Spiritual Influence in Eastern Art- Exploring Hindu  Buddhist and Taoist Themes

Spiritual Influence in Eastern Art- Exploring Hindu  Buddhist and Taoist Themes

The Eastern art of my choosing is a sculpture titled Krishna Killing the Horse Demon Keshi, which dates back to the fifth century of Indian culture. For a better view and understanding of this piece of Eastern art, here is the link to its picture. Sculpture link. The artist of this sculpture is unknown. This is a piece from the Indian culture that was created during the Gupta period between 320CE and 550 CE, founded by Sri Gupta; the empire covered most of current India then. It appreciates the Indian culture, and Hinduism is one of the oldest religions in the world, originating from India; it is about 5000 years old. Hindus have several deities they believe in; one of them is Krishna, who is a god of protection, compassion, and love. In this sculpture, Krishna is slaying the demon Keshi, who appears in the disguise of a horse, he restrains the demon with his left foot while he pushes his elbow into the demon’s throat, and beneath them is a dead horse. This sculpture serves as a reminder of how Krishna freed the people of oppression.

This sculpture is a fine piece of art that carries a rich history of the culture and the Hindu religion. The sculpture of Krishna Killing the disguised demon Keshi, sent by King Kamsa who was filled with rage when he learned he was to die at Krishna’s Hands, is captivating to me. To add on the disguised demon Keshi, a horse beneath them seems out of place arouses my curiosity. I wanted to understand why the representation. Also to note is the masculinity of Krishna brought out in the sculpture and how he is tackling the demon with bare hands. Krishna serves as a role model to the Hindus, that when faced with a situation, they should not let oppression overrule them. The horse that is dead on the ground serves as a reminder of the importance of horse sacrifices as observed by the early Hindu religion. This art is Apollonian, it relies mostly on its form and structure for effect. This is an art that I would recommend to Hindus because it has many relations to Hinduism, but with no restrains, I would also recommend it to those that are interested in history and the civilization journey.

References

Krishna killing the horse demon Keshi | India (Uttar Pradesh) | Gupta period | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (n.d.). The Metropolitan Museum of Art. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/38511

(2017, July 3). Tell-A-Tale. https://www.tell-a-tale.com/the-end-of-demon-keshi-by-lord-krishna/

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

We’ll write everything from scratch

---

Use the Module 10 Required Readings from your textbook, the Module 10 Eastern Religion Overview presentation, and the Module 10 Online Exploration resources while writing this discussion/essay post.

Instructions: Research and write about Eastern (Non-Western) Art influenced by either Native American, Hindu, Buddhist, or Taoist religions.

In this 4-step discussion/essay, you will (1) view a self-selected work of EASTERN art, (2) compose a 2-paragraph original post, (3) post responses to TWO classmates’ original posts, (4) go back and ADD a reflection reply about this assignment to your original post (totaling at least 550 words).