Religious Iconography of Goalpara in Assam

By : Sofiul Islam Khan

Page No: 53-70

Abstract
The iconographic representations of the ancient art and sculptures in Goalpara in Assam exhibit a great variety. They also represent different religions and cultural traits. The newly discovered sites have several structural remains, sculptures of different types, decorative bricks and terracotta, caves and stūpa. The new sites mainly contain relics of Brahmannical Hinduism and a few that of Buddhism. The votive stūpas present in Surya Pahar, Pancharatna and stūpa remains found in Barbhita suggest the practice of Buddhism in Assam. Stylistically these stūpas which are carved in monolithic rocks dates back to the first century BCE and continued thereafter. It is noteworthy that remains of Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism contemporaneously, have been so far reported only in Goalpara district of Assam. Rock-cut remains of Goalpara region have a unique position in the history of art and architecture of the region. These rock-cut structures provide a little information about the development of artistic activity region and offer glimpses, though not a complete picture of the socio-religious history of the region. Further there is a gap between the archaeological remains of Goalpara and the existing literary traditions. Sculptural and iconographic representation in the region is very unique as it has witnessed earliest sculptural activity in the region along with Da Parvatia in Tezpur. So, one can find both the classical representation and the development of local school in sculptural art of Goalpara. Viṣnu image from Dudhnoi, can be placed to Gupta period but afterward the classical dynamism lost and replaced by Kāmārūpa School of Art or EISMA.

Author:
Sofiul Islam Khan: Assistant Professor and HoD, Department of History, Paschim Guwahati Mahavidyalaya, Guwahati
 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32381/SEAR.2024.49.5