Future Buddha Maitreya-Inchang Kim-DKPD-9788124600825
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| Maitreya is not just
one of the myriad divinities of the Buddhist pantheon; he is revered by the
devout as the Buddha of the fifth world cycle, the Ultimate Buddha, the
Much-Awaited Deliverer, who (like Kalki — a would-be incarnation of Visnu in
Hinduism) will descend on the earth, in human form, sometime in the distant
future and lead people to both enlightenment and the final nirvana. The cult
of Maitreya, however, goes as far back as to the second century bc, and even
beyond, when perhaps, his images, in varying anthropomorphic forms, came to
be chiselled alongside the earliest sculptural representations of the Buddha
and Boddhisattvas. Here is the first iconological study to exclusively focus
on the Maitreya phenomenon in almost the whole range of Buddhist sculptural
art. Exploring the historical evolution of the Maitreya cult, the book
admirably highlights the different phases of Maitreya iconography with an
in-depth analysis of the images from various regions of the Indian
subcontinent — Gandhara, Kashmir, Mathura, Sarnath, Nalanda, Orissa, Western
Deccan and South India. Dr. Inchang Kim has skilfully combined his extensive
fieldwork with diverse literary sources to contextually explore some of the
problematic issues to their last thread like, for instance, the genesis of
Maitreya cult, its nature in the pre-Christian era, and its role in Hinayana,
Mahayana and Yogacara Buddhism. Also spelling out the symbolism of Maitreya
iconography, the study specially underscores the iconographic attributes that
help not only identify Maitreya, but also distinguish the Buddha of the
Future from other Bodhisattvas. Together with a generous supplement of visual
material comprising over 240 photographic reproductions with an extensive
bibliography and index, the book is invaluable to art historians,
connoisseurs/specialists of Buddhist sculptural art and scholars of Buddhist
studies. |
| Book |
| ISBN |
9788124600825
|
| PUBLISHER |
DKPD |
| Binding |
HARDCOVER |
| Edition |
1997 |
| Language |
ENGLISH |
Tags:
Future Buddha Maitreya-Inchang Kim-DKPD-9788124600825
