ICONOGRAPHY OF THE BUDDHIST SCULPTURE OF ORISSA

THOMAS E. DONALDSON

2001, xxi+792pp., (2 vols. text & plates), figs., gloss, bibl., index, ISBN:81-7017-375-2 (set) Rs. 4000 (HB)

The present book on the iconography of the Buddhist sculptures of Orissa utilizes the author’s expertise of Orissan Brāmanical art to develop a similar consistent and reliable iconographic and stylistic evolution for the Buddhist art of Orissa and its adherence to, or deviation from, surviving textual iconographic peculiarities. There is little doubt that Orissa played a major role in the creation, development and dissemination of Buddhist doctrines and concepts throughout India and the Buddhist world, particularly in respect to Vajrayāna Buddhism and the iconography of sculptural maṇḍalas. Particular emphasis in this book is placed on the reciprocal influence between Brāhmanical and Buddhist art in Orissa, both religions expanding at the same time in regard to the proliferation of deities and their variant forms, and each apparently competing with the other for patronage and converts.