Artist: unknown
Title: The Great Stupa/Mount Meru at Borobudur, Vairochana image
from a perforated stupa, detail
Material: volcanic rock
Site: Borobudur, Central Java, Indonesia
Current Location: in situ
Period/Date: ca. end of the 8th - beginning of the 9th century,
under Shailendra Dynasty
Iconography/Iconology: There are 72 images of Vairocana displaying
dharmachakra, or teaching, in the "see-through," perforated
stupas. For an iconographic discussion, see the iconography
page.
Stylistic Comments: The softly modelled facial features, downcast
eyes, thick lips are reminiscentof the 8th century eastern Indian tradition
at Nalanda, a great Buddhist center of the day. Such styliuistic simsilarities
indicate close contact between the Eastern India and Indonesia.
