Untitled

Unknown

ca. 1090 · Ink and color on palm leaf · Asian Art

Above: Buddha giving safety (abhayandada) to mariners, a role more typically assumed by Bodhisattava Avalokiteshvara. Celestial celebrants emerge from clouds above, and from the sea, a deity submits to the Buddha's calming powers; perhaps this the planetary deity Rahu, who causes eclipses, hence an association with storms. Below: A bodhisattva in a mountain grotto, playing a stringed instrument (vina).

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1090

Medium

Ink and color on palm leaf

Culture

India (Bengal) or Bangladesh

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

Purchase, Francis M. Weld Gift, 1952