spirits standing apart from the everyday world. The
Gandhara images resemble Hellenistic figural and re-
lief traditions first imported with Alexander the Great
when he conquered the area in 327 B.C.E. The Gan-
dhara buddha looks like a perfect, sensuous human
being—a nobleman wearing heavy monk’s robes.
Narrative reliefs of the Buddha’s life also flourished
at this time, especially in the Gandhara region, now
freely using the figure of the Buddha in the scenes. The
Gandhara scenes are very like those found on Roman
sarcophagi—set pieces in niches separated by Western-
style columns and pediments. Reliefs from the third
and fourth centuries at Amaravatin south India also
began to include images of the Buddha.
Gupta period “classical” style (fourth to sixth
centuries C.E.)
The disparate styles of Kushan Mathuraand Gandhara
blended into an eloquent compromise during the fifth-
century C.E. hegemony of the famous Gupta clan. The
Gupta “classical” style became the prototype for Bud-
dha images throughout Asia. A sandstone image found
at Sarnath, the site of the Buddha’s first sermon, ex-
emplifies this style—sensuous human volumes com-
bined with abstract religious symbolism. The
ornamental finesse of this style was to be admired and
imitated throughout South and Southeast Asia for cen-
turies. It also provided the visual vocabulary for much
of the religious art in Central Asia, China, Korea, and
Japan. Although in India the remaining Gupta period
images are usually stone, metal-cast images were also
commissioned and exported. A larger than life-size
copper alloy sculpture weighing about one metric ton
was found at Sultangañj in Bihar.
The Guptas arose as the first major Indian dynasty
since the Mauryas, but they maintained missionary
and trade relationships with Central, Southeast, and
East Asia. Although the rulers were themselves mostly
Hindu, they sponsored a rich environment for the
flourishing of a variety of art forms and dedications,
from Hindu plays to Buddhist monuments. Mathura
continued to be a major artistic center, but Sarnath
arose as the leading innovator of the style. As the Bud-
dha image became firmly established as the primary
focus of Buddhist devotions, aniconic expressions of
the religion, such as the stupa, became less important
in India in favor of temples to enshrine statues of Bud-
dhist figures. During the fifth century, Gupta-style
buddhas were placed at each of the gateways of the
Great Stupa at Sañc.
The multi-tiered MAHABODHI TEMPLE tower at
BODH GAYA in Bihar, the site where the Buddha
reached enlightenment, was first built during the
Gupta hegemony. A descendant of the bodhi tree un-
der which the Buddha sat is enshrined there and the
site remains a major pilgrimage destination for Bud-
dhists. The outer facets of the temple have enumerable
niches for Gupta-style images of the Buddha and bo-
dhisattvas. Miniature votive temples are placed around
the main structure, intermingled with remains of ear-
lier stupa railings, shrines, and altars, providing im-
portant archaeological evidence of the development of
pilgrimage site arts. At Bharhut and Sañcthere are
clear reliefs showing what the earlier Bodh Gaya
shrines looked like.INDIA, BUDDHISTART IN
Buddha Preaching the First Sermon, Sarnath, India, about
465–485, buff sandstone. Archaeological Museum, Sarnath. Re-
produced by permission. This Buddha image embodies the Gupta
style that became an international model for Buddhas through-
out Asia.