Mahavira and his Teaching

Author(s): C C Shah, Rishabhdas Ranka, Dalsukh Malvania
Publisher: Bhagwan Mahavir 2500th Nirvan Mahotsava Samiti

Page 473

438
ANAND KRISHNA
the national character of the style, and the grand impact these traditions made on our art. As an instance to prove my view point, I propose to take up the E. Indian extension of the style, which later on overflowed to Nepal.
It appears that the tradition of "farther-eye” was already known to the E. Indian artists since the later Gupta period. A copper seal of a Kumārāmātya, attributed to the eighth century and now in the collection of the Asiatic Society, Bengal, shows standing figure of Laksmī attended by Yaksas on the sides. It is note-worthy that in the either cases of the Yaksa figures, we find the extending farther-eye and the farther eye brow; as if the artist deliberately tried to transform the strict profile face into an one and one quarter (savā-caşma) face by appending the farther-eye and the farther eye brow. The use of one and one quarter profile (savā-caşma) was similarly popular with the W. Indian Apabhramśa painting.
A. K. Coomaraswamy published2 extracts from the Hua Chi of Teng Ch’un (originally published in 1167 A.D.). The text refers to Buddhist paintings at Nālandā. Although there is no reference to the use of “farther-eye" in these paintings yet it is evident that other characteristics of the Apabhramsa paintings were prevalent in the E. Indian paintings from that centre. The text inform us that "the eyes are larger”: although the E. Indian illustrations themselves do not show such treatments (where the half closed meditative" eyes are the norm), yet it is quite possible that the large-eyed Apabhramóa tradition was prevalent in the local or folk style at Nālandā (also see below for similar examples from Bodh Gayā). Similarly, we find from the above Chinese source that the painters at Nālandā used gold and vermilion as the background colour", a characteristic feature, 1. R. D. Banerji, The Age of the Imperial Guptas, Banaras, 1933, pl. 1
Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, "One Hundred References to Indian Paint.
ing", Artibus Asiae, Vol. IV, p. 57 3. Ibid.
2.