Later India and Southeast Asia 1000 to the Present

Jahangir Preferring a Sufi Shaikh to Kings, Bichitr, Mughal Painting, India, ca Opaque watercolor on paper The Mughal court had no equal in India in its lavish patronage of the arts. By giving the Koran to the Muslim holy man, Jahangir shows him honor over the two kings depicted and gives up worldly life and control for the spiritual.

Krishna and Radha in a Pavilion India, ca Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, was a cowherd who spent an idyllic existence tending his cows and sporting with beautiful herdswomen. As many Indian works of art are expressions of all that is sensuous and erotic with the body, so is this work depicting Krishna as he tenderly embraces Radha beneath a pavilion.

Great Temple, Madurai, India, 17th century. The Nayak rulers, once vassals of the Vijayanagara kings, came to power in the 17th century. They built huge temple complexes. The builders erected large enclosure walls with directional gorupas (gateway towers like the one here) that stand about 150 feet tall. These are large and are almost like independent cities with thousands of pilgrims & many festivals each year.

Walking Buddha, from Sukhothai, Thailand 14th century bronze The Thai people revere the distinctive type of Buddha image that developed at Sukhothai. The Sukhothai Buddhas are highly idiosyncratic. A flame leaps from the head and a sharp nose projects from the rounded face. A clinging robe reveals fluid rounded limbs andinflated bodies. The Sukhothai walkking-Buddha statuary type does not occur elsewhere in Buddhist art. The Buddha strides forward, raising his heel off the ground, his left arm raised with the hand held in the fear-not gesture of a deity encouraging worshippers to come forwarrd in reverence. Thee Sukhothai artists intended the body type to suggest a supernatural being expressing beauty and perfection.

and comprises five or eight reigns, dependent on the fact if the "vassals" of the later Kingdom of Ayutthaya, during the last years of the Sukhothai era, should also be counted as reigns belonging to the period. King Ramkamhaeng was doubtless the most important King of Sukhothai. The Historic Park of Sukhothai is recognized as a World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. Sukhothai is the ancient Capital of the -then- Tai people (no typing error!) Later during the Sukhothai period the Kingdom was called Siam for the first time. The Sukhothai period covers the time from approx.

Emerald Buddha Bangkok, Thailand 15th century, Jade It is not known for sure when the Emerald Buddha was carved however judging from the appearance and style one could conclude it was carved in Northern Thailand not much earlier than the 15th century. The Emerald Buddha is not carved from an actual emerald, but is probably green jade.

Schwedagon Pagoda, Rangoon, Burma, ca. 14th century Renowned for the gold, silver,and jewels encrusting its surface, the Shwedagon Stupa stands 345 feet high. Its upper part is covered with 13,153 plates of gold and at the very top is a 7 tiered umbrella covered with a gold ball inlaid with4,351 diamonds, one weighing 76 carats. The stupa was created as a gift to the Buddha from the Burmese people.

Death of the Buddha (Parinirvana), Gal Vihara, near Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka, eleventh to twelfth century. Granulite, Buddha approx. 46’ long

Borobudur, Java, Indonesia, ca. 800.

Harihara, from Prasat Andet, Cambodia, early seventh century. Stone, 6’ 3” high