Abstract
The interpretation of early Buddha images with a crown has long been a source of debate. Many scholars have concluded that the iconography of the crown is intended to denote Śākyamuni as a cakravartin or universal Buddha. A few have suggested it represents a sambhogakāya Buddha in Mahāyāna Buddhism. This art historical and Buddhological study examines the visual record of early crowned Buddhas along the Silk Road, focusing on the iconographic signifiers of the crown, silk items, and ornaments, and interprets them within a broader framework of Buddhist theoretical principals and practice. Not only is this a visual analysis of iconography, it also considers contemporary Buddhist literary evidence that shows the development of the iconography and ideology of the crowned Buddha. As a result of this examination, I propose that the recurring iconographic evidence and the textual evidence underscore the intention to depict a form of sambhogakāya Buddha as an early esoteric meditational construct. Moreover, many Buddhas perform one of the two mudrās that are particular to the esoteric form of Vairocana Buddha. Therefore, the iconography also signifies the ideology of the archetypal Ādi Buddha as an esoteric conception.
Highlights
The paradigm of the crowned Buddha figures found along the transcontinental travel system of theSilk Road has been a discourse in scholarship for many years
Using more recent publications on Buddhist iconography and Vajrayāna Buddhism (Huntington and Bangdel 2003; Chandrasekhar 2004; Twist 2011), I show that an examination of these images with their coded visual language within a larger Buddhist framework underscores the intention to depict a form of a sambhogakāya Buddha or enjoyment body nature of a meditational construct that relates to early
Buddha figures from the extant visual record of the Silk Road
Summary
The paradigm of the crowned Buddha figures found along the transcontinental travel system of the. The most prevalent interpretation for this iconography is that the crown is used to denote a Buddha as a cakravartin or universal sovereign Under this ideology, the historical Śākyamuni Buddha has been given new, transcendent powers within Mahāyāna Buddhism.. Foundukistan, Had.d.a, Gandhara, Swat, Kashmir, Tibet, Gilgit, and Baltistan or Bolōr (today known as Northern Pakistan) Using this visual record, I first demonstrate that there are recurring core iconographic elements on the crowned Buddhas with underlying symbolism. Using more recent publications on Buddhist iconography and Vajrayāna Buddhism (Huntington and Bangdel 2003; Chandrasekhar 2004; Twist 2011), I show that an examination of these images with their coded visual language within a larger Buddhist framework underscores the intention to depict a form of a sambhogakāya Buddha or enjoyment body nature of a meditational construct that relates to early. Klimburg-Salter (1989) stated that this ceremony was found in China from the sixth to eighth century and Japan from the sixth to the 11th century
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