Universit degli Srudi di Napoli "L'Orientale"

Centro di Srudisul Buddhismo

Buddhist
Asia1
Papersfrom the First Conference
of Buddhist StudiesHeld in Naples
in May 2001

Editedby
GiovanniVerardi and Silvio Vita

ffi

Italian SchooI of EastAsian Studies,Kyoto 2003

A VAlneyeuc Trnup rNTHERocK

Scr,r,p"runp
op Swer
Anna Filigenzi
In the courseof is long work in Swat,the ItalianArchaeological
Mission
of IsIAO (formerly, IsMEO) has made important contributionsto our
knowledge and the safeguardingof the archaeological,historical and
anistic heritage of the region, not only through is numerousexcavadons
but also through suwey and documentationprojecs. On the basisof the
data assembled,we have been able to trace out an archaeologicalmap of
the region, constandybeing updated. ln the last few years,this map has
seengreat developments,
as gapsare filled in and new oppornrnitiesare
foundfor researchandin-depthstudies.'
One of the categoriesbrought to prorninenceby our researchis that of
the rock sculptures-scoresof reliefs showing imagesof Buddhasand
Bodhisawas,executedon rock facesand stelaeset on the ground. In their
totality, they representthe final flourishing of Buddhist art in the region,
roughly correspondingto a period coming betweenthe 7th and 8th
centuriesAD. Many of the exampleskown to us had in fact been noted
for sometime; otlers havebeen addedin the courseof varioussurveys,
someof which carriedout in recentyearswith the aim of completinga
catalogueof thesesculpturesand veriSringtheir state of preservation.
Regrettably, comparisonbetweenarchival photos and recent ones shows
how rapidlvdeteriorationhasincreased
overthe lastfew decades.z

It would be impossibleto list here all the projectscarriedout by the Italian Archaeological Mission in Swat, the most recent overview having appearedin 1982 (P.
Callieri ed., balan ArchaeologinlMissionQsMEO).Pakittan,Sltdt, 19t6-1981). I
therefore refer the reader to dre IsMEO (now IsIAO) publications, esp. to the periodicalEan anl Wen and the series"Reports and Memoirs".
Apart fiom the first survels made by A SreinQ4nArchaeolagcal
Tour in Upptr SaAt @d
Adjacnt Hill Traoq 1930)and G. Tucci ("PreliminaryReport on an Archaeologcal
Suweyin Swat",1958),in more recenryearssomeworkshaveappeared
dealingwith the

38

Anna Filigenzi

A remarkablefearureof this particularform of art is in fact its total

context.Therefore,it is difficult to extrapolatespecificthemesfrom
individual works, asthe full senseof a given work comesonly in relation to
drewhole.Of course,this topic is beyondthe scopeof this paper,wherewe
canonly makebrief referenceto it. Studyof the rock sculpnreshasbeen
panicularly difficult for at leasttwo reasons.The first, and most obvious,is
the poor preservationof details,giventheir exposureto the open air and
the inevitableweathering.This is alsoin pan a matter of the type of stone,
namely a dark-colouredschistof poorly compactbody, which is subjectto
splitting repatination.The secondobstacleto researchlies in the apparendy somewhatrandom, monotonousand disjointed range of subjects
portrayed.This is the very reasonthat the rock sculptureswere previously
regardedas the modestproduct of popular piery. Such a popular faith
might well have attributed the best known figures of the Buddhist
pantheonwith vaguelyapotropaicpowers,much hke-rnutatis mutandisthe holy aediculesso frequendy encounteredin t}re strees of Ialy.
I would argue that this hasty judgementhas detractedfrom the
sculptures,long relegatingthem to the level of objectsmerely to be inventoried, with the only other conn:ibutionthat could be expectedbeing some
numericalvariation. Today we recogrrisetheir placein an authentic artistic
genre,displayingsubdestylistic and iconographicfeatures,functionally
appliedfor a precisedesign.In the first place,they seemto be organisedin

rock sculpturesof Swac P. Call.ieri,"Una stele post-gandharicanel Museo dello Swt",

in Dalesof Swat",1993;M.
198;B. SardarandAH. Hashmi,"BuddhistRock-carving
Ashraf Khan, "Survey of tlre Historic Rock Carvings in SwatValley", 1996.A-nalogous
productionsare also attestedin adjoiningareas,as Dir (A.H. Dani, "BuddhistRock
Engravingsin Dir", 198-199;M. Ashraf Khan, "Historic Rock Carvingsin Dir
District", 1994),Puran and Buner (P. Callieri, "Osservazionisu un rilievo su roccia
(Pran, N.W.F.P., Pakistan)",1985;L.M. Olivieri, "Recent
pressoBlnr\ral
Discoveriesof Rock-carvingin Buner and Pran CNWFP, Paistan)", 1994).A-fternew
surveyswere carried out by L.M. Olivieri exhaustiveanalysishas staned on the rock
scuporesof Swar Someresultshaveareadybeenpublished;seeA. Filigenzi,"Rilievi
in Swat,
rupestrinello Swat(Pakistan,NWFP)", 199;id., "BuddhistRock Sculprures
d.elloSuat.
North West Pakisun", 1997; d., Il BodbisatnaMaitqa nell'ane nr.pesn'e
Appunn mll'iconografae nl aim del Buddbatmnoo, 1999;id., "Marginal Notes on the
Conceptand
BuddhistRock Sculpuresof Swat",2000;id., "\risdoma-ndCompassion:
2000-2001.
Iconographyof Aralokite6vara/Padmapani",

