Abstract

This paper examines the living Buddhist visual culture of Arunachal Pradesh through a visual cultural analysis of four active religious sites. Despite the region’s historical significance as a space where Buddhism persisted and evolved during periods of decline elsewhere in India, its art, architecture, and cultural history remain under-researched. Addressing this gap, the study analyzes how visual forms at these sites function as repositories of historical memory and contemporary practice in the absence of extensive written records.
Employing a comparative formalistic and iconographical methodology, the paper studies stupas, monasteries, Buddha images, and public religious sites alongside oral narratives, community beliefs, and socio-political contexts. The case studies- Gorsam Chorten (Zemithang), Golden Pagoda Monastery (Tengapani), regional Buddha imagery, and Buddha Park (Tawang), demonstrate how visual culture in Arunachal Pradesh emerges through layered interactions between Tibetan Mahayana and Burmese Theravada traditions. These traditions, introduced through distinct historical routes, continue to coexist and shape the region’s cultural landscape.
The analysis argues that Buddhist visual culture in Arunachal Pradesh is not static or regionally bounded but dynamically constituted through trans-geographical exchanges. Architectural replicas, stylistic adaptations, and the circulation of images from Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, and mainland India reveal ongoing processes of borrowing, reinterpretation, and innovation. Contemporary factors such as state policy, pilgrimage networks, and digital media further intensify these exchanges.
By foregrounding living sites as critical archives, the paper reconceptualizes Arunachal Pradesh’s Buddhist visual culture as an evolving, non-linear tradition shaped by mobility, connectivity, and local agency within broader transnational Buddhist networks.