I first came across, visual Depiction of Buddhist Tales, in the Amaravati Gallery at Chennai Museum.
Buddhist art normally depicts
- Episodes and scenes from Life of Buddha
- Jataka Tales
across paintings and sculptures.
Because
- I had read most of the Buddhist and Jataka tales (at least the important ones)
- Gopu was extremely lucid & patient in his explanations
I was mesmerized, to say the least of it.
I was mesmerized, to say the least of it.
True to my nature, I went back a couple of times to the Gallery on my own, admiring and understanding, apart from other things, the grammar involved in depicting a story, visually, in such a small area.
Jataka Tales... (To the uninitiated...)
The Jātaka Tales are a voluminous body of literature native to the Indian subcontinent which are mainly concerned with the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. A Jataka tale relates an episode in a past life of the Buddha.
There is always a character in the story who is identified as the Buddha-to-be. He is often (but not always) the hero, usually referred to as Bodhisattva, because he is yet to attain his enlightenment.
Many stories illustrate general Buddhist moral ideals, including honesty, wisdom, kindness, generosity and detachment. Usually it is the Buddha who narrates the story of his past life, in order to explain something about a situation or character that he or his followers have encountered.
Bodhisattvas come in many forms of life. Swans, Deer, Nagas or Snakes, Monkeys, Elephants, and of course Human beings of a lesser order of enlightenment.
Jataka stories were depicted on the railings and torans of the stupas . The circular Medallions in the Chennai Museum are remains from the Stupa at Amaravati.
 |
| Medallions from the Amaravati Stupa - Chennai Museum |
The Amaravati school of art and sculpture is supposed to have flourished in the second century BC especially in the second half.
Satavahanas were the first patrons of this school.
The Major Features of this school include
- The 'narrative art' - The medallions are carved in such a way that they depict an event in a sequential manner.
- In human, animal, and floral forms, there is a sense of movement and vitality, as well as profound and serene naturalism.
- Amravati, Nagarjunikonda, Goli, Ghantasala, and Vengi are notable locales where this style flourished.
I don't know if it was the fact that an ELEPHANT was the central character, portrayed in all its grace, Majesty and grandeur; or the story itself, which was the allure;
But I quickly zeroed in on these 2
- Nalagiri - The Taming of an elephant (Story from Life of Buddha)
- Shaddantajataka (A jataka Tale)
as my favourite panels.
Ajanta...
In early March, when we visited Ajanta, I was eagerly waiting to see these 2 depictions there - in 2D - as paintings.
To my surprise there was an additional tale there(Matriposhaka Jataka), with an elephant as its central character.
Although all the 3 paintings are quite damaged, with the help of earlier photographs and line drawings - we can appreciate both the similarity and subtle differences in the depiction of 'the Elephant and its kin and kith' between these 3 paintings.
Apart from the above, Elephants are also portrayed frequently in many other panels - leading a royal procession, part of a marching retinue going for a war, part of a jungle scene or as a stand alone emblem/motif in the Ceilings/ Pillars.
 |
| Depictions of Elephant(s) in Ajanta |
After coming back, I revisited the Museum, and was struck both by the
- Similarity in the depictions
- Variations obviously due to the difference in media and scale.
Subjugation of Nalagiri
In this tale, Devadutta, a cousin of Buddha wants to seize power of the monastic order and conspires with King Ajatashatru, to kill Buddha. They decide to release a wild elephant named Dhanapala / Nalagiri.
Accordingly when Buddha comes begging for alms, in the main street of Rajagriha, Nalagiri is let out of his stable. The elephant charges into the street, destroying and stamping over all in its path. However when he sees Buddha, he is tamed by Buddha's power of benevolence and bows down on his knees before him.
In Ajanta, this highly damaged panel, is located in the Verandah of Cave 17, on the right side, largely above the Lintel. It can be divided into 5 scenes.
1. Devadutta conspiring with Ajathashatru in his palace.
2. People waiting for Buddha to arrive.
3. Nalagiri released from the stable.
4. Charging down the street.
5. Nalagiri subjugated.
 |
Nalagiri - Cave 17 Verandah - Schlingloff |
Scenes 4 and 5 from the Panel
Nalagiri is portrayed essentially only in Scenes 3,4 and 5. Out of these Scene 3 is largely destroyed.
In the scenes 4 and 5 we can see the Majestic elephant in all its grace and strength - dynamically portrayed,
- First as it charges in the street - personification of power and destruction and
- Later as it bows in front of Buddha, it is portrayed in all its benevolence and submission - seeking Buddhas grace and acceptance.
