page_title: Bihari culture
section_title: Sculpture
hierarchical_section_title: Bihari culture / Sculpture
context_page_description: Bihari culture refers to the culture of the Indian state of Bihar. Bihari culture includes Mithila culture, Bhojpuri Culture and the culture of Magadha.
context_section_description: The first sculptures in Bihar date back to the Mauryan Empire. The Pillars of Ashoka, Masarh lion and Didarganj Yakshi are estimated to be at least 2000 years old, and were carved out of a single piece of stone. Ancient statues are found throughout Bihar. Some of these sculptures were made from bronze, an advanced technique at that time. For example, the Sultanganj Buddha statue, estimated to be 1500 years old, is about seven feet tall and made of 500 kg of bronze, making it the largest statue of that period. Many statues, ranging from Hellenistic gods to various Gandharan lay devotees, are combined with what are thought to be early representations of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas.
  Today, it is still unclear exactly when the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara emerged. However, evidence from Sirkap indicates that this style of art was already highly developed before the advent of the Kushans. Mandar Hill features the unique image of Lord Vishnu, from the Gupta period, in his man-lion incarnation. The image is 34 inches high and made of black stone.
caption: 6th-century CE bronze statue of Sultanganj Buddha (Birghimham Museum)
exif: {}