Sarnath Buddha Statue

The seated Buddha from Sarnath (Gupta period, roughly 5th century CE) is one of the most influential single sculptures in Buddhist art: shown in the dharmachakra mudra (teaching gesture, since Sarnath is where the Buddha delivered his first sermon), with a serene, idealised face, smooth unbroken drapery clinging closely to the body, and an elaborately carved halo behind the head.

Its influence is the detail worth remembering specifically - this Gupta-period model of an idealised, serene Buddha face and smooth drapery became a template that spread across Asia and shaped later Buddha imagery, including in Sri Lanka, which is exactly why it's taught alongside the island's own Buddhist sculpture in this syllabus.