Sucandra

Abstract

The article is devoted to the iconography of Sucandra, the hero of Indian and Tibetan legends, the king of the kingdom of Shambhala, to whom the Buddha have transmitted the teachings of the Kalachakra tantra. The image of Sucandra is ubiquitous in Buddhist art, as tales and beliefs about the legendary country of Shambhala and its kings, the guardians of the Kalachakra doctrine, occupies a significant place in Buddhist culture. The article examines the distinctive features of the image of Sucandra within the Astasahashrika Pantheon, depiction in the East Tibetan thangka from Kama of the early 19th century, in the monument housed at the Netsu Museum in Tokyo. The treatise Wen-shu chih-nan t'u-tsan (‘Images and praises of Sudhana's wanderings in accordance with the instructions of Manchushri’, the beginning of the 12th century) is also examined, as is the relief on the main wall of the second gallery of the temple complex Borobudur on the Indonesian island of Java. The findings presented in this article can be applied to the study of artistic canons, the attribution and interpretation of Buddhist art monuments, the identification of characters in the Buddhist pantheon, and the exploration of the interaction between modern art and these figures. The scientific translation and commentary on the article, originally written by Lokesh Chandra for the Dictionary of Buddhist Iconography, has been provided by S.M. Belokurova.