The Life of the Buddha- Buddhist and Saiva Iconography and Visual Narratives in Artists' Sketchbooks from Nepal

About the Book This book describes, analyses and reproduces line drawings from two manuscripts and a related section from a third manuscript. These are: 1) Manuscript M821692, preserved in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (circa late nineteenth century) part of the twentieth century) and 3) A section from manuscript 440 in the private collection of Ian Alsop. Santa Fe, New Mexico (early twentieth century).

The line drawings depict Hindu/ Saiva and Buddhist deities and themes, but the Buddhist material is predominant, as one would expect in artists' sketchbooks from Patan. The sketchbooks are important for several reasons. They provide drawings of a large number of deities, including some groups rarely depicted elsewhere.

Among them are the Eight Great Bodhisattvas, the Eight Siddhas, the Nine Serpents and corresponding to the months of the year-twelve forms of Narayana and Lokesvara, and associated with the ekadasl days of the months) twelve forms of 2) Manuscript 82.242.1-24, preserved in Mahideva. Many of the deities and the Newark Museum (from the later legends are relevant to contemporary Newar Buddhism. The two narratives are of special interest. They deal with the life story of Sakyamuni Buddha and the legend of Sarvajñamitral pada) The illustrated life story of the Buddha follows the Newar tradition, which incorporates the episodes of the sufferings of Yasodhara after Sarvärthasiddha's departure and of the Buddha's (return) journey to Lumbini (lumbiniyatra). The book also contains a longer section on Srstikartā Lokesvara, a form of Avalokitesvara who emanates Brahmanical divinities from his body.

About the Author Gudrun Bühnemann is Professor in the Department of Languages and Cultures of Asia at The University of Wisconsin- Madison, USA. Her recent publications include The Iconography of Hindu Tantric Deities (2 volumes, Groningen, 2000-01), Mandalas and Yantras in the Hindu Traditions (Leiden, 2003; New Delhi, 2007), Eighty-four Asanas in Yoga. A Survey of Traditions (with Illustrations) (New Delhi, 2007, 2011) and Buddhist Iconography and Ritual in Paintings and Line Drawings from Nepal (Lumbini, 2008).

Introduction In this volume I continue to make accessible original material from Nepal which illustrates the iconography of Buddhist and Saiva deities! The importance of model books or sketchbooks from Nepal for the study of iconography is well known, having been discussed, for example, in Blom 1989: 9-15. I provide a brief survey of relevant published material in Bühnemann 2003: 8-9. Among the more recent publications on the topic is Huntington's 2006 colour reproduction of Newar artist Jivarama's sketchbook, which Lowry (1977) previously reproduced in black and white, and the material published and analysed in Bühnemann 2008. This book reproduces line drawings from two manuscripts and a related section from a third manuscript. These are:

1) Manuscript M.82.1692, preserved in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (referred to below as LACMA), Los Angeles, California; 2) Manuscript 82.242.1-24, preserved in the Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey (referred to below as Newark), and 3) A section from manuscript 440 in the private collection of lan Alsop, Santa Fe, New Mexico. The LACMA manuscript may date from the late nineteenth century or even early twentieth century, as the captions written in modern colloquial Newari suggest. This assumption is also supported by the type of headgear Devadatta and other figures are shown wearing (see drawings 57-60, etc.) resembling what royals or generals of that period sported. This concertina-type paper manuscript (thyäsaphi) has 36 folios, of which the end covers and three additional single sides do not have illustrations. Therefore, there are a total of 67 sides with illustrations. A few of the illustrations take up more than a single folio side. The average folio measures 5 1/2 inches (14 cm) in height and 11 3/8 inches (29 cm) in width. Since the manuscript includes drawings of scenes reminiscent of dance performances for which the city of Patan is known, we can safely assume that an artist from Patan prepared it. A description of the manuscript appears in Pal 1985: 179, and selected line drawings are I use the word deity here for convenience' sake to designate the members of the Buddhist pantheon.

**Contents and Sample Pages**