly bowing toward an ascetic. He holds a hem of the overrobe with his left hand, while the right is up probably in a gesture of conversation/question. He has a plain nimbus. He is followed by Vajrapaṇi, that is only wearing a short dhotī leaving a protruding belly uncovered. He holds the vajra in his left hand. Vajrapaṇi emerges from a city door, he and Siddhārtha are leaving the city to enter the wilderness where the ascetics reside.
In front of the bodhisattva there is a seated elderly ascetic. Behind him another similar elderly ascetic kneels on the ground in right profile, the left knee up and leaning on a staff.
The complete catalogue entry and more pictures are freely available online at https://heidicon.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ #/detail/23824929

31/01/2024

Today’s is part of a frieze depicting two separate narrative scenes. The scene on the right represents a Bodhisattva in Tuṣita Heaven. The scene on the left depicts the Great Departure. Prince Siddhārtha leaves the palace at night mounting his horse Kaṇṭhaka and accompanied by his loyal charioteer Chandaka. According to Buddhist literary accounts, spirits supported the hooves of the horse to prevent noise and wake up Siddhārtha’s family. On the right, Siddhārtha is riding Kaṇṭhaka, behind the Bodhisattva, Vajrapāṇi emerges from the background holding an hourglass-shaped vajra in his left hand. In front of Kaṇṭhaka, Chandaka stands holding an umbrella with plain canopy toward the Bodhisattva. On the left, a figure alternatively identified as Māra, Indra, or Vaiśravana-Kubera is standing with his right hand open down with the palm facing out. The complete catalogue entry and more pictures are freely available online at https://heidicon.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ #/detail/23789156 Centrum für Religionswissenschaftliche Studien Directorate of Archaeology & Museums, KP

24/01/2024

With this we continue to look into the Princely Life of Siddhārtha. In this frieze with two superimposed registers, the lower one preserves two separate scenes from the Competitions. In order to win the young Yaśodharā over, Prince Siddhārtha proves his physical prowess and skills in archery, swordsmanship, wrestling, and other athletic practices. The upper scene originally depicted a row of figures in various attitudes. The lower scenes are separated by a framed half-column of the Gandharan-Corinthian type. The scene on the right shows the Archery Competition. Siddhārtha engages in an archery contest in which he is asked to use a bow nobody could bend to shoot an arrow at a distant target, succeeding in front of the audience. Two male figures are carved standing back-turned and facing left. That in the centre is drawing a compound bow and is probably to be identified as Siddhārtha. A female figure, probably Yaśodhara, is sitting on the left under the proper left half of a tree. The scene on the left depicts the Wrestling Competition. Siddhārtha has to wrestle with other competitors to prove his worth. In the centre, Siddhārtha is wrestling against a man shown back-turned. Siddhārtha has a plain nimbus. Two similar male figures are standing frontally on the sides, the left figure’s axis is off to the right. The complete catalogue entry and more pictures are freely available online at https://heidicon.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ #/detail/23788066
Centrum für Religionswissenschaftliche Studien Directorate of Archaeology & Museums, KP

17/01/2024

This is part of a frieze relief with two separated scenes from the Princely Life. The scenes are separated by a framed semi-column of the Gandharan-Corinthian type. The scene on the right depicts Siddhārtha in school. Prince Siddhārtha is taken to school to be educated as befits his rank. He proves to be well-learned in all the sciences, including writing. He is sitting frontal with the head turning to his left. He holds a stylus in the right hand and an oblong palm-leaf resting over his legs in the left. On his left a ram is crouching with the head turning back. In the background are three standing figures. On the right, a male and a female figure are facing each other. The female figure is touching her chin with the right hand, and holding a cornucopia in the left. The scene on the left depicts the Archery Competition. We will tell you more about the competitions next week! The complete catalogue entry and more pictures are freely available online at https://heidicon.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ #/detail/1707264
Centrum für Religionswissenschaftliche Studien Directorate of Archaeology & Museums, KP

10/01/2024

We’re back from our winter break and ready to start again our series with scenes from the Life of Buddha. Today we present a relief with two scenes from the Last Existence of the Buddha separated by an encased pilaster of the Gandharan-Corinthian type. The first scene on the right represents the Return to Kapilavastu of the new-born. The next scene represents Siddhārtha’s horoscope. Asita, an old ṛṣi, predicts to Śuddhodana that in the future, his son will either become a universal monarch (cakravartin) or a buddha. In the centre of the scene, King Śuddhodana sits with crossed ankles on his throne with turned legs. His feet are resting on a low stool. On the left of the king, Mahāprajāpatī, Māyā’s sister, is sitting with crossed ankles, her feet are resting on a low stool. Next to the couple, on the left, is Asita sitting holding the infant Bodhisattva in his lap. In the background, in between figures, there are three unidentified elements, probably heads of other figures. The complete catalogue entry and more pictures are freely available online at https://heidicon.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ #/detail/1730301
Centrum für Religionswissenschaftliche Studien Directorate of Archaeology & Museums, KP

20/12/2023

Today's depicts the First Bath of Siddhārtha. Soon after his birth, Prince Siddhārtha walks seven steps and proclaims this was his last rebirth. Then, two streams of water poured by gods wash the body of the newborn. The infant is standing on a stool, of which only the outline is preserved. On both his sides, a kneeling female figure in profile is washing Siddhārtha. Indra and Brahma are pouring water from a globular pot over Siddhārtha. On both extreme sides, two male standing figures are depicted. The complete catalogue entry and more pictures are freely available online at https://heidicon.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ #/detail/1719566
Centrum für Religionswissenschaftliche Studien Directorate of Archaeology & Museums, KP

We will be back with our after the festivities!

