Historical Representation

After my post on "Faith" I now take another break to write about something different.

Ever wonder how a certain being or a concept comes to be revered as something holy or transcendent? Sure, there's a bit of superstition, perhaps, but often it's more to do with the representation of the subject in question that is essential to how it comes to be seen by future generations.

Take the statue of the Buddha in the photo above (which also happens to be my wallpaper). This is one of the earliest representations of the Buddha in human form. It is easy to tell because not only has it been subject to decay and damage, but it is also relatively simple in its depiction, unlike the more fancy East Asian statues. And why the curly hair? I'll get into that shortly.

Previously the Buddha had not been depicted as a human being: early historical sources in India indicate He may have been represented as a footprint, or a bodhi tree. However, when the Greeks under Alexander the Great first made contact with the Indians (334 BC), the Greek King established several cities that allowed Buddhism to flourish. The Greek and Indian Buddhist cultures, in fact, had interacted in peace with each other for several centuries, and several cities in the Hellenistic Empire had Buddhist (Indo-Greek) kings. In time, an anthropomorphic depiction of the Buddha began to emerge - such statues had much more facial and physical detail, typical of Greek design - and the Buddha was elevated to a man-god in Greek eyes, as a shining example for humanity. So in many ways this version of the Buddha was meant to be revered, like a statue of Zeus or Athena. Also, considering curly hair was not too common among Indians, it may also have been an addition by the Greeks.

Of course, each culture that embraced Buddhism would come to incorporate its own artistic style into Buddhist art and sculpture, but it is very likely the Greeks had laid the foundation for the anthropomorphic representation of the Buddha - and contributed greatly to Buddhism's devotional tradition.