ABSTRACT

While Western culture and Western scholarship have always given a place of importance to chronology and the temporal sequence of events, South Asianists are familiar with the complaint, even the accusation, that India and Indians have never displayed a sense of history. 1 My studies on the visual narratives of India, conducted especially in a Buddhist context, would seem to confirm this widespread generalisation. Artists telling stories, whether in the medium of stone reliefs, terracotta panels or painted murals, generally gave lesser importance to the element of time. Frequently, they emphasised topographical location or geographical space at the expense of temporal progression. This chapter analyses the visual artistic evidence and raises queries as to why the element of time is relegated to a lesser status.