Dynamic encounters: use of a Hellenistic motif in the story of Aṅgulimāla in Gandhāran art.

Lakshminarayanan, Ashwini ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4077-5110 2021. Dynamic encounters: use of a Hellenistic motif in the story of Aṅgulimāla in Gandhāran art. Parthica: Incontri di culture nel mondo antico 23 , pp. 97-109. 10.19272/202103501006

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Abstract

Ancient Gandhāra was located in the Peshawar valley and its artistic influence can be detected in modern Pakistan, North-western India, and parts of North-eastern Afghanistan from the first to fourth century CE. Literary and archaeological evidence from this region highlights its importance along ancient trade routes connecting the Mediterranean, the Near East, Central Asia, India, and China. Within this context, this article will demonstrate how western motifs were adapted and used in the Gandhāran repertoire using the reliefs depicting the story of Aṅgulimāla. Aṅgulimāla was a violent brigand who wore the fingers of his victims like a garland. He wished to kill his own mother, but the Buddha intervened and stopped him. Their interaction resulted in the conversion of the brigand and his entry into the Buddhist community as a peaceful monk. The story was well known and was depicted in both stone reliefs and wall paintings within Gandhāra. The violent nature of Aṅgulimāla and his passion to kill were conveyed in Gandhāran art using the ‘hair-pulling’ motif. The motif was popular in Hellenistic art and is also found in portable objects recovered from Central Asia and North-western India. This study aims to show that the presence of this motif in the Gandhāran Buddhist artistic repertoire was a direct consequence of the economic, political, and cultural interaction between the East and the West during the Kuṣāṇa rule.

Item Type:	Article
Status:	Published
Schools:	History, Archaeology and Religion
Publisher:	Fabrizio Serra editore
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	8 April 2024
Date of Acceptance:	1 March 2020
Last Modified:	11 Dec 2024 14:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/167814

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