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Pia Brancaccio: "Buddhist Monasticism in the Longue Durée: The Archaeological Evidence from the Rock-Cut Complex of Kanheri/Kṛṣṇagiri, Maharashtra, India"

Date
Thursday May 8th 2025, 5:00 - 6:30PM
Event Sponsor
The Ho Center for Buddhist Studies
Location
East Asian Library
Lathrop Library, 518 Memorial Way 2nd Floor, Stanford
Room 224
Portrait of Pia Brancaccio

 

Abstract:

The Buddhist site of Kanheri (ancient Kṛṣṇagiri), located on the outskirts of modern-day Mumbai, was established around the beginning of the Common Era and comprises over 100 caves that served as residential, devotional, and funerary spaces for monks. Despite its remarkable architectural features and an extensive collection of over 100 in-situ inscriptions, Kanheri remains one of the most significant yet surprisingly understudied Buddhist monasteries in the Western Deccan. Drawing on the ongoing MAK Project (Mapping Ancient Kṛṣṇagiri), this presentation will discuss the remnants of stupas and shrines documented at the site, review associated artistic evidence, and discuss the unique configuration of viharas and rock-cut structures such as āsanas and caṅkamas, in conjunction with inscriptions. The site will be analyzed within the framework of the longue durée, emphasizing its sustained importance as a center for both Buddhist education and asceticism throughout the centuries. Additionally, the geographical setting and economic foundations of the monastery will be examined, considering its connections to the Indian Ocean exchange system and long-distance Buddhist networks. As the monastery operated continuously for over a thousand years, it offers valuable insights into the developments of Buddhist monasticism in South Asia during the first millennium.

Bio:

Pia Brancaccio is currently a Professor of Indian Art and Archaeology at the Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale” in Italy and at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Her research focuses on early Buddhist art and cross-cultural exchange in South Asia, with a regional emphasis on the visual cultures of ancient Gandhara (Pakistan) and the Deccan Plateau (India). She has published extensively on the Buddhist caves in the Western Deccan, including a monograph, The Buddhist Caves at Aurangabad (2010), and the edited volume Living Rock (2013). She is currently working on the MAK Project (Mapping Ancient Kṛṣṇagiri) at the Kanheri caves in Maharashtra, India, which aims to produce the first complete archaeological and epigraphic documentation of the site. She has also been a longstanding collaborator with the ISMEO-Italian Archaeological Mission in Pakistan and has written on architecture, visual narratives, artistic workshops, and the multicultural fabric of Buddhism in Gandhara. She co-edited the book Gandharan Buddhism: Art, Archaeology (2006).