The Art of Storytelling: Scenes from the Ramayana on Panels from a Lost Post-Gupta Temple at Rajaona, Bihar

This article focuses on two exquisitely carved stone panels from Rajaona in Lakhisarai district, Bihar, depicting animated scenes from the Ramayana. The panels were first reported by Frederick Asher in 1986 and since his concise overview no further analysis has been forthcoming. This article seeks t...

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Autor principal: Greaves, Laxshmi Rose (Autor)
Tipo de documento: Electrónico Artículo
Lenguaje:Inglés
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Publicado: Equinox 2022
En: Religions of South Asia
Año: 2022, Volumen: 16, Número: 2/3, Páginas: 249-295
Otras palabras clave:B temple iconography
B Rājaona
B early Latina shrine
B temple sculpture
B visual Rāmāyaṇa
Acceso en línea: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Descripción
Sumario:This article focuses on two exquisitely carved stone panels from Rajaona in Lakhisarai district, Bihar, depicting animated scenes from the Ramayana. The panels were first reported by Frederick Asher in 1986 and since his concise overview no further analysis has been forthcoming. This article seeks to identify the seven Ramayana episodes represented across the two panels and to analyse them within the broader context of early visual Ramayanas, and especially those from Bihar and Bengal. Contrary to what has previously been suggested, the scenes depicted are from the Yuddhakanda of the Ramayana, and of the seven parts, most comprise the earliest extant visual renderings of these stories. The panels have previously been dated to the Gupta period (c.319-550 ce) but following a stylistic analysis I propose instead an early post-Gupta date. This suggested dating conforms with the trajectory of Ramayana imagery in early India, which otherwise does not seem to have been adopted on temples in the eastern regions of the Indian subcontinent until the late sixth/early seventh century.
ISSN:1751-2697
Obras secundarias:Enthalten in: Religions of South Asia
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1558/rosa.24404