Later Buddhist Art
Artist: unknown
Title: Dharmak Stupa, detail of the northwest side
Material: Brick
Site: Sarnath, near Varanasi, India
Current Location: Sarnath, India
Period/Date: Complex history: Gupta (ca. end 5th century) layer is
visible.
Iconography/Iconology: This particular stupa is, apparently, one that
commenorates the site of the first teachings of Sakyamuni. However, there
are other stupas at the site and no archaeological evidence has come to
light to determine the orignial intent, other than the building of a stupa
to commemorate Sakyamuni Buddha.
Stylistic Comments: The richly carved brickwork is the only surviving
example in India of this type of stupa ornamentation. Believed to date
from the late Gupta period, it compares in conception, to the luxurious
richness to the paintings in the Ajanta Caves. How common or wide-spread
this technique was is unknown. The vine scroll and fretwork motifs have
survived to the present in Nepali and Tibetan painting.
