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Asian Art and Religion Asia has often been regarded as one of the primary cradles of civilization in the ancient world . In its lands rose people who have built testaments of their existence many of which have been preserved today . These civilizations are distinct and have proven it to be diverse in culture and in being . Each country that we know of today have at the least one trace of these great civilizations . Among these several things were from the Chinese , Indian , Persian , and the Arabian . But among the diversified nature of

civilizations in ancient Asia , there is one common root for these societies : religion

Ancient Asian religion is one of the few things that bound these diverse societies which can still be observed in several territories nowadays . Among these are Buddhism and Hinduism . The influence of these religions in the Asian culture can be seen in architecture , artefacts as well as the traditions in modern Asia . Though time may have changed the way most Asian societies live their lives , ancient beliefs still persist as a norm that may never be erased in Asian culture . The following are some of the few testaments of the influence of ancient Asian religion to that Asia that we know of today

Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin

One of the most famous figures in Buddhism is the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara or the Avalokiteshvara with a thousand hands . This enigmatic figure in Buddhism has often been associated with the compassion of the Gods among Asians specifically those living in China Singapore , parts of India , among others (Berkwitz , 2006 . The figure has been the link between the humans and the Gods . The Avalokiteshvara symbolizes the eagerness of the Gods to save the sinful people from their common acts (Ganeri , 2006 . The figure is commonly seen in temples where people pray for forgiveness as well as pray for guidance . The figure is from a folktale wherein , in the path towards , Buddhahood , the man has been enlightened about the common ways of man wherein he was disheartened so bad that he died and was reincarnated with a thousand hands with an eye in each hand that symbolizes his wisdom

Gal Vihara

Next is the great temple of Gal Vihara in Sri Lanka . The Gal Vihara is a giant statue of what was believed to be one of the disciples of the Great Buddha , Ananda . The temple follows the ancient belief that is still followed by Buddhist nations up to today . It was believed that the larger a country builds a Buddha , the more prosperity it would bring to that country (Berkwitz , 2006 . The size of the figure in the temple also shows how ancient Buddhist followers find the importance of their religion by building massive testaments to their belief . The Gal Vihara is also a testament of how the Buddhists try to connect with the Buddha in search of enlightenment

Shiva Nataraja

The Shiva Nataraja is an artistic variation of the Hindu god Shiva (Akkamah ad evi , 2005 . In this...