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"Gandharan"
Kushan sculpture |
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The Buddha was sometimes depicted "aniconically,"
merely by means of his footsteps or other symbols |
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As time passed, and Buddhist theology developed,
there were more and more "Bodhisattvas," or Buddhas-in-the-making, in addition
to the original Gautama himself |
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This 3rd-c. Bodhisattva, probably representing
the future Buddha himself, wears what may be a particular, recognizable
form of tribal turban, and even has a moustache |
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Buddhism remained popular all over North
India during the early centuries CE, and competed with the evolving post-vedic
religious traditions embodied in the two great epics |
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Especially during this early period, Jainism
too was a powerful religious competitor; its imagery was part of a common
vocabulary of artistic forms and shapes that it shared with Buddhism and
Hinduism |
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Pingala, an attendant of Surya, was also
identified with Agni, and had Zoroastrian overtones as well |
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A figure in Sassanian robes, 6th/7th c.,
from the Salt Hills, could be either Shiva, or a provincial governor |
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