This timeline follows mainly the archaeological evidence found in the entire range of Indic culture, i.e. Bactria in the Northwest to Cambodia in the Southeast. ;xNLx;Doris Meth Srinivasan has written an excellent book on the subject, which also includes evidence from literature, but confines itself largely to Hinduism.;xNLx;I have not given much weightage to scripture, for a number of reasons:;xNLx;First, Indic scriptures were largely orally transmitted, and are notoriously difficult to date.;xNLx;Second, correlation does not imply causation - there is no evidence that the iconography of especially the Kushans follows from scripture.
Buddhism joins the fray of iconism - first Buddhist sculptures flourish in Gandhara region ca 50 BCE onwards under the Parthians and then the Kushan empire.
Shiva, Skanda and (non-elephant headed) Ganesha become the first 'Hindu' deities to be depicted in human form. Shiva is shown with 3 heads and 4 arms. This development begins in the reign of Huvishka. While the Kushan empire worshipped a large and varied pantheon which also included Avestan, Greek, Egyptian, and Buddhist deites, the reign of Havishka represents the turning point where the influence of 'Hindu' deities slowly surpasses that of the Iranian and Buddhist ones.
Bhaja Caves, Maharashtra was an active Buddhist monastery in the period 2nd Century BCE to 4th Century CE and shows the transition from aniconism to iconism in Buddhist Iconography
Tradition of veneration of emblematic sculptures of tirthankaras emerges in Jainism in Patna. These are the first Indian idols/images in human form.
Yakshini cult in Bengal gives rise to cult of Goddess Chandi, depicted with 18 arms. She is incorporated into both Hinduism and Buddhism, and is the precursor of the presiding deities of the Durga Saptashati as well as the Buddhist Goddess Cundi.
Gupta empire rises, Shaivism declines again. Vishnu is depicted with multiple arms in the newly finalized versions of the Mahabharata and in temple images. The Vishwarupa, i.e. multi-headed, multi-armed collossal form of Vishnu is interpolated into the Mahabharata. However temple images in mainland India continue with 4 armed depiction of Vishnu.
Vaishnavism emerges as dominant cult of Vedic/Puranic deities, surpassing and absorbing Sourya cult. Greek ambassador to Sungas builds Heliodorus pillar in 113 BCE, indicating that even the Indo-Greeks worshipped Vishnu/Narayana. However no icons/images of 'Hindu' gods survive from this period.
Vaishnavism spreads to the Southern kingdoms and South East Asia, leading to the proliferation of Dravida iconography. Ellora caves commisioned by the Rashtrakutas, various Indic temples in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia hail from this period.
Jainism thrives under royal patronage of Nanda and Maurya emperors. Buddhism dominates the scene in North India thereafter, Jainism moves into South India. Early Buddhist art is Aniconic.
Sahasrabhujalokeshvara, a form of Avalokiteśvara with 1000 arms and 1000 hands arises in Buddhism. This is the most popular deity with the maximum number of heads and limbs currently in circulation. Vishwarupa imagery from Hinduism is not as extant or popular.
Animist iconography and aniconism has always been the default form of expression in the Indic tradition. From the clearly super-human deities of the Vedic Great Tradition to the multitude of theriomorphic deities of the Little tradition, we see evidence of a widespread popularity of animist icons.
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