Customer Reviews

Dictionary of Buddhist and Hindu Iconography

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Fredrick W. Bunce has compiled a vast amount of Buddhist and Hindu symbols in an easy to use, concise work. The illustrations are very well done and compliment the text beautifully. Included in the Introduction is an overview of iconographic history as well as some of the precepts of the Buddhist and Hindu religions. The User's Guide thoroughly explains the format of the text in such a way as to comfortably familiarize the new reader to this dictionary. This is a well-written reference work that should be kept on hand.

Bunce's Dictionary is a welcome reference work, whose line drawings have been frequently copied on the Internet. The book defines and comments on many iconographic elements (hand positions, body positions, attributes, etc.) found in Buddhist and Hindu art, with particular attention to alternate spellings and bibliographic references.

While some mention is made of the deities which might display an attribute, such information in the Dictionary is rather sketchy. If you want to play "name that god," the book you want is Bunce's "Encyclopedia of Hindu Deities," not Bunce's "Dictionary of Buddhist and Hindu Iconography." The two books complement each other, and do not overlap.

Bunce's definitions gave me food for thought. According to Bunce, for example, the well-known prayer mudra should really be called "namaskara mudra" rather than "anjali mudra;" in another example, he defines the Buddha's "urna" as a mole on the forehead, rather than as a tuft of hair on the forehead.

The book is recommended for scholars and serious students, especially in combination with the same author's "Encyclopedia of Hindu Deities."