oF Sw.{r
THEMEINTHERocKScuLPU'ruR-E
A VAJMYAMC

39

groups clusteredaround ancient sacredareas,some of vr'hichhave already

beenexploredor at any rate well enoughpreserved,while others havebeen
identified tlrough surfacesurvey.rThe peculiarnature of thesesculptures
undoubtedlyderivesfrom their topographiccontext itself, not only in
relationto a particularponion of land but also,and indeedaboveall, in
relation to te surfacecontaining them. The figuration doesno violenceto
the natural rock spacebut, on the contrary, gently integrateswith it,
creating (and here lies the theoretical basiscommon to all the reliefs) an
illusion of spontaneousharmony. The most original artifice of the
sculpturesconsistsin their subdeconcealment,bringing the focus to bear
on nare, as if the imageshad sprung from the earth rather than being
crafted by human hands.The idea of nayambhu--te sponuneous manifestationof the divine in nature-recurs in thesesculpturesasa refined an
form, merging with the roclis and dissimulatedeven in the stelae.These
alwaysretain a rough profile, egg-shapedand irregular, as if to underline
their being "contained"within the roclg like an embryoin a womb.
In contrastto such an elaborateartistic conception,the iconographic
repenoire of the sculpturesappearsto be minimal indeed,with just a few
exceptionslimited to the most elementaryof the crrent conventions.Not
only are the figures portrayed few and repetitive (in particuar the
in the first place, and then
Bodhisatna figures,Avalokitevara/Padmapani
Maiueya, Vajrapa4i and, to a lesserextent, Buddha figures), but also the
detailsof the iconographyseemto derive from selecdonand simplification
of the most significantcharacrcristics.*
contexCor epigraphicdocumens,the
In the absenceof archaeological

A derailedaccounton the topography of the rock sculpruresis soon to be publishedby

L.M. Olivieri in the context of my comprehensivestudy (text and catalogue)on this
subjecgnow under preparation.
For rhe time being, a more extensivediscussionon the generalmeaning of tese
sculpturesand tleir most significaat characteristicswith explicativellustrations can be
found in A. Filigenzi, "Rilievi rupestr nello Swat (Pakisu-n,NWP)", 1996'patsim;id.
in SwagNorth West Pakisun",1997,esp.pp. 630-33.
"BuddhistRockSculptures
As far aswe lcrow, the only caseof a rock sculpturein archaeologicalcontext is representedby a stelafound at Shnaisha,which is inside a cell built againste rp, wall in a
Iate period; unfomrnately, many conditions, including rhe sute of preservationof the
stela,makethis datum not fully reliable asregardstlre chronology. On the Shnaishasite

40

Anna Filigenzi

sculpruresare datableessentiallyon stylistic groundsby vimre of comparison with similar material,and in the first placea certain number of bronzes
from Swat itself and neighbouringareas,suchas Glgit, Afghanisanand
Kashmir.Thus, the flourishing of rock sculpturesis placedin a period for
which we have disjointedand partially contradictoryevidence.Our
knowledgeof the history of Swat,and indeed of a large part of the
neighbouringregions,remainsvery patchy,in panicular for the period
hegemonyto the
running from the decline of the Kushano-Sassanid
Islamic conquest.However, literary sourcesand archaeologicaldataconcur
in reflecting the image of a region undergoing marked decline during the
period in question,as it sufferedfrom a seriesof concomitantproblems:
political instability,economiccrisisand-still more catastrophicin consideration of the broader picnrre----someseriousnatural calamity (seismic
even$,flooding).7
Nevenheless,we know that evenas the splendoursof the past dimmed
uking its toll on the ancientmonuments
and decayinexorablyproceeded,
that had set the region amongthe most popular of the sacredplacesof
ofthe Valrayana,the lastoffshootofa
Buddhism,Swatsawthe emergence
long tradition that would blossominto the extraordinaryflorescencewitl
This approximatechronological
which we are familiar elsewhere.s

seeM.S. Qamar and M. Ashraf Khan, "PreliminaryReport on the

and excavations,
of BuddhistSitesin SwagN.WF.P. 1989-1990",lool; A.
Excavations
Archaeological
Rahman,"SbaaishaGumbat: First Preliminary ExcavationRepon", 1993.For a critica
analysisof these reports, seeM. Taddei, "Some Remarkson re PreJiminaryRepors
Published on the ShraishaExcavations,Swat", 1998. As regardsthe iconography and
related problems, seeA. Filigenzi, Il BodhisatnaMaitrrya nell'ane mpestredelloSuat.
esaladtt delBudbaoentam,1999,esp.pp.10-11, andid., "Marginal
Appnti sall'ictnografta
Notes on the BuddhistRock Sorlpturesof Swad',2000,pp. l05-70, esp.p. 10i.
A deailed accountof the bibliography on tlis subjectwould be impossiblehere. Instead
I refer the reader to rwo of te most important contributions and the relevant
of Kashnir, 1975and G. Fussman,"Chilas,
bibliographicreferences:P. Pal, Bronzes
du Cachemire",1991,vol. tr, pp. l-0. Theseworks
Harun et lesbronzesbouddhiques
are alsorepresentativeof different approachesto the matter tut maturedover the years.
For a generalframing of this historicalcontext(which the later archaeological
researches
seemto con6rm)and a quick reviewof the literary sourcesseeG. Tucci,
Suweyin Swat",1958,esp.pp. 280-82.
"PreliminaryReponon anArchaeologrcal
Benoytosh
Bhattacharyya,
who
identifiesthe ancientUddiyanawith the
The idea of

