Jason E. Neelis

This project integrates recent studies of Gandharan literary narratives labelled as Avadanas and Purvayogas in early Buddhist manuscripts with visual narratives of reliefs identified as Jatakas in Gandharan sculptures. A comprehensive survey of Jataka reliefs in archives and museum collections of Gandharan art expands knowledge of the visual repertoire and provides an enhanced and authoritative basis for exploring relationships between Buddhist images and texts. A volume on Gandharan literary and visual narratives raises awareness of the multiplicity of Buddhist narrative traditions and elucidates unique sources for popular narratives localized in Gandhara.