Dvaravati Wheels of the Law and the Indianization of South East Asia

This volume deals with a unique group of stone sculptures, representations of the Buddha's Wheel of the Law, found in present-day Thailand that date from about the seventh-eighth centuries CE.The book places these sculptures in their historical, religious, and art historical contexts to determine what they meant to the culture (called Dvaravati) that produced them. Thus, other art historical material associated with the Wheels, including stone deer, Buddha images, and stupas, are discussed.Of greatest importance is how these sculptures relate to both the art in Cambodia and that in India, and to determine what these relationships can tell us about the process (called Indianization) by which Indian culture, religion, and art were adapted in Southeast Asia.