.I.tm RocK SculpuTrrRE

THEMI tr J
oF SWAT
A VAJRAYANTC

4l

correspondenceis in fact the single superficiallink betweenthe rock

sculpturesand Vajrayna.Vague as it may be, it allows us to associatethe
history of this artistic phenomenonwitl-rthe documentationconcerning
two imporant personalitiesof the period:Xuanzangand Padmasambhava.
Travelling thorough the region in 31 AD (with expectationsregarding
the mical Uddiyana,one may well imagine),Xuanzangnotesthe stateof
decayand abandonof the sacredareas,which had still been extolledby
Songyunin 520 AD. Unwittingln however,he alsosuppliesus with fi:rther
preciousinformation, relating that the monla of Uddiyana are acquainted
with the scriptures,but no longer understandtheir sense.Moreover, they
seemto have given themselvesover to magic practices,seeingthat
Xuanzangmakesa point of mentioning those who forbid such practices.e
What Xuanzangobsewesand notes,althoughwith bis backgroundhe can
neitherrecognisenor acceptit, is probablythe new courseoflocal religious
culture, namelyVajrayna.
the great Siddhasummonedto bet by
Conceming Padmasambhava,
Detsen,
we
have
legendary
Trisong
biographieswhoseunderlying
King
trutlr are hard to pick out.roWe may, however,presumethat the ideomoved-an inextricable melding
logical spherein which Padmasambhava
of magic and mysticism-represented what had become the fixed
orientation of the religious culture of Swat, whose fame had already
reachedso far beyondthe region'sbordersthat by the rnid-8th cent. it
constiruteda drivine force for the spreadof Buddhismin Tibet. In the

westernpan of fusam (B. Bhattacharyln,?DeIn.ian Bullbirt lonograp]ry,1924,p. j

hasnow lost most of its suppon. All the sources,when comparedto the archaeological
evidence,decidedlylead to Swaq seefor insr:nce G. Tucci, "Preliminary Report on an
ArchaeologicalSurvey in Swat", 1958,Win4 and id-, "Travels of Tibetan Pilgrims in
rhe Swr Valley", l97l (both reprinted in G. Tucci, On Saat. Historcaland
ArchaeohgialNotes,1997).
On the travelsof Xuanzangthrough the Swat(or Uddiyana)seeS. Beal nrnsI., S1u-hi
oftheWestonWorU,1958(fint edn.,n.d. [1884]),vol. III, p. l7. Seealso
BuldhixRecords
'Voyagede SongYun dansl'Udyanaet le Gandhera(518-522p.C.)",1903.
. Charrannes,
Apart from the Abhaladana's Catalti-Siddba-prazvtti f'Hisrory of the Eighty-four
Siddhas",the most important exunt Indiar text on the Siddhas),translatedom the
Lions,1979),seethe Tibetan biographyof
Tibetan byJ.B. Robinson(Buddha's
in W.Y. Evans-Wenu, The TbetanBnk of the GreatLiberatirn, 1954,
Padmasambhava
and YesheTsogyal, e Life andLiberutionof Padtusanbhaaa,1984.

42

Anm Filigenzi

thus appearsas the epigoneof an

broaderperspective,Padmasambhava
obscure,anonyrnouschain of mastersin a consolidatedtradition that
precededhim and found in him its first historical exponent.rr
this cultural blossominghas never been reflectedin
Nevertheless,
archaeologicalevidencein the territory of Swat. For this period, archaeology haslelded nothing but old monuments,ruined or patchedtogether
with minimal restoration worlgr2nor was any such sign expectedto have
comedown to us from the rock sculptures.However, if it is risky to go over
the material data to find confirmation of an idea, it is also all too easyto
misssometling in a contextwherewe do not expectto find it.
The decisionto make an analyticsrudy of thesesculptureswas first
prompted by the urgent need for a firller lnowledge of a cultural heritage
under threat. Originally it appearedthat the aim should be limited to the
chronological and topographicallocation of the sculptures,the identification of presumedmodelsfrom which the variousiconographicaltypes
were derived,and the definition of the quality and quantity of Hindu-and
panicularly Sivaitic-borrowings, noted as deemedimporunt by the first
commentators."
is belevedto be the (spirirr:al?)son of Indrabhuti, the fumousking of
Padmasambhava
Uddiyenawhosenarneis dosely linked witi the diffrrsionofVajralana, being the author
of one of re most hmous Tantric texts, the GuhyasonQaantra(G. Tlrcc| "On Swt.
The Dards and ConnectedProblems",1977, pp. 68-9);accordingto the tradition,
Vajrapali, having heard in Udiyana dre revelationof the Tantras madeby the Buddha,
passedit on to Indrabhti; another versionof dre story tells us that Indrabhti received
rlle revelatonfrom the Buddhahimself (seeG. Tucci, Tibenn PantedScrolk,1949, vol.
is in fact relatedto al
I, pp. l2l, 212).Even in the legendof his life, Padmasambhava
earlier uadition.
An emblematiccaseis representedby Butkara I, perhapsthe most important Buddhist
site of Swat, modesdy repaired after a period of decay(D. Feccewra,Butkara I (Sun,
esp.vol. Itr l, pp. 114-27;vol. III 3, pp. 635-3).The
Pakittan)1956-1962,1980-1981,
same,asis suggestedby the scantevidenceobtained wirh a rescueexcavation,seemsto
have happenedat Shaaisha:seeM.S. Qamar and M. Asbraf Khan, "Preliminary Repon
of BuddhistSitesin Swat,N.W.F.P. 1989 1990",
on the ArchaeologicalExcavations
pp.
184-85;
ARahman,
"ShnaishaGumbar First PreliminaryExcavation
1991,esp.
pp.
16-17,
46;
M.
Taddei, "Some Remarkson the Preliminary
Report", 1993,esp.
Repom Publishedon the ShnaishaExcavations,Swat", 1998,pasim.
Seefor instanceG- Tucci, "Preliminary Repon on an ArchaeologicalSurveyin Swat",
1958,p. 32 andnote 29; the imageto whichTucci refen (frg.26 of his article),identified

