South Asian Imprints on Southeast Asian Art(s)

The pronounced stylistic legacy of the 8th-12th century Pāla Empire persisted into Southeast Asia through the emulation and reinterpretation of the classical visual embodiment of Avalokiteśvara images. The bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara figures from Southeast Asia form a representative selection that bears South Asian stylistic imprints through the languorous treatment of the body, fluid composition of garments and elaborately detailed headdress. From South to Southeast Asia, the artistic realism that emphasised the ideal body rather than one fashioned with rigid internal bone and muscle structures, stands for the Buddhist vision of the bodhisattva’s body as “purified of these elements and instead filled with spirituality” (Kossak & Watts 2001, 31).

The South Asian Pāla stylistic imprint on Southeast Asian Avalokiteśvara figures of an unblemished bodily surface treated with curvilinear lines that accentuate the sensuousness and fluidity of the body, is constructed in accordance to classical cannons of proportion and is complemented by a subtlety of expression. The figures’ serene and downcast eyes that elucidate a tranquil and meditative atmosphere of spirituality are coupled with the slight upturn of full lips, creating a slight smile in the figure’s countenance. This can be traced back to Pāla-style figures that bear a similar stylistic treatment of anatomy and expression that embodies a contemplative composure.

Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara in the Form of Khasarpana, late 11th-early 12th century, schist, India, Bihar or Bengal, Pāla period.

Avalokiteśvara, 8th century, Nalanda, Bihar, India.

The particularities of the Pāla-style dress that were adopted into the Southeast Asian stylistic canon consist of the flap of robe that falls across the left shoulder, and the sacred thread (yajñopavīta), simplified to a single band. Additionally, the delicately sheer garments are complemented with the intricate styling of jewellery and headdress with curvilinear ornamentation that holds an effigy of Amitabha. The banded row of hair demarcating the end of the forehead and start of the mountain-shaped headdress in Pāla-style models is assimilated into the Southeast Asian models as well. Most of the sculptural effects and representational details of the Southeast Asian Avalokiteśvara include the diaphanous robes that drape across the lower body, sculpted in a translucent manner that clings to the figure. In the Southeast Asian models, faintly incised lines delineate the folds of the drapery that contribute to a sense of subtle oneness between the figure and garment. Indubitably, the application of skin-like garments in the Pāla-style Avalokiteśvara figures was imprinted on the subsequent Southeast Asian models. The latter bearing similar traits in the idealised languid fashioning of human anatomy, symmetrical rendition of multiple arms, positioning of the body in full frontal position with equal weight on both feet or seated in lalitāsana. The elaborate headdress ornamentation and the transparency of the robes, not only indicate a technical synthesisation of the post-Gupta Pāla style into Southeast Asia, but also a radical transfiguration that combined “native genius” to constitute “original creations, quite distinct from what must nevertheless be regarded as their ‘Indian’ models”, thereby “[breathing] fresh life into what in India had become insipid formulae” (Le Bonheur 1998, 9).

Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara Amoghapāśa, second half of 8th century, copper alloy, Malaysia.

The Southeast Asian Avalokiteśvara models also possess an abdomen that appears to swell from within, typified by the rounded flesh and taut skin around the navel. This exemplification of the body as a vessel for prāṇa in the “bodies of both males and females in Indian art evoke[s] a serene otherworldliness" (Kossak & Watts, 32) – the classical and ancient method of mental and spiritual cultivation that was evinced in Pāla-style figures is imprinted on their Southeast Asian counterparts through the curving treatment of the lower torso. Additionally, this delineation of realistic idealism embodies a transcendental otherworldliness in the Avalokiteśvara figure’s physique through the symmetrical multiplication of arms behind the main body in samabhaṅga, which was adopted from the South Asian Pāla model as well.

Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, late 8th-early 9th century, copper alloy with traces of gilding, Southern Thailand.

Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, 8th-early 9th century, copper alloy, Southern Thailand or Sumatra.

Despite the multitudinous similarities in style between the Southeast Asian and Pāla models, two key differences are of particular interest: medium and sculptural type. Firstly, Southeast Asian models are mostly crafted out of metal while earlier models were sculpted in schist, terracotta, or stone. The fluid and pliable nature of metalwork allowed for more sophistication in technical craft, underscoring greater liberty and individuality of handling. The plasticity and organic appearance of ‘Indian’ models with their soft, sensuous surfaces were expanded through technological advancements and the technical primacy of metalwork over other media, hence “style characteristics are heightened” compared to works in stone (Lee 1956, 277). Secondly, unlike most South Asian sculptural figures which were mostly “carvings in very high relief as part of a stela or for display in a niche, Southeast Asian deities were often carved fully in the round” (Kossak & Watts, 43). Thus, the voluptuous form and smooth treatment of skin intersects with a strong understanding of architectonic craftsmanship that allowed for freestanding sculptures to be created.

Javanese Bronze Avalokiteshvara, c. 18th-century, bronze, 3.45" W x 6.45" H (8.8 cm x 16.4 cm)

Despite unequivocal stylistic affinities between Southeast Asian and South Asian Avalokiteśvara figures, “style [...] [is] usually adjusted to suit the various constraints, primarily those of the material and related technical possibilities” (Filigenzi, Olivieri & Rockwell 2015, 55). Hence, it is probable that Southeast Asian craftsmen extended the Pāla-style imprint of realistic idealism through a deliberate choice of sober artistic syntax over artistic virtuosity (55)

. Therefore, the elements that formed the foundational Pāla-style reflect a sophistication of idealised poise, sublimated through the attractive expression of graceful ennui that was reconstituted into Southeast Asian Avalokiteśvara figures.

Works Cited

Filigenzi, Anna, Luca Maria Olivieri, and Peter Rockwell. Art and Landscape. Wien: Verlag der Österreischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2015.

Girard-Geslan, Maud, and Le Bonheur. “A Preface.” Preface. In Art of Southeast Asia, 7–9. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1998.

Kossak, Steven, and Edith W. Watts. The Art of South and Southeast Asia: a Resource for Teachers. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001.

Lee, Sherman E. "An Early Javanese Bronze, the Gupta International Style and Clay Technique." Artibus Asiae 19, no. 3/4 (1956): 271-78. doi:10.2307/3248764.