| Bala Bodhisattva | |
|---|---|
 The Bala Bodhisattva with shaft and chatra umbrella, dedicated in "the year 3 of Kanishka" (circa 123 CE) by "brother (Bhikshu) Bala". The right arm would have been raised in a salutation gesture. Sarnath Museum. | |
| Material | Red sandstone |
| Size | about 205 cm |
| Period/culture | 123 CE |
| Place | Sarnath, India |
| Present location | Sarnath Museum, India |
Chatra umbrella of the Bala Bodhisattva
Underside of the stone umbrella with designs, probably a Zodiacal pattern, similar to the fully Greek-derived zodiacal patterns of Medieval India;[1] Its diameter is 304 centimetres (120 in).[2] Sarnath Museum, Accession Number 348.
The Bala Bodhisattva is an ancient Indian statue of a Bodhisattva, found in 1904–1905 by German archaeologist F.O. Oertel (1862–1942) in Sarnath, India. The statue has been decisive in matching the reign of Kanishka with contemporary sculptural style, especially the type of similar sculptures from Mathura, as its bears a dated inscription in his name.[3] This statue is in all probability a product of the art of Mathura, which was then transported to the Ganges region.[4]
- ^ Avatāraṇa: a Note on the Bodhisattva Image Dated in the Third Year of Kaniṣka in the Sārnāth Museum, by Giovanni Verardi, East and West, Vol. 35, No. 1/3 (September 1985), pp. 73 JSTOR
- ^ "Sarnath Museum Gallery-No3". www.sarnathmuseumasi.org.
- ^ Papers on the Date of Kaniṣka, Arthur Llewellyn Basham, Brill Archive, 1969, p.271 [1]
- ^ Bracey, Robert. The Date of Kanishka since 1960 (Indian Historical Review, 2017, 44(1), 1-41). p. 4, note 2.