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Art, Iconography, and Sculpture

Art, iconography, and sculpture are major recurring themes in the IJA, appearing through temple sculpture, Buddhist and Jain imagery, terracotta catalogues, deity studies, bronzes, murals, seals, biodiversity in sculpture, and regional art traditions. The corpus often uses iconography to trace religious continuity, regional identity, dynastic patronage, and the transformation of sacred forms across Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Islamic, and folk contexts.

Key Themes

Jain art - Deogarh, Saraswati, Tīrthaṅkara images, and Vaidik-Puranic goddess assimilation show Jain iconography as a major recurring subject.
Buddhist art - Gandhara, Mathura, Harwan, Avalokiteśvara, Sanghol, Sītāgārha, and Buddhist fauna papers track Buddhist visual culture across regions.
Hindu deity imagery - Viṣṇu, Kūrmāvatāra, Ganesha, Kali, Brahmanical deities of Nepal, Sun worship, and Assam metal icons build a cross-regional deity corpus.
Terracotta and museum sculpture - Several catalogues preserve object-level evidence from Lucknow, Mathura, Bareilly, Chandausi, Baraut, Meerut, and other collections.
Painting and manuscript traditions - Ajanta murals, Tai Buddhist manuscripts, Awadh and Company School paintings extend the corpus beyond stone and terracotta.

Key Findings

Iconography is used to trace continuity: The journal frequently reads deity images as evidence for long religious continuities, especially across Vedic, Puranic, Jain, and Buddhist traditions.
Museum collections are central: Many art-historical contributions come from museum and private collections rather than newly excavated contexts.
Regional styles matter: Kashmir, Assam, Odisha, Nepal, Chola Tamil Nadu, Varanasi, and Mathura are treated as distinct visual regions.
Animal imagery opens ecological readings: Buddhist sculpture and museum biodiversity papers use art as evidence for environmental knowledge and symbolic classification.
Terracotta is a bridge category: Terracottas connect domestic life, ritual practice, urbanism, craft production, and museum cataloguing.

Related Articles

Vol 1, No. 4

Jaina Art of Deogarh and its Socio-Religious Potentials

M.N.P. Tiwari & Shanti Swaroop Sinha

Vol 2, No. 1

Jaina Tīrthaṅkara Images (With special reference to Art, Iconography and Uniqueness)

Shanti Swaroop Sinha

Vol 2, No. 3

Terracottas of Lucknow Museum

Amar Singh & Yashwant Singh Rathore

Vol 2, No. 4

Art Heritage of Eran, District Sagar (Madhya Pradesh)

Mohan Lal Chadhar

Vol 2, No. 4

The Art and Archaeology of Early Historic Harwan

Abdul Rashid Lone

Vol 3, No. 2

Concept of Saraswati in Jain Tradition and Art

Dr. Maruti Nandan Pd. Tiwari & Dr. Shanti Swaroop Sinha

Vol 3, No. 4

An Image of Kūrmāvatāra from Naresar, District Morena, M.P.

Rajendra Yadav

Vol 3, No. 4

Commonality of Bharatiya Tradition and Art

With reference to the Story of Śibī and Megharatha — Dr. Shanti Swaroop Sinha

Vol 4, No. 1

Study of Sculptures on Kardameśvara Temple of Varanasi

Prof. Maruti Nandan Prasad Tiwari

Vol 4, No. 4

Two Visnu Sculptural Specimens from Daksin Radha

Somreeta Majumdar

Vol 5, No. 1

The All Embracing Indian Ethos: Reflections on Gupta Art

J. Manuel & Rajendra Yadav

Vol 5, No. 3

Brahmanical Deities of Nepal: An Iconographic Study

Dr. G.K. Lama

Vol 6, No. 1

The Indian Gandhara: Indian Artistic Influences on Gandhara Art

Ayeshi Biyanwila

Vol 6, No. 1

Sculptures found at Sursari Ganga, Kalinjar district Banda U.P.

Vijay Kumar

Vol 6, No. 1

Recently Discovered Images of Pratihara period from Babhaniyav and Mahavan Villages in Varanasi

Maruti Nandan Pd. Tiwari & Shanti Swaroop Sinha

Vol 6, No. 2

Re-Examination of the Mathuran Sculpture from Shaikhan Dheri, Charsadda

M. Habibullah Khan Khattak & Dr. Nidaullah Sehrai

Vol 6, No. 2

Assimilation of Vaidik-Purāņic goddesses in Jaina Art and Tradition

Shanti Swaroop Sinha

Vol 7, No. 2

Ambiguity of the Gender of Avalokiteśvara

A Comparative Study on the Representations from India and China during Sui-Tang period — Huang Lele

Vol 7, No. 3

Depiction of Ordinary Women in Ajanta Murals

Manu Jayas

Vol 7, No. 4

Imagery of Ganesha on Rocks of Kamrup District, Assam, India

Dr. Chabina Hassan & Dr. Nilkamal Singha

Vol 8, No. 1

Fauna Depicted on the Buddhist Stone Sculptures of State Museum Lucknow U.P. India

Piyush Bhargav & Al Shaz Fatmi

Vol 8, No. 2

The Evolution of Bronze sculptures in the Chola Period: A Case Study of the Bronze Images of Kali from the Government Museum, Chennai

Sanjay S

Vol 8, No. 4

Recently explored some Brahminical & Buddhist Sculptural Remains in Baitarani River Valley, Keonjhar district Northern Odisha

Nishikanta Dwibedi

Vol 9, No. 1

Stone Sculptures kept in Government Museum Mathura district Mathura U.P.

Vijay Kumar

Vol 9, No. 2

The Tai Buddhist Illustrated Manuscripts of Assam

Ajanta Das

Vol 10, No. 4

When Stone Speaks: Narratives in Early Historic Art of Sanghol

Ardhendu Ray

Vol 11, No. 1

Metal Icons of Assam: Tracing the Sculptural Tradition

Jutimala Misra & Manjil Hazarika

Vol 11, No. 1

Paintings of Awadh School, Company School and Ivory Paintings and Pencil Sketches kept in State Museum Lucknow

Vijay Kumar & A.K. Singh

Vol 11, No. 1

Tracing biodiversity through museum sculptures: A case study of the State Museum Lucknow

Al-Shaz Fathmi