Brahmanism and Buddhism adopted symbol and image worship
almost simultaneously in the pre and early centuries of the
Christian era. With the passage of time, the forms and
plethora evolved and despite several distinctive features
common elements between the two religions continue and
fructified. The fact is revealed both at the philosophical and
artistic levels.
The present volume is the outcome of the well discussed
theories by the experts, assembled in an International meet on
the subject in February 2003 at Jnana-Pravaha, Varanasi,
organized in the joint collaboration of Acharya Narendra Dev
International Research Institute for Buddhist Studies,
Lucknow.
The book incorporates a good number of papers dealing with
philosophical and artistic interaction between Brahmanism and
Buddhism for more than a millennium years. The interaction was
largely peaceful but there were certain phases in the Medieval
period when clash also surfaced. It was most profound in the
region of art and architecture, as a result of which some
similarities as well as unique features between the two had
emerged. All these aspects have been brilliantly discussed and
specific references to famous places associated with
Brahmanical and Buddhist arts in Asia as well as textual
references to unravel basic iconographical principles have
been adequately reflected in the present volume.
The book besides being useful to scholars and students
researching on ancient Indian art and architecture would
appeal to general readers interested to know more about
India's glorious art traditions.
Author Description
Prof. R.C. Sharma headed important Museums of the
country like Government Museum, Mathura; State Museum,
Lucknow; Indian Museum, Kolkata and finally, the National
Museum, New Delhi as the Director General and Vice-Chancellor,
National Museum Institute. He also served the Banaras Hidnu
University as the Director, Bharat Kala Bhavan and Professor
of Indian Art and Museology. Presently, he is the Honorary
Director/Acharya of Jnana-Pravaha - Center for Cultural
Studies, Varanasi. Beside authoring several books and editing
journals and bulletins in the field of early Indian art, he
has contributed a large number of papers published in India
and abroad.
Dr. Pranati Ghosal is a promising scholar in the
field of Sanskrit and Vedic studies and engaged in the Indira
Gandhi National Center for the Arts, Varanasi Branch. She has
contributed brilliant papers in different seminars and
co-edited five issues of the Annual Research Bulletin and
twelve proceedings of Jnana-Pravaha. Her book Prasnavali has
already seen the light of the day and the other book Lifestyle
of Vedic People is in the process of publication.
Besides the present volume, the two authors have co-edited
another impressive book on Buddhism and Gandhara Art.