The beautiful market scene at the back, helps to capture these 2 moods.
- In the first scene people are scared and horrified with shop keepers hurriedly closing their shutters.
- In the 2nd scene, people are awed by Buddhas power and grace, and ladies are cheering and throwing their ornaments as offering.
 |
| Scene 4 - Charging of the Rogue Elephant |
 |
| Scene 5 - Nalagiri's submission and surrender to Buddha |
The scale of Buddha, towering over the entire frame and Nalagiri, and his posture of benevolence, kindness and blessing, complementing the majestic elephant bowing on its all 4s is the beauty of this composition.
The frenzy of activity in the background also contrasts with the minimalistic foreground, highlighting the focus.
Typical of Ajanta art, Architectural elements have been used, effectively, to delineate the individual scenes and connect them into a coherent composition. Some of these are
- The 2 storeyed building in Scene 1 depicting 2 scenes of simultaneous action
- Pavilion in Scene 2 to create focus
- Gates on either side of Scene 3 - acting as transition and depicting the movement of Nalagiri as he is charging
- The series of buildings at the back, in Scenes 4 and 5, creating the space and milieu of the street and helping to create the moods of the people from shock, horror to amazement and happiness at last.
 |
| Amaravathi - Nalagiri Panel |
The story is concise and the 2 important scenes depicted are
- Nalagiri charging and destroying
- Nalagiri subjugated.
The similarities with the depiction in Ajanta (inspite of the variations in scale, size, medium and time period) is amazing.
- Emphasizing on the focal scenes with a dynamic central Nalagiri.
- The 2 contrasting poses of Nalagiri (portrayed even better here).
- Scale of Buddha dominating over Nalagiri and the people.
- Contrasting moods of completely detailed people portrayed on the street and balconies of buildings.
- Use of Architectural elements to depict a space, a scene, movement and transition and the moods of people.
The differences or contrasts, as already mentioned, arise out of the limitations of size and medium.
- Concise and abridged depiction with no preliminaries.
- Fewer people and buildings.
Yet the fluidity of motion and passage and the completeness of the story is retained, making this an absolute masterpiece!
 |
| The 2 poses of Nalagiri and the scale vs Buddha |
 |
| Architectural Elements used to identify space, transition and create moods. |
 |
| A Panel from Goli in Chennai Museum (not on display) |
 |
| Amaravati Panel from British Museum |
 |
| Gandhara Art - Location Unknown |
 |
| 2nd century, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, Central Archaeological Museum in Lahore 3rd century, Pakistan (Gandhara Culture), Kushan Period, Indian Museum, Kolkata. |
 | |
| 2nd-3rd century, Gandhara, Private collection, Indian and Southeast Asian, Christie’s. 3rd-4th century, Gandhara, private collection 4th century, Northwest Frontier, Peshawar, Pakistan, Government Museum.  Undated, Gandhara, Indian Museum in Kolkata (India). 5th century, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, Central Archaeological Museum, Lahore (Pakistan).  Preah Palilay, Angkor, Cambodia (on the Northern Gopuram) |
Yet we can also observe and appreciate the similarities in these depictions
- In their Narrative Format
- Focus on the Primary Scene (Climax of the Story)
- Sense of Scale - Buddha is uniformly larger than Nalagiri
- The quality of Movement, Fluidity and Dynamism within the Panel even though Buddha himself is static (He is not performing like the Hindu sculptures where the God is fighting, dancing, slaying etc).
- People who form part of the scene are completely detailed out including their varied phyiscal actions and expressions.
- Architectural Elements, acting as Integral components, highlighting the sense of identity, space, scale and as backdrops to the focal scene.
This is a true revelation to me and appears unique only to Buddhist Art.
No other form of Indian Art or Western Art seems to have borrowed any of these key elements.
 |
| Modern Depictions of Taming of Nalagiri |
They show no context or identity in the detailing of their people, and architectural elements are non existent. Infact Buddha seems to be taming Nalagiri in some scenic tourist spot, rather than a crowded Market place.
I wonder, if this is how our Art becomes more and more mediocre & root less
- in cutting off its ties with Ancient traditions
- yet not able to establish a relevant modern context or identity leaving it in a limbo of vacuum, showing no evolution or continuum, with our past.
I love the way you have weaved history with art with interesting back stories and context!! So interesting. Travel more and write more!!!! ❤️
ReplyDelete