THEMErNTrFRocx SctrLpwrru or Swnr

A VAJRAYAMC

43

The discoveryof an originalcodein theseworla, with strongcontexnral

associationand precise,circumscribeddistribution, comesin striking
contrastto te former perceptionof this artistic current as of little real
largely inspiredby imported models.It also raisesfurther
substance,
considerations,in the first place the question of how the works were
commissionedand to what end. Surely they were not a mafter of sporadic
village imtiatives.Secondly,how wasthe phenomenonpropagatedover the
area?Again, this cannot be amibuted to the chanceresult of spontaneous
imitation. Rather,we havethe senseof a singleproject and common design
behind thesesculptures.The absenceof dedicatoryinscriptronsin itself
suggestsa community commission,inspiredby strong motivation and a
distinctcapacityfor theoreticalelaboration.
What springsto mind here is the monasticcommunity itsel{ which was
evidendyseehng someway to foresall the extinction of the ancientsacred
topography.In many, if not all cases,we might be able to ascribethe
executionof thesereliefs to the samemonasdccommr:nity. The sculptures
may not be of consistentlyhigh artistic quality, but they alwaysshow
to well-definedschemes.
precisecorrespondence
Thus, despitethe evident
affinities,we may well understandthe significantdivergencesremaining
beween theserock sculpturesand the coevalbronzes.The differenceis the
intendedsetting ofthe worl* the bronzeswere meant for a protectedplace
with a selectpatronage,while the rock reliefswere to be
and associated
exposedto the eyesofall. This is the primary differencethat conditionsthe
characteristicsand themesof the iconography,which alludesmore
explicitly to tlre complex Tantric doctrines in the bronzes,but more
neutrally in the rock reliefs.Nevertheless,the lamerdo show the occasional
fleetingpointer to the new ideologicalhorizon.In them we find features

by the author as Siva, is presentedas a relic of non-Buddhistreligion. This view,

emphasizedin a later work ("Orienul Notes, II: An Image of a Devi Discoveredin Swat
and SomeConnectedProblems", l91, wirh a speciEcreferenceto cheSivaunagc ar p.
180),hasbeenwidely acctpted,but conna seeA. Fitgeru, Il BodhiramnMaitrrya nell'one
rupermdzlk Swat.Appuntinll'iconografue*l n to delBuddhaaatnrq 1999,esp.pp. l0-l l,
arrdid., "Marginal Notes on rhe BuddhistRock Scr.rlpnresof Swat", 2000,pp. 105-70,
esp.p. 107.ifhe question involves the specificcontext of the rock sculptures(esp.as
reg:rds tlle seength and the urty of this artistic phenomenon),not rhe generalfiame of
the religiousactivitiesin Swatproposedby Tucci, which still remainssubstantiallyralid.

44

Anna Filigmzi

distincdy associatedwir a view of the religiouspath, and evenwith rituals,

tt?ical of the Tantric doctrines.'*
Among thesethereis an interestingrelief which,if my interpretationis
correct, is able to illustrate this Vajrayanic"presence"in the rock sculpture
in a panicularlydirectandeloquentmanner(fig. l).
Executedon a stelaof the typically irregular egg shape,the relief depics
a central enthroned figure, accompaniedby wo standingancillary figtres
of appreciablysmallerdimensions.The central figure sits in uajrapz.ryak^tnt on a lion throne of a type notably recurrent in the sphereof
rock sculpture:the seatedlions are seenfrontally with forelegscrossed,
with curly manesand facescharacterisedby somewhatpromrding globular
eyes.Following an equallytypical formula, the throne ress on a broad
anda rich drapelikely inspired
lotuscorollaandis adomedwith sidetassels
by modelsof tle local textile craft, whoseproductionwas alreadywellknown and widely appreciatedin the Maurya period.rt The figure is
dressedasone of the many Bodhisawasappearingin rock sculpture:a tiara
tied at the sidesof the head with ribbons hanging down, a shawl draped
over tlre arms,pnridbdnaand jewels.The right hand appearsto be in
while the left holds a rather flat object (fig.2). Above the
abbayamudra,
head, surroundedby a nimbus with a flaming border, is a son of canopy
adomed with tassels,iewelsand circular elements(fig. l). The two figures
at rhe sides,a man and a woman, bear objectsthat are hard to identilt
and-significandy-are alsocharacterisedby a nimbus and are bome up on
lotus flowers.
The stelawaspublishedsomeyearsago by PierfrancescoCallieri,tuwho
proposedthe identification of the subjectdepictedhere as the Buddha
Amityus.This interpretation was basedessentiallyon the bowl-like object
held by the centralfigure in his left hand,which Callieri took to correspond
to the miraculousointment vaseqnnbolisingthe healingpower of Amitayus.
This is a likely hypothesis,since it matchesbroadly the iconographic
with this figure, who is often depictedin the guiseof
conventionsassociated

On dris topicseeA. Filigenzi,"Wisdom and Compassion:

Conceptand Iconographyof
2000-2001,esp.pp. 258-0.
Avalokite6vara/Padmap4i",
SeeG. Tucci, "PreliminaryReporton ar Archaeological
Surveyin SwaC',1958,p. 325
note 16,with bibliographicreferences.
nelMuseodelloSwt",1986,pp.435-40.
P. Callieri,"Una stelepost-gandharica

A Vrynev,wc Trr,lrE N TLtr RocK ScLr-purr,Rr( )FSwAl

45

a Bodhjsawa.When the study appeared,the rock sculpnre of Swathad not

yet been surveyed;nevertheless,the author found close comparisonswith
this categoryand,indeed,with productionshavingsomeaffinity in terms of
geographical,chronologicaland cultural contiguity,namelybronzesand
producedin Swat,KashmirandTibet.'7
vodyeterracottas
However,the interpretationproposedby Callieri alsocontainscertain
incongmous elemens. On the basisof our fuller contemporaryknowledge
of the generalcontext of the rock sculpture,we may now relate theseto a
more markedly Tantric environment. In particular, the shapeof the
fignre's amibute and the mudra iself do not fit well with the conventional
iconography for Amitayts. In fact, Amitayus is usually shownin dhlnnamudrd, with a vase,rather than a bowl, on the palm of his hands(fig. 4).
Although subjectto variation, the form of this vaseappearsto be inspired
by ritual vesselqat any rate it is more elaborateand refined than a simple
bowl, and widendy deemedmore suited to the content. It may, moreover,
be that this iconographic choice served precisely to differentiate the
medicinal vasefrom te pfia. At least one illustration of the latter is
offered by rock sculpture,which confirms a decidedlymore prosaicform
for this amibute (fig. 5). However, closerobseryationof the object bome in
the hand of our personagesuggescthat it is even too flat for the typical
bowl shape,while coming much closerto representing a kapAb(frg. 2).'he
left hand, unfomrnately much abraded,also appearsto depart somewhat
from tle customarydepiction of abbayamudra.
Indeed, it appearsto fit
better with the position te abhaymudrd takes on when accompaniedby
the presenceof an attribute, which is usually-whether in sculpture or in
painting of Tantric inspiration-a small uajra.t8While this is just a
we cannotrule out the possibilitythat suchindeedis the caseof
hypothesis,
our sculpture, as also suggestedby the profile of the figure. For example,
the vertical elementto the rght of the palm, of disproportionatelength for
the thumb, and the shon horizontal protuberancetJratwe can iust make
As regardsthe bronzes,seehere note . For rhe terracota plaquesseeP.G. Paul, "Some
TerracottaPlaquesfrom the Swt-IndusRegion:a Litde-known Phaseof dre Post'
GandharaArt of Pakisun", l98l; for rhe rs'a tr'a seeG. Tuc<t, Inla-Tibetca,I.
e
t'a"
nel
inliano
nen" "x'a
Tibet
e occidntale,1932.
A good exampleis provided by dre Vajrasatwapublished by P. Pal, Bronzesof l(rchmi,
1975, p. 162,no. 59a,b.

46

Anna Filigmzi

out on the left might acnrallybelongto a aajra.Apan from theseparticular

details,the generaltone of the iconographicthemeis, I believe,well suited
to depictionof a Siddha,the centralfigure of Vajrapna and pre-emment
representa
AlthoughSiddhasessentially
modelof pefect accomplishment.
non-monastjcideal, militandy anti-conventional,it is not infiequent for
them to work tlrough or associatervith the monasticorder.reThis is the
prevalenttendenryin the iconographicmodelsof the Mahesiddhain
Tibet, very often shown in rnonasticgarmentsand grave,imposing
posnrres.These perfecdyand eloquendyoffset other iconographicqpes
where,in sharpcontrast,the Siddhafigure appearsasyogin or evenasone
seizedby holy possession.2o
However, classicalVajrayena,as a developmentof the Mahyana,conceivesof the Siddha as a Bodhisattva,whose principal aim lies in
commimrent to the benefit of others. Indeed, Tibetan tradition accounts
for the varietiesof extraction,methodsand practicescharacterisingthe
biographiesof the Siddhaspreciselywith firlfillment of the Bodhisawa's
vow to help living creaturesof every level and condition, identifuing with
them andadoptingthe samelife-styles.2r
Returning,now, to out stela,I believewe may attempt an initial
interpretation as follows: if this is the depiction of a Siddha,then it offers
but probablystill
the imageofa spiritualmodelthat is pelectly delineated,
in a processof formation at the iconographiclevel. Nevertheless,
comparisonwith serial productions bearing someaffinity revealsa number
of poina in common that can hardly be amibuted to mere chance.Once
again,the areafavoured for examjnationis that of the bronzesand votive
plaquesmadeof clay or terracotta.Moreover, it is aboveall the latter that

2l

See for instance G. Tucci, la religioni d.elTibet, 1995 (or. edn. Dre Religionm Tibets,
of Religion,1987,vol. III s.v.
1970),pp.4347; M. Eliadeet al. eds.,TbeFnryclopndia
124.
Mahsiddhas,
P.
Examplesof both gpes can easilybe found in te iconographicrepertories.A rapid
review is offered for insunce by the dated but still useful Myrlologie asatiqueillustre,
'l-ucci,
Inda-Tibetim,
I. "mc'odnen" e "x'a t'a" nelTibet
1928,pp. 13l ff., esp.l5l-58; G.
1932,pp. 102-6andtaw. )OOG4tr,b-)O, b; M.M. R-tlieandR.A.F.
indionoe otcd.anale,
Thurman, Tbe Stta'edArt of Tibet,1991,pp. 154-55,15 ff.; seealso P. Pal, Tbetan
Paintings,1984,pl. 40.
p. 124.
1987,vol. Itr s.v.Mahsiddhas,
ofReligion,
M. Eliadeet a.eds.,T/e Enqclopaed.ia