13/12/2023

Today we present the fourth dedicated to the life of Buddha. This frieze with two separated scenes shows events from the Birth Cycle. The scenes are separated by a framed semi-column of the Gandharan-Corinthian type. The scene on the left represents the Buddha’s birth. In the Lumbinī Park, Māyā gives birth to Siddhārtha holding the branches of a śāla tree. The infant Siddhārtha emerges from her right side. Gods and supernatural beings witness the event. Māyā is standing frontal, the right hand is reaching for a branch of a śala tree, as seen in other reliefs. Her left arm is wrapped around the back of the female attendant on her left. On her right, Indra is about to receive the infant Siddhārtha in a swaddling cloth. On the left, next to the female attendant there is a male figure, probably Brahmā, who joins his hands in a gesture of adoration. The complete catalogue entry and more pictures are freely available online at https://heidicon.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ #/detail/23793898

Centrum für Religionswissenschaftliche Studien Directorate of Archaeology & Museums, KP

06/12/2023

Part of a relief with episodes from the Birth Cycle.
The extant scene on the left depicts the Interpretation of Māyā’s dream. After dreaming of an elephant entering her side, Māyā and Śuddodhana ask Asita about the meaning of this dream. The wise man says the queen has been chosen as the mother of a great being.
The royal couple is sitting and turned towards their right. Śuddhodana holds a flower in the right hand, the left is resting on the knee. Māyā is carrying a flower in both hands.
Next to them is a young brahmin standing frontal. On the extreme left, an elder brahmin is sitting in three quarter view to his left. His right hand is clenched, the left one is holding a kamaṇḍalu. The complete catalogue entry and more pictures are freely available online at https://heidicon.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ #/detail/1748482
Centrum für Religionswissenschaftliche Studien Directorate of Archaeology & Museums, KP

29/11/2023

Today's is a narrative relief depicting Māyā’s dream. Māyā, the queen consort of king Śuddhodana, dreams of a white elephant entering her womb through her right side. As soon as she wakes up, she finds out to be pregnant. Māyā is reclining on a bed on her left side, her head is laying on a high pillow and looking back. Her right hand rests on her raised knee. The bed has turned legs, a drape hanging on the front, and a small footstool. Above the figure, a small elephant in a nimbus descends toward the sleeping queen. On both sides of the bed are two mirroring female guardians holding a spear in one hand, while the other is on the hip. The complete catalogue entry and more pictures are freely available online at https://heidicon.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ #/detail/1730311
Centrum für Religionswissenschaftliche Studien Directorate of Archaeology & Museums, KP

22/11/2023

With this we inaugurate a series on the life of Buddha, starting with one of his previous lives. This panel depicts the Dīpaṃkara Legend. According to the story, the bodhisattva as the ascetic Sumati pays homage to Dīpaṃkara – a buddha of the past – by launching flowers obtained from a woman and by spreading his hair on the ground to make a passage over the mud for the Awakened One. Then, Sumati vows to become a buddha in the future and Dīpaṃkara predicts that this will indeed happen in a future existence.

The scene is enclosed between two half-columns of the Gandharan-Corinthian type, the shafts of which are decorated with a very short flute with convex lower bevelled end and concave upper bevelled end.

Sumati is depicted four times. He is standing in the center towards Dīpaṃkara on the right. On the left, a woman gives the lotus flowers to a second Sumati. Next is another Sumati prostrating himself before the Buddha Dīpaṃkara and spreading his hair onto the ground. The Buddha Dīpaṃkara, bigger than the other figures, is depicted with a nimbus decorated with the five lotus flowers thrown by Sumati. Sumati then is shown twice on the left upper part of the scene, once flying and once kneeling in añjalimudrā.

It is impressive how Gandharan sculptors found a way to depict a complex narrative in just one scene!

The complete catalogue entry and more pictures are freely available online at https://heidicon.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ #/detail/23788072

Directorate of Archaeology & Museums, KP
Centrum für Religionswissenschaftliche Studien

15/11/2023

This is a favourite of a former team member, our student assistant Sarah Rautert. This fascinating object is a string triangular element of a stair railing representing a winged sea-monster. The figurative field is defined by a plain listel frame. The coiled body occupies the whole figurative field. The complete catalogue entry and more pictures are freely available online at https://heidicon.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ #/detail/1730323

Directorate of Archaeology & Museums, KP Centrum für Religionswissenschaftliche Studien

08/11/2023

Another common iconography in Gandhara is the winged weight-bearer, also referred to as "Atlas", particularly in older literature. This depics a winged weight-bearer sitting with the right leg bent. His right hand is up and open to support a superstructure or a ceiling, while his left hand rests on the raised knee, elbow pointing up. The head is turned three quarters to his left. The face is round, with bulging eyes. The body is sturdy and muscular. The large wings of the figure fill the background. They have parallel lines to indicate the flight feathers. The figure seems to wear a plain loincloth and it is unclear whether his hair is stylized or whether he wears a skull-cap with a rectangular scales pattern.
The complete catalogue entry and more pictures are freely available online at https://heidicon.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/ #/detail/1730315

Directorate of Archaeology & Museums, KP Centrum für Religionswissenschaftliche Studien

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