Explores ancient India (c. 200 BCE–600 CE) through three of its major religions –Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism – to illuminate how they reflect political power, artistic innovation and changes in peoples’ daily lives. Ancient India was a dynamic, cosmopolitan centre of creativity. The visual traditions of its major indigenous religions were closely interrelated, reflecting political power, changes in peoples’ daily lives and artistic innovation. Exported beyond the Indian subcontinent in antiquity, these three major religions – Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism – are living traditions and their devotional works of art impact on the daily life of billions of people across the world. This major new publication traces the development of religious imagery from around 200 BCE, when it focused on the depiction of nature spirits, to 600 CE, by which time devotional images of Jain, Buddhist and Hindu deities and teachers had taken definitive shape. Moving from symbolic to human form, such