TIGM L N r'rgRocK Sctr-pwrm op Swar

A VAJRAyA^nc

offer us the possibility to crossoyer to the world of Tibean iconography,

distant in time and spacebut conceptuallyclose,where the figure of the
Siddhain panicularwasto find collocationin a conventionalcodeserving
accomplished
While the idealBodhisatwa-figure
to express
"canonization".
inspiration prevailsin tle Swat stela,the tradition that would become
in Tibet wasof more distincdymonasticinspiratron.Clearly,
established
the Tibetan option had strong ideologicalcontent.We may accountfor
this by adducing the successfirlefforts to curb the secularisationof Buddhism and bring the potendallydangerouscurrents,as indeedwere the
Tantric ones,back under the conuol of dogmaticmles.22However,the
strihng affinities to be seenin generalwith Indic tradition and in particular
with the northern regionsof India-confirm the persistenceof models
or in courseof elaboration,in theseareasbetweenthe 7th and
elaborated,
8th cent.AD. Such modelslikely found their way into Tibet with these
very bronzesand votive terracottas.Our knowledgeof theseobiectsis
undoubtedlylimited to a very small sampleof the total volume of
production and circulation, which we can only supposeto havebeenmuch
more extensivethan hasso far beendocumented.However, the production
of Swatappearsreadilyrecognisable
on the basisofclose affinitieswith the
rock sculpture,physicallyimmovableand inseparablylinled witlr the area
that producedit, enjofng a self-contained
dimensionand thusconstitudng
reliablegeographicaland cultural reference.
Although the two ancilary figures accompanfng the central figure on
the stela (figs. -7) may appearto be somethingof an anornalyin the
sphereof rock sculpture, they definitely represent featuresrecurrent
among the bronzes and votive terracoftas.By vimre of the geographical
and chronologicalhorizons, we may considerteseto haveemergedfrom
the samecultural environmenq rhus providing a reliable comparison.2rA
particular meaning is clearly being expressedin this manlwoman couple.

G.'frcc|, Le religionidel Tibet, 1995,pp. 43-44; D.I-. Snellgroveand H. Richardson,.4

CulwralHixoryof Tibet,l98, pp. 129-31.
This is a very commonand widespread
morif in Buddhisticonography,esp.in Tantric
contexts.To stay within the limis of our dreme,in addition from the bronze sculpore
ofour69.8(see below),seeP. Pal,Bmnzzs
ofKtsbmi, 1975,no.75,p. 198,andthe
terracottaspecimensin P.G. Paul, "Some TerracomaPlaquesfrom the Swat-lndus
Regron:a Litde-lorou,nPhaseof the Post-Ga-ndhra
Art of Pakisun",1981.

+8

Anna Filigenzi

The hieraticcharacterof the subjectand,aboveall, the repetitiveiconographic module conveythe impressionthat thesefigures are not simply
donors.Even if they were, however,they displayfeaturesand attributes
associatedwith a role such as to suggestidentification as a syrnbolic
Unfomrnately,in this asin most of the other caseslmown to us,
couple.2a
the amibutes are not recognisable.Nevertheless,in this particular casewe
might hazarda hypothesis,namely that the couple correspondto that
complementaryopposidon,well-known to us in Tibetan iconographyand
This hypothesismight also be extendedto
Iiocrrgy,of uajra ar'd gharyya.
other exampleswhere the preservedform of the attributes,if not identicompatiblewith thesetwo objecs.
fiable,at leastappears
Occurrenceof the uajralghntta prg in Swat and within the chronological horizon we are dealingwith is proved by at leastone example-well
this time-that leavesabsolutelyno doubt aboutidentificauon
preserved,
of the amibutes.This is one of those"Buddhistaureoles"that wereslotted
onto the back of cenffal cult images (fig. 8). This type of-more or less
complex-composition must, moreover, have been very frequent, as
attestedby the presenceof tenonsand socketson the backof many bronzes
that havesurvivedin isolation.2sIn the particularcaseof our stela,the
profile conservedand the grip ofthe malefigure on his amibute are closely
The female
echoedin a bronzedepicting a fierce aspectof Vajrapni.'Z
figure is still more poorly preserved,but her attribute doesnot appear
if we seeher asholding it on the palm of the
incompatible with a ghary1d,
left hand, holding the handle in her right hand. The complementary

This procts of identification appearsperhapsmore evident in connectionwith kingship

and patronage.Tltoughout the ages,there is abundantevidenceof political propaganda
made through religious iconographicthemes,as in the well known history of the
Maurya and Gupta periods.To cite a peculiarcase,seethe identificationof Harsa
Vardhanawirh lndra, documentedby Xuanzangin his descriptionof the royal festivalat
Kanauj (S. Beal transl., Silu-ki. BuddbistRecordrof the Wesernl|torlt, \958, vol.IJ, p.
242) and other similar traditions recaledby M.D- Wllis ("Pau:onageduring tre Gupta
Period: Epigraphic Evidencefor the Activities of the Gupta Monarch", 1997, esp.pp-

620-2r).
For a rapid overview of tle published materiasI refer the reader to P. Pal, Bronzesof
Ktshmir, 1975, where this occurrenceis illustrated by many examples.
lbid., pp. 164-65,no. 0.

A. Filigenzi

Fig. I stelawith a cenoalenthronedfigure (a Siddha)andtwo standinpJ

ancillary
figures.SwatMuseum,SaiduSharil
Neg. IsIAO R 5018/i.

