TIBET, 17TH/18TH CENTURY

The temple complex at Mahabodhi, the site where the Gautama Buddha first achieved enlightenment, is an important Buddhist pilgrimage site and has been since antiquity. During the Pala period (9th-12th centuries), Buddhist sites in Bihar and Bengal were lavishly sponsored by the local rulers, and it is likely the first great temple was built on the site during this time. Because of its historical significance, as well as its location near to the Buddhist universities of Nalanda and Vikramvishila, the Mahabodhi Temple was an especially popular pilgrimage destination for Tibetans before its decline following the Muslim invasions in the 13th century, and there are a number of models of the temple in existence that were built as souvenirs for these pilgrims. The present painting, with the temple at center surrounded by the numerous votive stupas and gate houses, certainly represents two-dimensionally the layout of that temple complex; because the painting dates from after the destruction of the temple, it is likely the artist used such a model as the inspiration. For a closely related example in the collection of the Rubin Museum of Art, see G. Mullin, Buddha in Paradise, 2007, p. 105, fig. 49.