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Mara’s Temptation of the Buddha

Y. G. Srimati Indian

1987

Not on view

This painting is a reworking on a larger scale of a subject Srimati first painted about 1952, the Buddha’s quelling of desire. The radiance of the Buddha figure, set against the turbulence and disharmony of the world of shadows, is given full expression here. The demon Mara’s beautiful daughters and associated grotesques of the underworld emerge from the darkness in their futile attempts to disturb the Buddha’s spiritual equilibrium.

Mara’s Temptation of the Buddha, Y. G. Srimati (Indian, 1926–2007), Watercolor on paper, India (New York) — This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Mara’s Temptation of the Buddha

Artist: Y. G. Srimati (Indian, 1926–2007)

Date: 1987

Culture: India (New York)

Medium: Watercolor on paper

Dimensions: Image: 21 1/4 × 28 1/2 in. (54 × 72.4 cm)
Mat: 30 × 40 in. (76.2 × 101.6 cm)

Classification: Paintings

Credit Line: Lent by Michael Pellettieri

Rights and Reproduction: © M. Pellettieri

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Asian Art at The Met

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world.