With about 8,000 articles, this Encyclopaedia presents a panorama of Buddhist deities, demigods, godlings, demons the whole range of good and evil forces with the spotlight on the concretized, recognizable forms and their subtle symbolism. Beginning with a few aniconic symbols, like foot prints, a throne, the Bo tree or stupas, in the prechristian Indian art, Buddhism came to evolve a variety of picturesque representations of a Self-Existent, Superimmanent Principle: in myriad forms and emanations that range from the superbly magnificent to sheerly grotesque. Endowed with diverse iconographic attributes, Buddhist deities/saints/demons have grown, over the rolling centuries, into bewildering numbers, legions. Which all, leave alone the neophytes, not even the best of scholars can recognize! The names of the divinities and their cultural/regional perceptions owing largely to the plurality of Buddhist pantheons, have only gone on to further complicate their identification. Unveiled, for the first time, in the pages of this Encyclopaedia, is a panorama of Buddhist deities, demigods, godlings, saints and demons, with spotlight on the concretized, recognizable forms and the subtle symbolism they involve. In its nearly 8000 alphabetically arranged articles of varying lengths, it mixes gods and demons, bhiksus and btsans, the aesthetic and the grotesque in fact, nearly the whole range of good and evil forces which the inspired among the adherents of the Buddhist faith conceived so ingeniously! Professor Bunce has painstakingly marshalled a wealth of data from authoritative language sources, notably, Sanskrit, Pali, Tibetan, Newari/Nepalese, Chinese, Mongolian, Japanese, Siamese/Thai, Annamese/Viet Namese, Javanese, and Sinhalese, in his effort to capture almost the entire framework of Buddhist divinities: a multi-pantheonic framework, together with its classes, groups and hierarchies, ranging from Adi-Buddha to Arhats and yet beyond. Himself a distinguished scholar of Oriental/Buddhist Art, Dr. Bunce incorporates, in scrupulous detail, the iconographic attributes of deities: like colours, heads/eyes, hands, objects held, body, feet, asanas, mudras, ornaments, vahanas, emanations, and whether calm or wrathful which, with a generous supplement of illustrations: about 300 elegant line-drawings and several colour plates, highlight the distinctiveness of each individual figure. Also included in the Encyclopaedia are user's guide, glossaries (of asanas, mudras and attributes), identification charts, a hierarchic table, and bibliographic references. Growing from years of Professor Bunce s persevered research and study, this compilation is certainly the first ever to draw together most of the Buddhist divinities/mythological characters, in their distinctly recognizable forms. And is, therefore, indispensable to both the specialists and non-specialists trying to identify each from a whole host of these figural representations.

Encyclopedia of Buddhist, Demigods Godlings, Saints and Demons (Two Volume Set)

Reference

Fredrick W. Bunce

Catalogs & Directories

D.K. Printworld

This dictionary attempts to reveal the Divine paradixes of Buddhist Hindu iconography by interpreting the nuances of their iconic language.

Dictionary of Buddhist and Hindu Iconography by Fredrick W. Bunce (1997-04-01)

D.K. Printworld Pvt. Ltd.

Language: English Pages: 1683 (B &amp; W Illus: 250, Figures: 231) From the Jacket : The Hindu pantheon is a bewildering profusion: a mix of deities, demons, and heroes, which perplexes not only the neophytes, but even the best of scholarly minds. Yet, despite the multitude of its divinities, Hinduism isn't a polytheistic religion. Worshipped over countless generations in innumerable homes and temples, these deities are, in affect, likened to "the many facets of a single crystal" - concretizing, as they do, the basic Hindu world view of an Ultimate Spirituality that is implicit in diverse attributes or both Nature and human experience. In sheer volume and imagery, in scope and variety, no other culture has produced the kinds of mythological characters and incidents that are to be met within the Hindu Puranic literature and tradition. As one delves into the complexities and interconnections of names and nuances, exploits and genealogies, one gets a staggering view of an eerie, yet magnificent world! Which this Encyclopaedia tries to unveil in its near entirety Traversing the marvellous maze of Hindu iconography, Professor Fredrick W. Bunce: a distinguished scholar of Oriental Art, here draws together myriad iconic representations of gods and godlings, demons and miscreants, fair maidens and grotesque witches, noble princes and heartless tyrants, ascetic saints and lustful sages, cosmic strides and incestual liaisons, jealous gods and forgiving ones, births from breast and form the mind - all these and many more that are painted on the creative canvas of Hindu pantheon. The author highlights each pantheonic figure in his/her concretized, recognisable form spelling out the very nuances of iconic language that have gone into the shaping of Hindu images. Supported by beautiful

An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Deities, Demi-Gods, Godlings, Demons and Heroes

Religion & Spirituality

D.K. Printworld Ltd.

