One hundred and eight niches in the low base of the
andacontain statues of AMITABHA.
The earliest representations of monastic architec-
ture in Newari style are found in illustrations of praj-
ñaparamitasutras that date to 1015. These buildings
were characterized by a combination of plain brick
walls, with roofs, doors, and windows made of elabo-
rately decorated wood, a style possibly derived from
Gupta architecture. Such structures are also charac-
terized by slanting struts supporting the weight of the
projecting roofs, which sometimes have Chinese-
looking upturned corners.
In Nepal, there is a close technical and structural
parallelism between nonreligious and monastic build-
ings, whether Buddhist or brahmanic. Three or four
upper stories were often added to such buildings be-
ginning in about the fourteenth century. Nepalese
monasteries and temple complexes consisted of a
square courtyard surrounded by buildings, with a main
chapel at the end of the central axis. The center of the
courtyard was sometimes occupied by a caitya or a
mandala structure.
The coexistence of Buddhism and Brahmanism in
Nepal resulted in a similarity in iconographical types
and forms. The earliest stone and wood sculptures of
bodhisattvas in the Licchavi period (300–850) show a
relationship to Kushan or Gupta art, but certain in-
fluences from Sarnath may also be observed. During
the Thakuri phase (beginning about 1480) some Pala
influences became apparent, and between the four-
teenth and seventeenth centuries, there develops a dis-
tinctive Newari style that can no longer be labeled as
a regional variety of Indian art. In this style, the sculp-
tural surfaces, especially of bronze figures, is smooth
and usually gilded. There are no obvious stylistic
changes over longer periods, although a predilection
for sensual representations of Avalokites ́vara and the
female deity Vasudharabegan in the eleventh century.
After 1278 Newari artists were frequently employed by
Tibetan monasteries, including the famous Aniko.
In part because of differences in architectural struc-
tures, murals played a much smaller role in Buddhist
painting in Nepal than in Ladakh or Tibet. Instead,
narrative scenes and holy figures of the pantheon were
painted on cotton and mounted as movable hangingHIMALAYAS, BUDDHISTART INA mural depicting a many-headed, many-armed bodhisattva Avalokites ́vara at the ancient Buddhist center of Alchi, in Ladakh, India.
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