Entering the Dharmadhātu

A Study of the Gandavyūha Reliefs of Borobudur
Erscheinungsjahr 2012
ISBN: 978-90-04-21122-3
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 26, 258 Seiten, Format (B × H): 222 mm x 313 mm, Gewicht: 945 g

Reihe: Studies in Asian Art and Archaeology

The Gandavyuha, a sacred text of Mahayana Buddhism, is an allegorical tale of the pilgrimage of a youth named Sudhana, who visits fifty-three spiritual mentors to receive their instruction in the Conduct of the Bodhisattva. His miraculous journey on the path towards Enlightenment inspired the sculptors of Borobudur (9th century C.E.) to illustrate the tale in 460 bas-reliefs on the higher galleries of this great Javanese monument. During the 1920s N.J. Krom and F.D.K. Bosch identified many of the panels, but most of their findings, written in Dutch, remained unnoticed. Entering the Dharmadhatu compares the complete set of panels with three early Chinese translations of Central Asian and Indian Sanskrit manuscripts of the Gandavyuha. This first identification of the entire series in English concludes with a discussion of the new perspectives on the meaning, symbolism, and architecture of Borobudur that a reading of the Gandavyuha suggests.

Zielgruppe

Students of Buddhism, ancient Java and Southeast Asian archaeology. University and museum libraries, especially museums with Asian art collections.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Fontein, Jan

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Archäologie spezieller Regionen und Zeitalter
• Geisteswissenschaften Kunst Kunststile Asiatische Kunst
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Buddhismus

Über Autor(innen)

Fontein, Jan
Jan Fontein, Ph.D. (1966) Leiden University in Far Eastern languages and Southeast Asian archaeology, was Curator of the Museum of Asiatic Art, Amsterdam from 1955 to 1966. From 1966 to 1992 he worked at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, first as curator and later as director. He has published books, exhibition catalogues, and articles on Asian art.