Tree & Serpent

A pioneering study of the emergence of Buddhist art in southern India, featuring vibrant photography of rare works, many published here for the first time.
Advance praise:
“ Brilliant in conception, the publication Tree and Serpent brings together scores of stunning works of art from the beginnings of Buddhist art in India, many never seen before. Through the pieces he assembles and the text he provides, John Guy makes it clear that we cannot understand the Buddha until we see what surrounds him. In Tree and Serpent , the Buddha comes back home. ”
— Donald Lopez
Distinguished Professor of Buddhist Studies, University of Michigan 
“This richly illustrated volume has artefacts from museums across India, Europe and the United States of America. Each of the artworks in the book is used to tell the story of the evolution of Buddhism, its allure, its spread outside India...among many other interesting facets. ”
— Srimoyee Bagchi , The Telegraph
Podcast
Apple:  https://litcity.in/e63- apple Spotify:  https://litcity.in/ e63-sptfy Google:  https://litcity.in/ e63-google Everywhere else: https://litcity.in/e63-home
Media : 
The Literary City podcast
The Print
The Print (Book excerpt)
The Telegraph
The Week 
The Indian Express
Sunday mid-day
Mint
Sunday Herald
FESunday
Abir Pothi
OPEN Magazine

Named for two primary motifs in Buddhist art, the sacred bodhi tree and the protective snake, Tree & Serpent: Early Buddhist Art in India is the first publication to foreground devotional works produced in the Deccan from 200 BCE to 400 CE. Unlike traditional narratives, which focus on northern India (where the Buddha was born, taught, and died), this groundbreaking book presents Buddhist art from monastic sites in the south. Long neglected, this is among the earliest surviving bodies of Buddhist art, and among the most sublimely beautiful. An international team of researchers contributes new scholarship on the sculptural and devotional art associated with Buddhism, and masterpieces from recently excavated Buddhist sites are published here for the first time—including Kanaganahalli and Phanigiri, the most important new discoveries in a generation. With its exploration of Buddhism’s emergence in southern India, as well as of India’s deep commercial and cultural engagement with the Hellenized and Roman worlds, this definitive study expands our understanding of the origins of Buddhist
art itself.