COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
mediaCollectionId
AMICO~1~1
The AMICA Library
Collection
true
AMICA ID:
ASIA.1987.001
amicoid
ASIA.1987.001
AMICA ID
false
AMICA Library Year:
1999
aly
1999
AMICA Library Year
false
Object Type:
Drawings and Watercolors
oty
Drawings and Watercolors
Object Type
false
Creator Nationality:
Asian; Indian Sub-Continent; Indian
crc
Asian; Indian Sub-Continent; Indian
Creator Nationality
false
Creator Dates/Places:
Eastern Indian
cdt
Eastern Indian
Creator Dates/Places
false
Creator Name-CRT:
Eastern Indian
crt
Eastern Indian
Creator Name-CRT
false
Title:
Five Leaves from an Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita Manuscript. Leaf A: Prajnaparamita and Scenes of the Buddha's Life, c. 1073. Leaf B: Bodhisattva Manjushri and Scenes of the Buddha's Life, c. 1073. Leaf C: Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara and Scenes of the Buddha's Life, c. 1151. Leaf D: Tara and Scenes of the Buddha's Life, c. 1151. Leaf E: Leaf with colophon
otn
Five Leaves from an Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita Manuscript. Leaf A: Prajnaparamita and Scenes of the Buddha's Life, c. 1073. Leaf B: Bodhisattva Manjushri and Scenes of the Buddha's Life, c. 1073. Leaf C: Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara and Scenes of the Buddha's Life, c. 1151. Leaf D: Tara and Scenes of the Buddha's Life, c. 1151. Leaf E: Leaf with colophon
Title
false
View:
Full view
rid
Full view
View
false
Creation Date:
Pala period, c. 1073-1151
oct
Pala period, c. 1073-1151
Creation Date
false
Creation Start Date:
1073
ocs
1073
Creation Start Date
false
Creation End Date:
1151
oce
1151
Creation End Date
false
Materials and Techniques:
Ink and opaque watercolor on palm leaf
omd
Ink and opaque watercolor on palm leaf
Materials and Techniques
false
Creation Place:
India, Bihar, Nalanda monastery
ocp
India, Bihar, Nalanda monastery
Creation Place
false
Dimensions:
Each approx. 2 7/8 x 22 3/8 in. (7.3 x 56.8 cm)
met
Each approx. 2 7/8 x 22 3/8 in. (7.3 x 56.8 cm)
Dimensions
false
AMICA Contributor:
Asia Society
oon
Asia Society
AMICA Contributor
false
Owner Location:
New York, New York, USA
oop
New York, New York, USA
Owner Location
false
ID Number:
1987.001
ooa
1987.001
ID Number
false
Credit Line:
Asia Society: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Acquisitions Fund
ooc
Asia Society: Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Acquisitions Fund
Credit Line
false
Rights:
orl
<a href="http://www.asiasociety.org"target="_new">http://www.asiasociety.org</a>
Rights
false
Context:
Buddhist paintings are found in cave temples, halls of worship and meditation, and scriptural texts. The production of Buddhist manuscripts--which are made of talipot palm leaves strung together with cord--illustrated with images of various Buddhist deities, scenes from the life of Shakyamuni, or both of these motifs flourished in Bihar and Bengal under the rule of the Pala kings during the 11th and 12th centuries.
Four leaves of a manuscript from eastern India of the Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra (Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines), dated to c. 1073, are illustrated with scenes from the life of the Buddha interspersed with images of deities. The Perfection of Wisdom Sutra is one of the earliest known texts of Mahayana Buddhism; sections of it may have been formulated as early as the 2nd century BCE and it is believed to have been completed by the 2nd century CE.
Several inscriptions in Sanskrit and Tibetan (written on leaf E) provide a rare history of the origin of this book. The Sanskrit colophon records the donation of the manuscript by a devotee named Nae Suta Shoha Sitna and lists the name of the scribe as Ananda, of the famous Nalanda monastery in Bihar. The offering was made in the fifteenth year of the rule of King Vigrahapala, son of Nayapala. Nayapala ruled from about 1042 to 1058; the fifteenth year of King Vigrahapala's rule would be around 1073, thereby giving a date for the production of this manuscript. A second Sanskrit inscription records a rededication of the manuscript in 1151. Manuscripts such as this were considered sacred objects and used for teaching and possibly as the focus of meditation. As a result, rededications and repairs were common.