Figs.I - 3

Fig. 2 - Detail of fig. l. Gesturesand

attribute(s?)of central6gure.
Neg.IsLAOR 5018/2.

Fig. 3 - Detailoffig. l.The canopy.

Neg. kLA.OR 5018/1.

Figs.4- 5

A. Filigenzi

Fig. 4 - A beun r'a r'a representing

Amityus. Inv. MNAOR 548.
(Courtesy Museo Nazionale d'Arte
Orientale, Rorne)

Fig. 5 - A stela with a Buddha's

figure holding a pdtra- Swar Mseum, Saidu Sharil Neg. IsIAO L

r79r7
/9.

A. Filigenzi

Figs. - 7

Fig. 6 - Detail of fig. 1.The ancillary male figure. Neg. IsIAO R

5018/4.

Fig. 7 - Detail of fig. l. The ancillary female figr.rre.Neg. IsIAO

R 5018/3.

Fig. 8

A. Filigenzi

Fig. 8 - A "Buddhist Aureole". National Museum, Karachi. Neg. MNAOR 184.

(CourtesyMuseo Nazionale d'Arte Orientale, Rome)

Figs.9

A. Filigen:.i

t-r
.,

|f
:\,

fii

J;Qf

Fig. 9 - A Tibetln /rr /r ir reprcscntine a Sicltlharvith i'a7lr 'rnclglzatl on lotrrscs.

I n v . , \ , I N A O R 5 1 7 .( C o u l t e s r ' l u s c o N r z i o n i t l c d ' A r t e O r i e n t a l e ,R o m e )

F i e .l ( t

Iig. l0

'['ilrctrrn
b I o n z c \ t 1 t u c t t c c p r r s c t i l gl ) r r l n t r r s r r r ] l l r rht . . t r
-l'hulnrrn
.\lrrr Ihie irnrl
l r ) ( ) 1 .l l . l i .

F i e .l 1

.1. ili,4,tt- i

7cr

r{
\

L-l

Figs.12- 13

A. Filigenzi

Fig. 12 - A Tibetan tu 8i? representingPadmasambhava.

Inv. MNAOR 10823.(Counesy
Museo Nazionaled'Ane Orientalg Rome)

Fig. 13 - A Tibetan rr'a rr'a representing Tsong Khapa with

his two principaldisciples.
Inv. MNAOR 5347. (Courtesy
Museo Nazionaled'Ane Orientalg Rome)

TTGME rN THF RocK ScrJl-puruRLoF SWAT

A VAJRAyANqc

+9

aajra/gbaqldrnton, expressedhere in the phpical presenceof the couple,is

preservedin Tibetan iconography stripped of any accessoryform, where
the lotusessppoft not the humanisedhlpostasesofthe sltnbol, but rather
in all is essential
nature(frg.9)."
the s'rrmbol
In relation to the more generaltheme of the Siddhafigure, variousother
featuresfor comparisonwith the Swat stela can be found in Tibetan
iconography.The arrival of Padmasambhava
in Tibet in responseto the
invitation by King Trisong Detsen representsfor the history of the
Yajray-arna definite tetntinrc antequemwe may not only placethe birth of
the Va.jrayna,
but also postulatethe acquisitionof a mature doctrinal
dimensionand iconographiclexicon.Alongsidethe divinities ofthe Tantric
pantheon,we might posnrlatethe Siddhaas the ideal model of "perfect
If my hypothesisis correct,we may supposethat this
accomplishment".
model correspondedmore or lessto that of ow stela.Actually,Tibetan
figure tlnt comes
iconographyitself offers a version of the Padmasambhava
fairly close to it. This version might be tJremost direct intermediary
betweena protorype elaboratedin his land of origin and an image
remodelledaccordingto betan canons.Of te "eight aspectsof guru
Padmasambhava",
te first (and presumablymost archaic)describeshim
with two arms, seatedon a lotus holding a aajra tn lns right hand and a
just asdoesthe central figure in our stela.Moreover,
skullcapin the 1eft,28
among the various Siddhafigures, Padmasambhava
is often distinguished
by sumptuouscloals, in which we may discem some contamination with
the Bodhisawa figure (figs. l0-12).'?e
Despitethe difference,the affinity
On the symbolismof oajra andgltantn seeE. D. Saunders,Munra. A Sna! of Synbolic
in Japanese
Gestures
Baldhisi Slpture, 1960, pp. 14647 and 184-91;in relation to dre
iconographyof gurus and SiddhasseeG. Tlucci, Indo-Tbetica,
I. 'lnt'od ttn" e "t'a t'a"
l9l2, pp. 104-5.
nel Tibetindianoe occidentale,
For texmal referencesto the iconography of Padmasambhava,
tlte most authoritative
sovce is r\e AstataharrihaPantheol,in L. Chandra, fudhin lconography,
compacted.,
1991, pp. 43-54; for a rapid review of the same seeF.W. B:rutce,An EnEckpaedaof
BuddhistDeties,Denigods,Godlings,Sainx ond Demonswitb SpecialFoatson hmogaphic
Attibutes, 1994,vol. I, pp. 384-85,under the headingPadmasambhava;
seealso G.
Ttcci, TibetanPaintedSrrolr,1949,vol. II, p. 540andvol. IlI, pls. l4l-42.
For further specimens,see,for instance,J. Baaderet al. eds.,Tantrirhe Kunn det
Budbismas,
1981,p. 28; M.M. Rhie and R.A.F.Thurman, Tbe SacredAn of Tibet,
London 1991,pp. l6-82.Often, Padmasambhara
is represented
wearinga peculiarhaq

