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ABSTRACT: The Pala dynasty was born at a time when the population worshipped several religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and even Jain. Sculptures related to all these religions have been found in the regions of the Pala dynasty's reign. The four centuries of Pala rule have given us a very large number of images now housed in the different museums of Bengal and scattered in villages, temples, and private houses. The stone sculptures of this period are idols of gods and goddesses. Sculptures that show or narrate actual connection to the society or the practical life of the people are not present at all. Rather, the sculptures reflect the religious experience of the past centuries. The featured sculpture is the image of the Hindu god, Vishnu. The sculpture was originally thought to have decorated the walls of temples in the Pala reign. The date of this sculpture is predicted to be somewhere around the 12th century AD. Most sculptures of the Pala epochs are carved out of black-stone on Kastipathar, either fine or coarse-grained. Most images of Vishnu were carved out of a big stone with the main deity in the middle and the other accompanying in the outer back slab. Along with these images, many caves and temples were created. These were rather simplistic in the early parts of the Pala reign, but became quite exquisite towards the end of the period. There were two types of caves: plain and elaborate. Temples were built to honor a deceased king or god. Shrines paid homage to these beings as well. |
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SUMMARY