The work by an Indological scholar who has studied different architectural traditions of the world covers the architecture and iconography of some 36 Islamic tombs in India spanning a period of over 500 years from c. ad 1230 to 1754. It begins with a brief historical background to the Islamic rule in northern India and a discussion on burial practices and tomb types of the time to further understanding of the underlying concept of construction and functions of the tombs. Abounding in numerous line drawings of plans and elevations, and figures, it examines the influence of different traditions Buddhist and Hindu as well as other Asian and African and Mediterranean traditions on evolution of the form of Islamic tombs. It makes a detailed examination of the Indo-Islamic tombs under consideration: their description, size, plan and elevation including the interior space and application of the mandala patterns over the tomb structures, the techniques of construction, masonry and artisanship employed in them. It explains the place and relevance of each monument in the overall scheme of Indo-Islamic architectural development and growth as well as the importance of each by itself. It delves into the religious, philosophical and mathematical bases of the architecture and its application to tomb-building. The research also involves a comparative study of Indo-Islamic tombs vis-a-vis other architectural marvels of the world Islamic and non-Islamic. The book will be extremely relevant to scholars and students of Indian, particularly Indo-Islamic, iconography and those interested in Indo-Islamic cultural traditions in general.

Islamic Tombs in India

Mudras occupy an important place in Buddhist and Hindu religious practices as these signify special meanings, associated with specific divinities and rites, which cannot be represented any other way. This book is a dictionary of mudras in Hindu and Buddhist religious practices that lists the various mudras -- deity-centred, rite-centred, yogic-centred, and so on -- illustrating each with a simple drawing drawn generally from the perspective of one holding the mudra. It contains detailed notes that give numerous references to literary and other sources that reveal a lot about the mudras -- their descriptions in the texts, rites associated with the mudras in the texts as well as the varied interpretations of a number of mudras in the different texts. The book also has an introduction on Hindu and Buddhist mudras that goes into iconographic features associated with deities along with the technical descriptions and the subcategories and further divisions into which mudras are arranged. It scrutinises the work done by a number of scholars on the subject to throw further light on the subject. The volume will prove indispensable to all students and scholars who are engaged in study of Hindu and Buddhist religious traditions and practices.

Mudras in Buddhist and Hindu Practices: An Iconographic Consideration

Buddhism

The spread of Islam in India produced some beautiful monuments that were influenced by India when they first invaded it, at the very beginning. This title showcases 54 important mosques.

The Mosques of the Indian Subcontinent: Their Development and Iconography

Arts & Photography

Architecture

DK Print World

In top-of-the-mind reading, crosses are the iconographic representation of Christianity, though cross became an embodiment of Christian iconography only after the fifth century ce. In this volume, the author unveils the existence of 500 plus crosses, of which around 300 are of ecclesiastical, heraldic or mundane crosses. Most of these cruciforms were introduced before the twentieth century. Cruciform was antecedent of Christianity. There were numerous cruciform Hindu and Buddhist temples, even before the advent of Christianity and thus these hold no Christian ecclesiastical relevance. Of late many churches, cathedrals and basilicas applied cruciform to their structure and look in conformity with the Christian iconography. This enunciates the endless design possibilities of cruciform. The book discusses the pre-Christian iconographic cruciform Hindu and Buddhist temple structures and in detail the Christian cross iconography and the varied types of crosses. It delves deep into the numerous forms of Latin and Greek crosses, mainly from the ecclesiastical and heraldic viewpoint. Crosses adorned ecclesiastical, military, professional and trade implications, and were carved on shields and coats of arms. This volume also addresses other categories of crosses such as solar crosses, saltire crosses and miscellaneous crosses though they too have occasional ecclesiastical and heraldic implications. The book thus gives a fair account of the emergence, use and application of cruciforms until the twentieth century.

Crosses, Christian and otherwise their form and meaning

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