Tracking the journey of a faith

A Gupta period image of Gautama Buddha, dating back to the late sixth century or early seventh century, adorns the cover of Shashank Shekhar Sinha's book Casting the Buddha:

- CHINTAN GIRISH MODI

A Monumental History of Buddhism in India. Made of a copper alloy, it shows the Buddha in a standing position holding out his right hand in the abhaya mudra—a gesture offering protection and fearlessness. While the physical artefact is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the museum's website mentions that it is originally from India—probably Bihar—and was bought from Belgian art collector Claude de Marteau.

This cover, designed by Haitenlo Semy, the well-known Indian design director, ties up the various threads in the book—the widespread influence of the Buddha's teachings, the evocative nature of iconography, the significance of tangible heritage in shaping people's relationship with their past, the colonial demand for material culture to make the foreign familiar, and the ethical concerns around establishing provenance for museum objects that were uprooted from their cultural contexts.