Page 42 - 2022 Abstract Book RUICHSS_2022_11_17 after conference

University of Ruhuna ISSN: 2706-0063
Matara, Sri Lanka

Hellenistic and Indian Iconography in Gandharan Art; with
Special Reference to the Relief of Buddha and Vajrapani at
Jamal Garhi

C.T.S. Sathsara Perera
Department of Western Classical Culture and Christian Culture,
Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya.
sathsi.perera@gmail.com

The Gandhara School of Art carries Hellenistic features that make it distinct from
other schools of art developed in ancient India around the 1st century BCE to the
3rd century CE. Prevailing archaeological evidence from Gandhara unearthed
Buddhist art. The Gandharan site of Jamal Garhi was initially excavated by the
British archaeologist Alexander Cunningham. Cunningham argued that it is
Devadatta who is depicted as the Vajrapani beside the Buddha in Gandharan art.
Later, Oldenburg identified Vajrapani as a counterpart of the Greek deity Hercules.
One of these reliefs illustrates Vajrapani as the protector of the Buddha. The
significance of the selected relief is the illustration of Vajrapani, modeled after the
Greek deity Hercules, who is a full-scale nude backward. None of the Gandharan
art known hitherto has depicted Vajrapani in the nude with the standing Buddha.
The relief will be analyzed focusing on its importance with the Vajrapani. The
fusion of Hellenistic and Indian elements of it will be discussed. Examples from
Greek art and sculptures will be examined to discuss how the Gandharan artist has
amalgamated both Indian and Hellenistic elements in Gandharan art in the service
of the Buddhist devotees in India. Furthermore, it is evident that the artist is
probably a foreigner who works in the service of Buddhism. The Hellenistic
features of the relief support the assumption that the artist should be Greek or was
influenced by Greek culture. Furthermore, it is evident that the artist is not aware
of the Buddhist manner of depicting the enlightened one.

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