My Monthly Archives: January 2019
Gupta Art at Sarnath
The reliefs of abstract designs on the side of the Great Stupa at Sarnath date from around 500 CE, the Gupta-era in north India. But there had been an earlier stupa on the site, founded by the Emperor Ashoka around 235 BCE.
Gold for God
In Buddhism, worshiping at a site sometimes involves bringing gold leaf and adhering it to a sacred statue or to sacred stones. Here, at Sarnath, devotees have left a patchwork of gold foil on a temple wall.
Pilgrims to Sarnath
A line of pilgrims make the rounds at the Buddhist site at Sarnath, India.
Sarnath Stupas 1
These little domical shrines are mini-stupas (see below), donated by pilgrims to the site at Sarnath. In the background, Buddhist nuns are making their pilgrimage.
Sarnath Stupas
Each of these rectangular brick bases at Sarnath once held a stupa, or small reliquary chamber symbolic of Buddhist devotion. These stupas were all votive stupas donated as gifts to the Buddha.
Offerings
Hindu priests receive offerings on the ghats of the Ganges at Varanasi, India.
Ghats of Ganges
A scene of the ghats of the Ganges River at Shiva’s Holy city of Varanasi.
Ganges Worshippers
This is a scene of worshippers along the banks of the Ganges River in Varanasi. The fellow to the right, if you note, seems to be fishing. Follow his line to the splash that has caught the attention of the woman in the sari on the left. He’s not exactly fishing, at least not for fish. At the end of his line are heavy magnets, by which he hopes to retrieve lost coins and jewelry.
Blue Bull
A Nilgai, or ‘Blue Bull’, at Ranthambore Game Preserve, India (see below about 7 posts for more of Ranthambore). The Nilgai is the largest antelope in Asia. In this light you can see the slight blue tint of its hide.
Mother River
A scene along the Ganges River at Varanasi, India. The gulls look for fishermen, hoping to share their meager catch.
Good Morning Ganga
Here, young Hindu priests perform the puja or offerings ceremonies on the banks of the Ganga (Ganges) River in India. They welcome the sun as it rises over the holy river. Repeatedly, as if to coax, they lift their fiery lamps, in imitation of the rising of the sun.
Digital David
This is a common scene now when you go to see Michelangelo’s David in Florence. Lots of people take pictures, and so many seem more intent on taking pictures of the famed statue than actually looking at it. The result is the real David is surrounded by many, many little Davids on little screens, like a sort of Kaleidoscope of David.
Along the Border
This may seem a little abstract, but it’s a detail from a 15th century painting of the Annunciation in Florence. The detail is of the Virgin Mary’s gown, with the Old Testament on her lap. The legend goes that Mary was reading the prophecy in the Old Testament (Isaiah) that the Messiah (Immanuel) would be born of a virgin. Actually, it doesn’t say ‘virgin’ but, you get the idea. Anyway, this is what they thought. So the idea was that at the moment of the Annunciation, when the Archangel Gabriel tells Mary she is pregnant, she becomes the fulfillment of the very prophecy she just read. The thing I want to direct your attention to here, however, is the script that you can see in the gold trim of her gown. It looks like Arabic calligraphy. In 15th century Italy embroidered silks from Islamic lands were prized textiles, and some of them had Arabic writing on them. The Europeans couldn’t understand what the writing meant, but they thought it was an attractive design. So the painter, here, painted pseudo-Arabic designs in the Virgin’s cloak, imitating the designs in the Islamic textiles.
