Iconography transformed: a few notes on the god Vaiśravaṇa

• Main Author: Sarah-Allegra Schönberger
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Donner Institute 2016-12-01
• Series: Approaching Religion
• Subjects: Religious Studies; Iconography; Visual Culture; Transformation Process; Buddhism; Hinduism
• Online Access: https://journal.fi/ar/article/view/67596

This article aims at an integration of the topic of iconographic transformation processes into a wider context of meaning, in order to enhance its importance from a religious and cultural-scientific point of view. In this sense, my research is not interested in asking how a deity is depicted, but why it is depicted in a particular way; what conclusions can be drawn, and what factors might influence artistic work? Thus, the topic of the image’s context, its usage, and its meaning become the focus of attention. By taking the example of the god Vaiśravaṇa, my analysis of ‘religious images’ of him is composed of two interlinked parts: an exemplary study of a transcultural iconographic transformation process, as well as an analysis of the images’ context.