One from Tapan in West Dinajpur and another from Ghatnagar Porsha in Rajshahi (fig 10), both in the Varendra Research Museum, open up a new compositional diversion. Same may be said about another image of the same museum, showing Laksmi-Narayana in a pose not unlike that of Uma-Maheshvara. The Laksmi-Narayana couple (H. 24.4 cm) from Ehnail, West Dinajpur (fig 11), in their softly modelled embracing composition represents one of the most impressive sculptures of the century.
In comparison the Uma-Maheshvara (H. 35 cm) from Boram in the Purulia district of West Bengal, and preserved in the State Archaeological Museum in Calcutta, shows a distinctively different style. Here the God and the Goddess are also in an embracing position but in a detached mood befitting of a divine couple. But an interesting aspect of the image is its dichotomy in style. While the Maheshvara is presented with stance and features of the post-Gupta norms, the Uma is in the form of a woman of local ethnic type with wide-open eyes. In Bengal sculptures presence of the local popular trend is however found throughout the Pala-Sena period. Another interesting collection of the West Bengal State Archaeological Museum is the Kartikeya, found in the Kalikamora village in West Dinajpur. The god along with his vehicle peacock, on which he flies, is modelled in extreme pliability, as if not in black stone but clay, and moves lively in an informal way.
Tenth-century Bengal is also rich in Buddhist sculptures, both in stone and bronze, possibly more in bronze than stone. An interesting stone image of a Buddha in earth-touching pose (H. 69 cm), now in the State Archaeological Museum in Calcutta, comes from Bareya in the Nadia district. It shows the Master in the post-Gupta proportions but with an elaborate aureole, which represents five dhyani Buddhas above and two Bodhisattvas on two sides. What is significant is the conical shape of the usnisa crowned by a stupa-like object. This peculiarity of Buddha head is a typical development in the Pala period and the type of image later travelled from Bengal to Myanmar and Thailand.
Though some bronze Buddhas have appeared in different places of north Bengal, the important centre of it was southeast Bengal, which was known as Samatata or Harikela. The country was ruled from the middle of the 8th to the middle of the 11th centuries by two successive dynasties, Deva and Chandra, the kings of which were devout Buddhists. Archaeological discoveries at Mainamati-Devaparvata in Comilla district have revealed a number of Buddhist monasteries and stupas, as also a large quantity of terracotta plaques and stone and bronze images. Most of the bronze Buddhas of the site, generally small in size, show a physiognomic type with a weird look representing a popular art ideal.
Jhewari, a village about 16 km south-southeast from the city of Chittagang, is known for yielding a hoard of bronze sculptures consisting of sixty-one Buddhist images. These images were cast between the late 7th and the middle of the 11th centuries, but majority of them was of the 10th. They therefore represent the second phase of Buddhist bronzes, if we regard the early ninth century Nalanda bronzes associated with the Pala king Devapala as of the first phase. The Jhewari Buddhas are of three distinct stylistic types. The first type, represented by standing Buddha in diaphanous robes and protecting gesture, is unmistakably of the Sarnath style. The second type Buddhas are of the same popular style as the above-described Mainamati Buddhas. In the third type we find the stamp of the genius of the Chittagang artists, for they present one of the most exquisite Buddha forms ever cast or carved. The type shows the Master in his earth-touching pose, seated on a cushion. The finest examples of the type bear certain physical and stylistic features that make them distinct from their Nalanda counterparts. (11 of 16)
In comparison the Uma-Maheshvara (H. 35 cm) from Boram in the Purulia district of West Bengal, and preserved in the State Archaeological Museum in Calcutta, shows a distinctively different style. Here the God and the Goddess are also in an embracing position but in a detached mood befitting of a divine couple. But an interesting aspect of the image is its dichotomy in style. While the Maheshvara is presented with stance and features of the post-Gupta norms, the Uma is in the form of a woman of local ethnic type with wide-open eyes. In Bengal sculptures presence of the local popular trend is however found throughout the Pala-Sena period. Another interesting collection of the West Bengal State Archaeological Museum is the Kartikeya, found in the Kalikamora village in West Dinajpur. The god along with his vehicle peacock, on which he flies, is modelled in extreme pliability, as if not in black stone but clay, and moves lively in an informal way.
Tenth-century Bengal is also rich in Buddhist sculptures, both in stone and bronze, possibly more in bronze than stone. An interesting stone image of a Buddha in earth-touching pose (H. 69 cm), now in the State Archaeological Museum in Calcutta, comes from Bareya in the Nadia district. It shows the Master in the post-Gupta proportions but with an elaborate aureole, which represents five dhyani Buddhas above and two Bodhisattvas on two sides. What is significant is the conical shape of the usnisa crowned by a stupa-like object. This peculiarity of Buddha head is a typical development in the Pala period and the type of image later travelled from Bengal to Myanmar and Thailand.
Though some bronze Buddhas have appeared in different places of north Bengal, the important centre of it was southeast Bengal, which was known as Samatata or Harikela. The country was ruled from the middle of the 8th to the middle of the 11th centuries by two successive dynasties, Deva and Chandra, the kings of which were devout Buddhists. Archaeological discoveries at Mainamati-Devaparvata in Comilla district have revealed a number of Buddhist monasteries and stupas, as also a large quantity of terracotta plaques and stone and bronze images. Most of the bronze Buddhas of the site, generally small in size, show a physiognomic type with a weird look representing a popular art ideal.
Jhewari, a village about 16 km south-southeast from the city of Chittagang, is known for yielding a hoard of bronze sculptures consisting of sixty-one Buddhist images. These images were cast between the late 7th and the middle of the 11th centuries, but majority of them was of the 10th. They therefore represent the second phase of Buddhist bronzes, if we regard the early ninth century Nalanda bronzes associated with the Pala king Devapala as of the first phase. The Jhewari Buddhas are of three distinct stylistic types. The first type, represented by standing Buddha in diaphanous robes and protecting gesture, is unmistakably of the Sarnath style. The second type Buddhas are of the same popular style as the above-described Mainamati Buddhas. In the third type we find the stamp of the genius of the Chittagang artists, for they present one of the most exquisite Buddha forms ever cast or carved. The type shows the Master in his earth-touching pose, seated on a cushion. The finest examples of the type bear certain physical and stylistic features that make them distinct from their Nalanda counterparts. (11 of 16)
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