buried images

[John C. Huntington]

While they are exactly "buried" images have often been put into  
stupas as part of the relic offerings.

The earliest such that I know of is the Bimran Reliquary from the  
first century BCE and the practice continues to the present day with  
Tsa-tsa being placed in Stupas

John


On Apr 20, 2008, at 5:56 PM, Dominik Wujastyk wrote:
> When travelling in Kathiawar in the early 90s with Peter Schreiner,  
> we encountered local living traditions in the Dhank/Junagadh region  
> of underground murtis.  These were thought to be relics from an  
> earlier and better time, before a sage cursed the former town to  
> sink underground. The villagers routinely discovered murtis when  
> building the foundations of new houses, and this was their  
> explanation.
>
> I would expect Tod to have records of this in his Travels in  
> Western India.  I've found several of the legends he collected are  
> still current in village communities today.
>
> Best,
> Dominik
>
>
> -- 
> Prof. Dominik Wujastyk
> Visiting Associate Professor (Spring Semester '08)
> Department of Asian Studies
> University of Texas at Austin
> http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/asianstudies/
>
>
> On Sun, 20 Apr 2008, ashok.aklujkar wrote:
>
>> Dear Fred,
>>
>> As I recall, Phyllis Granoff has referred to instances of buried  
>> images in
>> her writings. Sorry, I cannot provide precise references at the  
>> moment.
>> Whether the instances lend themselves to reading a purpose of the  
>> kind you
>> have in mind must be determined by studying the indications in  
>> PG's articles
>> and in the sources from which she has drawn her information.
>>
>> Best.
>>
>> ashok
>>
>>
>> Fred Smith wrote:
>>
>>> Does anyone know if there is a history of burying statues or any  
>>> other sorts of
>> images in the ground for apotropaic or prophylactic purposes. I  
>> came across
>> references to burying images of Demeter and other goddesses in the  
>> Greek (and
>> Roman) world, and wonder if there is any such parallel phenomenon  
>> in India or
>> Southeast Asia. It seems to me that I have read about this  
>> somewhere, but can't
>> recall where.
>> <
>>
>
>
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