whose appearance is easily recognised.
Their heads are always shaved and they wear nothing on them, their dress is the same monk's garment worn by the Buddha, such as will be described in the next chapter. \Ve find one relief
Ia 110
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Life of Buddha |
Series Ia |
Plate LV 110 |
2610b.JPG Life of Buddha |
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with monks of a different sort where, according to the text, the Buddhais conversing with an Ajivaka (on the relief there are three of them). There is no reason to believe that there were such sort of people in Java; probably these were invented by the sculptor. The appearance of these three men is certainly rather strange; the head quite smooth in front, either shaved or the hair brushed back, has a bunch of hair on the top twisted into a bow in the style of ascetics with a long lock hanging down on the shouldder; the upper part of the body is bare except for a cloth that goes over the left shoulder and under the right arm, the rest of it hanging down; the lower part of the body is covered with a garment reaching to the ankles fastened with a girdle and clasp; they have bracelets round the upper arm and a sect-mark resembling an urea on their forehead. It looks very doubtful if this costume is anything real.
Bhiksuni's also appear on the reliefs though not so frequently as the monks. We see them first among the Buddha's hearers,
IBa 329
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balustrade |
Series IBa |
Plate XXXVII 329 |
1922.JPG balustrade |
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II 5 and 8
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De Gandawyuha |
Series II |
Plate III 5 |
2978.JPG De Gandawyuha |
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De Gandawyuha |
Series II |
Plate IV 8 |
2982.JPG De Gandawyuha |
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; but also playing an active part,
Ib 73 and 74
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main wall |
Series Ib |
Plate XXXVII 73 |
1194b.JPG main wall |
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main wall |
Series Ib |
Plate XXXVII 74 |
1194a.JPG main wall |
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IBb 117, 127, 128
####No Reference found IBb, 117
####No Reference found IBb, 127
####No Reference found IBb, 128
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II 43 and 90
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De Gandawyuha |
Series II |
Plate XXII 43 |
3017.JPG De Gandawyuha |
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De Gandawyuha |
Series II |
Plate XLV 90 |
3064.JPG De Gandawyuha |
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Three of these scenes,
Ib 74
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main wall |
Series Ib |
Plate XXXVII 74 |
1194a.JPG main wall |
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and
IBb 117 and 127
####No Reference found IBb, 117
####No Reference found IBb, 127
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evidently depict the ordaining of a nun, with the novice seated in front of the members of the order; further details are given in the description of the reliefs, which must also be consulted for the question whether
IBb 10
####No Reference found IBb, 10
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represents a scene of nunsFinally in the wellknown story of Cu4,dabodhi, there is a woman in the complete dress of a nun,
IBa 73
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balustrade |
Series IBa |
Plate IX 73 |
1652.JPG balustrade |
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—76, where there is no question of taking the vows, only of a woman following her husband who has become a hermit, into a life in the wilderness. The nuns all wear a garment corresponding to the monk's dress and like them a shaved head. The garment is scorn, so that the whole upper part of the body is covered; the sculptor's habit of distinctly showing the human form under the garment gives the appearance of nudity, but the edge of the dress round the neck is always visible and shews it is meant to be there. Both hands appear outside the dress that can be seen to hang down from the wrists. This garment reaches to above the ankles and an edge of the under-garment can be distinguished below it; one corner is thrown over the shoulder, generally the left, but sometimes the right. On one occasion, a secondary figure on
II 90
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De Gandawyuha |
Series II |
Plate XLV 90 |
3064.JPG De Gandawyuha |
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the sculptor gives us an under-garment worn like a sarong and fastened with a girdle, but we may remark that the only other standing figure of a nun—that on
IBa 76
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balustrade |
Series IBa |
Plate IX 76 |
1655.JPG balustrade |
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as we saw was not actually a nun—does not wear the same kind of thing. The seated nuns—all the rest are sitting—do not show any undergarment so that the dress of their sister on
II 90
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De Gandawyuha |
Series II |
Plate XLV 90 |
3064.JPG De Gandawyuha |
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remains unique).
It would be useless to enumerate all the scenes where monks appear, their costume is always the same. Nor need we examine those where brahYnans are to be found, they are everywhere and mentioned in nearly every text. Not that their appearance is always the same; the members of this caste move in all kinds of surroundings and their dress is that of various classes of society, the needy brahman who accepts alms is not in the same costume as the elegant, important purohita, the Court chaplain. Brahmans always wear a beard and moustache; never any headdress but the hair always brushed smooth to the back and then twisted into a knot tied round with a more or less ornamental band. They are often seen with the wreath already- mentioned round the head, occasionally with a flower, either a real one or some floral ornament, in the front and at the sides, just the same place where the ornaments are put on a diadem; sometimes the hair in front is quite smooth and a flower put in the band that fastens the back hair. The rest of this dress in its simplest form consists of only a loincloth with a plain girdle, besides of course the caste-cord; as the brahman rises in the social scale he wears the usual necklaces, bracelets and rings round the arms and ankles etc. Let us take an example from the most typical of them. First the brahman who is a wanderer in the forest in the Cacijataka,
IBa 23
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balustrade |
Series IBa |
Plate III 23 |
1596.JPG balustrade |
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—25; he wears a loincloth and wreath, has a bundle on his shoulder, an umbrella in one hand, his staff in the other; nearly as plainly dressed, without the wreath and staff but carrying the umbrella and wearing bracelets, we see the man who is being received with high honour on
IIB 13
####No Reference found IIB, 13
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The brahmans who are among the desa-folk have no other ornament than a pair of earrings and often carrv an umbrella. in such scenes ac
O 16 54
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Series O |
Plate II 16 |
635b.JPG |
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Series O |
Plate VII 54 |
735a.JPG |
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55 and 122.
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