HARITI,

Hariti, detail of face, Peshawar Museum. Photo by Jennifer Rowan

The sculptural images of Hariti document the synergistic character of Gandharan art, religion and society during the Kushan period (first to fifth centuries C.E.). My graduate research at the University of Oregon establishes a comprehensive historical, religious and cultural context for sculptural representation in Gandhara and the emergence of a distinctive Gandharan style. It is designed to consolidate Hariti's extant images and to review and re-evaluate their iconography and historic identifications. It includes images of Hariti and related Gandharan deities and provides original translations of Buddhist texts relating the story of the Mother of Demons. In addition, Hariti's mythology is examined for evidence of the shifting dynamics of authority, orthodoxy and gender within the traditions of Brahmanism and early Buddhism.

Buddhist Texts in Translation	Images of Hariti and related deities
The Samyuktavastu Guizi mu jing (the Hariti Sutra) The Maha Maya Sutra Samyuktagama (2 versions) Fou ben xing jing Guangding jing	Hariti with four arms, Peshawar Mus. "Yusufzai" Hariti, British Museum Detail of face The Tutelary Couple, Swat Museum Hariti and child bracket, Swat Museum Hariti with children, U. of Peshawar Museum Ardokhsho/Hariti with donors and attendants, U. of Peshawar Museum Detail of central figure