Danger and Devotion: Hariti, Mother of Demons in the Stories and Stones of Gandhara, A Historiography and Catalogue of Images

Abstract

The sculptural images of Hariti document the synergistic character of Gandharan art, religion and society during the Kushan period (first to fifth centuries C. E.). This thesis establishes a comprehensive historical, religious and cultural context for sculptural representation in Gandhara and the emergence of a distinctive Gandharan style. It is designed to consolidate Hariti's extant images and to review and re-evaluate their iconography and historic identifications. It includes a Catalogue of images of Hariti and related Gandharan deities and provides translations of Buddhist texts relating the story of the Mother of Demons. In addition, Hariti's mythology is examined for evidence of the shifting dynamics of authority, orthodoxy and gender within the traditions of Brahmanism and early Buddhism.