50

Anna Filignzi

remainsevident with the subjectof the Swat stela-the only surviving

exampleof the kind known to us, but probably not the only one ever
produced.It does,however,seemworth nodng tat this subjectnever
appearsamongthe very many reliefs executedon walls or large bouldersof
space,but
roclg suggestingthat it wasmeantnot for a universallyaccessible
place.
that
replicas
It is quite possible
rather for somereserved,protected
more or lessmatchingthis subjectcirculatedin the form of bronzesor
terracoffas,as indeedwe are also encouragedto believeby the line
associatingit with Tibet. The extraordinarilyimportant role played by
terracottafigurines, sealsand sealings(possiblynot all "votive", asthey are
usuallydescribed)in the transmissionof iconographiesis, I believe,
generallyacknowledged,or at leastreadily imaginable.Indeed, a good
many of them were quite probably models,of no great cost,weight or bulb
easyto ansport and reproduce.This is amply demonstratedby the many
Tibetan trb tr'a-s themselves,someof which seemto havebeen castfrom
Indianmouldsor repeatedcopiesof them.ro
In panicular,let us take a look at one of tlese, a specimenof unmisukably Tibetan crafting (fig. 13) that was the first to havearousedmy
curiosity. According to Tucci, the subject depicted here is Tsong Khapa
with his two principal disciples,Glnlahab Dharma Rinchen (rGyal ts'ab
dar ma rin c'en)e MaweiNima GelegPal (sMrabai ni ma dgelegsdpal).rr
If Tucci's hlpothesis is correct, this smallclay plaquecannot be earlier than
the 14th cent. Yet certain featuresof the subiect,as well as the general
organisationof the scene,look more like stubborn survivalsof earlier

lr

in memory of his placeof birtlr (uddiyana, or Swat),decoratedwith a feadrer (an eagle

feather, s''rnbol of penetrating vision, according to M.M. Rhie and R.A.F. turmar,
ibid., p. l7 and frg. p. 177).I would recallthe custom,still alivein Swagof wearinga
lophophore'sfearerasa sign ofdistinguished intellecmal rank.
Many illusrrative examplesare to be found in the 6-necollecdon of r''a tr'a-s housedin
tlre Museo Nazionale d'Arte Orientale, Rome (most of them formerly belonging to the
private collectionof GiuseppeTucci). Leaving aside,in this context,the specimens
pointing ro an eastemorigin (Xinjiang or China), I would draw attention to drosewhich
clearly descendfiom Indian models dating back even to the pre- or early Paaperiod,
such as inv. nos. 536, 5396,5+19,542,5+63,5+64, 5638,5679,or fiom Medieval
Kashmir,asinv. no. 5l8.
'bx'od nn" e "ts'ax'a" nel Tibetindanoe occidmtale,L932,pp.
G. Trcci, Indo-Tibnica,I.
103-4.tav.)OO(IX. a.

A VAJMyAN'rcTHEMErNTFrERocK ScLr]-purLREoF SWAT

5l

motives,possiblyno longerunderstoodandreinterpretedin the light ofthe

current canons.It may, I realise,seemsomewhatfar-fetched,but I cannot
help seeingin tlLisrr'a tr'a a reflectionof a model very, very closeto our
stela.The figureon the stelais seatedbeneatha canopyadomedwith large,
wavy vittae and circular elements(fig. 3) which Callieri interpreted as
rosettes,32
although the depressionat the centre of the lateral elements
seemstoo marked. If we turn our attendon to the rs'atr'a, we seetat is
upperareais a concisedepictionof the sky,althoughthe voluteform ofthe
cloudsand the arrangementof starscomposingit suggesta direct descent
fiom the canopy in the Swati stele (which, after all, may well have been
adomedwitl astralsymbols),asif the lanerhad beenthe modelfor it-not
clearly grasped,but in a senseunderstoodcorrecdy as a s),rnbolof the
celestialresidenceof the immortal Siddha.rrThe basketof flowers.too.
bearsan odd resemblanceto that hem of kambalafalling onto the throne of
the Siddhaon the stela;even rhe marked underlininE of the scenein the
lower part of the ts'a ts'a recallsthe curious fillet definine from below the
figuration on the stela.This would not be rhe first .r.e of * erata leaio
ultimately foregrounding a conceptalreadyinlerent in re original model,
possiblyat a distanceof cennries.Despitethe geographicaland chronological gap, comparisonis inevitable,suggesting-asindeeddo so many
other examplesof various subjects-that there must certainly be some
bridge betweenthe two worlds and two ages.
As yet we simply lack knowledgeof the intermediatesrrerchesof rhe
bridge, but the rock sculpturesof Swatwould, together with other related
productions,seemto constitute one of the initial stages.From this we see
still more clearly the emergenceof a cornplexideologicaland iconographical heritage,which cannot stand as an isolated phenomenonbut
which rather mergesinto the broader contexr of a new religious culture.
The journey of Padmasambhava
beginsfiom this tenaciousoutpost of
Buddhism,bearngin his nain the-already famous-baggage of the new
doctrine, togetherwith is codesof thought andvisualexpression

3'?P. Callieri,"Una srelepost-gandharica

nel MuseodelloSwt,,,198,p.435.
rr M. Eadeet a.eds.,TheEncyclopaertia
ofReligon,
1987, vol.IlI s.v.Mahsiddhas,
p. 124;
seealsoG. Tucci, T/eun PahtedSodls,1949,vol. Il, p. 17note 295.

Anna Filigenzi

)z

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