The first of the three Tibetan inscriptions translates the Sanskrit, while the second and third trace the history of this Indian book in Tibet. Once owned by the Kashmiri monk Mahapandita Shakya Shri, who was active in Tibet from 1204 to 1213, the manuscr
cxd
Buddhist paintings are found in cave temples, halls of worship and meditation, and scriptural texts. The production of Buddhist manuscripts--which are made of talipot palm leaves strung together with cord--illustrated with images of various Buddhist deities, scenes from the life of Shakyamuni, or both of these motifs flourished in Bihar and Bengal under the rule of the Pala kings during the 11th and 12th centuries.<P>Four leaves of a manuscript from eastern India of the <I>Ashtasahasrika Prajnaparamita Sutra</I> (<I>Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines</I>), dated to c. 1073, are illustrated with scenes from the life of the Buddha interspersed with images of deities. The <I>Perfection of Wisdom Sutra</I> is one of the earliest known texts of Mahayana Buddhism; sections of it may have been formulated as early as the 2nd century BCE and it is believed to have been completed by the 2nd century CE.</P><P>Several inscriptions in Sanskrit and Tibetan (written on leaf E) provide a rare history of the origin of this book. The Sanskrit colophon records the donation of the manuscript by a devotee named Nae Suta Shoha Sitna and lists the name of the scribe as Ananda, of the famous Nalanda monastery in Bihar. The offering was made in the fifteenth year of the rule of King Vigrahapala, son of Nayapala. Nayapala ruled from about 1042 to 1058; the fifteenth year of King Vigrahapala's rule would be around 1073, thereby giving a date for the production of this manuscript. A second Sanskrit inscription records a rededication of the manuscript in 1151. Manuscripts such as this were considered sacred objects and used for teaching and possibly as the focus of meditation. As a result, rededications and repairs were common.</P><P>The first of the three Tibetan inscriptions translates the Sanskrit, while the second and third trace the history of this Indian book in Tibet. Once owned by the Kashmiri monk Mahapandita Shakya Shri, who was active in Tibet from 1204 to 1213, the manuscr
Context
false
Related Document Description:
Huntington, Susan L., and John C. Huntington. Leaves from the Bodhi Tree: The Art of Pala India (8th-12th Centuries) and Its International Legacy. Dayton and Seattle: Dayton Art Institute and University of Washington Press, 1990, pp. 185-89.
rdd
Huntington, Susan L., and John C. Huntington. <I>Leaves from the Bodhi Tree: The Art of Pala India (8th-12th Centuries) and Its International Legacy.</I> Dayton and Seattle: Dayton Art Institute and University of Washington Press, 1990, pp. 185-89.
Related Document Description
false
Related Document Description:
Treasures of Asian Art: Selections from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, The Asia Society, New York. Hong Kong and Singapore: Hong Kong Museum of Art and National Museum Singapore, 1993, pp. 182-83, 184, 185.
rdd
<I>Treasures of Asian Art: Selections from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, The Asia Society, New York.</I> Hong Kong and Singapore: Hong Kong Museum of Art and National Museum Singapore, 1993, pp. 182-83, 184, 185.
Related Document Description
false
Related Document Description:
Treasures of Asian Art: Selections from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, The Asia Society, New York. Tokyo: Idemitsu Museum of Arts, 1992, pp. 54, 55, 125-26.
rdd
<I>Treasures of Asian Art: Selections from the Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection, The Asia Society, New York.</I> Tokyo: Idemitsu Museum of Arts, 1992, pp. 54, 55, 125-26.
Related Document Description
false
Related Image Identifier Link:
ASIA.1987.001.a.tif
ril
ASIA.1987.001.a.tif
Related Image Identifier Link
false