Images

Tibetan Mandala painted in the Sera Monastery, about 2 km away from Lhasa, Tibet.

"The Mandala of the Diamond World," also known as "The Diamond Realm Mandala." Japanese hanging scroll, Kamakura period, 13th-14th century CE.

Theodora: Detail from the 6th-century mosaic "Empress Theodora and Her Court" in the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna.

A statue of Xochipilli (the Prince of Flowers) the Aztec god of summer, flowers and pleasure. The god wears a mask, is covered in flowers and is playing a rattle (missing) and singing. 1450-1500 CE. (National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico...

Statue at a temple in Singapore of the God Krishna manifesting his full glory to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra.

The Aztec Sun Stone (also known as the Calendar Stone) is a representation of the five eras of the sun from Aztec mythology. The stone was part of the architectural complex of the Temple Mayor of Tenochtitlán and dates to c. 1427 CE. The...

A 16th-century painting illustrating a battle scene in the Bhagavad Gita, during the battle of Kurukshetra. Arjuna (far right), hero and leader of the Pandava army, is supported by his personal charioteer, the god Krishna (second from...

Stone skulls from the Templo Mayor in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. They represent the tzompantli or skull racks where the heads of sacrificial victims were placed.

Ashoka's pillar erected in the district of Vaishali, located in the Bihar state, India. This is one of the nineteen surviving columns erected or at least inscribed with edicts by the Emperor Ashoka during his reign in the 3rd century BCE...

The 'Great Stupa' located at Sanchi, a village in the Raisen District of the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. This stupa was originally commissioned by the emperor Ashoka the Great in the 3rd century BCE. According to some Buddhist accounts...