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modelling of masculine human physique and simplified it. Many standing Buddha images with right hand in abhaya mudrā were cast in North India, particularly Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, during the Gupta and post-Gupta period, i.e., between the fifth and seventh century. Vakataka bronze images of the Buddha from Phophnar, Maharashtra, are contemporary with the Gupta period bronzes statues. They show the influence of the Amaravati style of sculptures of the third century C.E. and at the same time there is a significant change in the draping style of the monk’s robe. The additional importance of the Gupta and Vakataka bronzes is that they were portable, and monks carried them from place to place for the purpose of individual worship or to be installed in Buddhist vihāras. In this manner, the refined classical style spread to different parts of India and to other Asian countries as well. The hoard of bronzes discovered in Akota near Vadodara established that bronze casting was practised in Gujarat also. Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir regions also produced bronze images of Buddhist deities as well as Hindu gods and goddesses. Most of these were created during the eighth, ninth and tenth centuries and have a very distinct style in comparison with bronzes from other parts of India. A noteworthy development is the growth of different types of iconography of Vishnu images. In Buddhist centres like Nalanda, a school of bronze- casting emerged around the ninth century during the rule of the Pala Dynasty in Bihar and Bengal regions. In the gap of a few centuries, the sculptors at Kurkihar near Nalanda were able to revive the classical style of the Gupta period. Although bronze images were modelled and cast during the Pallava Period in the eighth and ninth centuries, some of the most beautiful and exquisite statues were produced during the Chola Period in Tamil Nadu from the tenth to the twelfth century. The technique and art of fashioning bronze images is still skillfully practised in South India, particularly in Kumbakonam. In the Pallava Period, bronzes of the eighth century is the icon ofShivaseatedinardhaparyaṅka āsana (one leg kept dangling). Unfinished Chaitya cave, Kanheri The right hand is in the ācamana Knowledge Traditions aPractices ondia — lassXI 72 Reprint 2026-27