Extant Pala murals in some Buddhist monasteries

This is a bit of a watercooler type topic, but I want to point out some cool art from monasteries in Myanmar. These are basically authentic Indian art in the Pala style, dating from ca. 11th or 12th century. The murals have been preserved at Abeyadana Temple and Gubyaukgyi Temple, both in the Bagan area.

If you are familiar with the colorful palm leaf manuscript art from India during the Pala period, these are in that same style. But these are murals in a monastery. For those who want to see painted murals from an ancient Buddhist monastery in India, these are about as close as we can get.

Much as with the palm leaf manuscripts from the Pala period, there is a range of subject matter, from Jataka scenes, to scenes from the life of the Buddha, to various bodhisattvas, and figures that may be specific to Vajrayana. So basically a cross-section of the history of Buddhism in India.

This is just a selection of some images that were on Wikimedia Commons. There are quite a few more are out there for those interested.

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Thank you for sharing :blush:
They are in great condition given they are about a millennium old!

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