The Hindu Sage Kapila, the Liberation of Bodh Gaya and Burma on the Eve of the Modern Era

Authors

  • Donald M. Stadtner Walnut Creek, California

Abstract

The discovery in Upper Burma of a stone sculpture representing the Hindu sage Kapila highlights the key role that Brahmanical rituals played in the court life of Theravāda societies. Commissioned in Varanasi, this image of Kapila was transported in 1812 to Amarapura, the Burmese capital, where it was the focus of state ceremonies. Less than a year later the imported sculpture stepped onto the geopolitical stage when it became the centerpiece of an attack on India to free Bodh Gaya from British control before the invasion was aborted. How the palace, the sangha and court Brahmans balanced both Hindu and Buddhist perceptions of Kapila opens a window on the labyrinthine ties between Southeast Asia and Indian civilization.

Author Biography

Donald M. Stadtner, Walnut Creek, California

Donald M. Stadtner was for many years an Associate Professor, University of Texas, Austin, after receiving his Ph.D. in Indian art history at the University of California, Berkeley. His articles on Indian and Burmese art have appeared in Ars Orientalis, Artibus Asiae, Orientations and The Art Bulletin. Other works include Ancient Pagan: A Buddhist Plain of Merit (2005) and the Sacred Sites of Burma: Myth and Folklore in an Evolving Spiritual Realm (2011), both published by River Books, Bangkok. He is also co-author of Buddhist Art of Myanmar, a catalogue accompanying an exhibition at Asia Society New York in 2015 (Yale University Press & Asia Society) and co-author of The Jeweled Isle: Art from Sri Lanka, a catalogue based on an exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2018. His forthcoming Sacred Sites of Sri Lanka will be published by River Books.

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2021-12-01

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