Ghandara Art

HISTORY OF ARTS & CULTURE GANDHARA ART

ASSIGNMENT:

GANDHARA ART

SUBMITTED BY:

ASAAD IMTIAZ

ROLL # 174


SECTION: C-2

INTRODUCTION OF GANDHARA ART:

Few regions in South Asian civilization have evoked as much attention (and controversy) as ancient Gandhara. In traditional Indian sources, Gandhara corresponded to the modern Peshawar valley, but its more popular meaning today encompasses large portions of northern Pakistan and adjoining northeastern Afghanistan. Its major legacy is its Buddhist stone sculpture produced between the 1st BC and the 5th-6th centuries AD. Its style manifests an intriguing blend of Western classical and Indian influences. Indeed, it was the uncanny resemblance of Gandharan sculpture to early Mediterranean traditions that captured the European imagination following its initial ‘discovery’ by the middle of the 19th century. This period also coincided with the burgeoning knowledge of Buddhism in which works of Gandharan art were often selected to illustrate the life of the Buddha.

Pakistan is the land which attracted Alexander the great from Macedonia in 326 B.C., with whom the influence of Greek culture came to this part of the world. During the 2nd century B.C., it was here that Buddhism was adopted as the state religion which flourished and prevailed here for over 1000 years, starting from 2nd century B.C., until 10th century A.D. During this time Taxila, Swat and Charsaddah became three important centers for culture, trade and learning. Hundreds of monasteries and stupas were built together with Greek and Kushan towns such as Sirkap and Sirsukh both in Taxila. It was from these centers that a unique art of sculpture originated which is known as Gandhara Art all over the world. Today the Gandhara Sculptures occupy a prominent place in the museums of England, France, Germany, USA, Japan, Korea, China, India and Afghanistan together with many private collections world over, as well as in the museums of Pakistan.

The archaeological site of Taxila, which lies in a well-irrigated, fertile valley forty kilometres from Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, bears the traces of uninterrupted human occupation extending back 6,000 years. It emerged onto the arena of history during the second millennium B.C., when the snake-worshipping Takka people chose it as the site for their city, Takshasila (in Sanskrit, "hill of Takshaka", the serpent-prince). Its rapid development in the course of the following millennium was due to its exceptionally advantageous geographical situation at the junction of three great trade routes linking the Indian subcontinent with central and western Asia, and to the introduction of iron-working techniques in the Gandhara region, of which it became the capital.

In the sixth century B.C., Gandhara was absorbed into the Persian empire of the Achaemenids. The city drew great economic and cultural benefit from this contact with the West, among other advances developing a system for transcribing vernacular Sanskrit, later replaced by the Brahmi script. Next, Alexander the Great conquest of the Persian empire marked the beginning of Hellenistic influence on the city, which was to give rise to an original art, that of Gandhara.


There were four decisive phases in Taxila's development:

The Indian dynasty of the Maurya (c. 321-189 B.C.) The Greeks of Bactria (189-50B.C.) The Parthian (50 B.C.-60 A.D.) And domination by the powerful Central Asian Kushan dynasty (until c. 230 A.D.).

Thereafter the city's political decline, as a result of dynastic quarrels, led on to its economic and cultural decline, which was precipitated by the incursions of the Huns in the fifth century.

Taxila, which was excavated by British archaeologists in the latter part of the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth, contains the vestiges of three successive towns and many small monastic sites, bearing witness to the refined nature of the city's spiritual and cultural life during its halcyon days.

THE FIRST CITY: BHIR

Bhir was the first urban community on the Taxila site (sixth to second centuries B.C.). When Alexander the Great arrived there in 326 B. C., he found the main street badly paved and unprepossessing and the architecture rudimentary, the houses built of stones bonded with mud, the roofs flat and the walls vividly painted but without windows on to the street. The town had a central refuse tip and a network of open drains, but no wells. The inhabitants drew water straight from the river, which was where they washed themselves and did their laundry.

In the third century B.C., Asoka, the grandson of Chandragupta, founder of the Mauryan dynasty, converted to Buddhism. He built the great stupa of Dharmarajika, placing therein the relics of the Buddha in a golden casket. Vandals many times mutilated the sacred edifice as they vainly searched for this casket. Over the years, the stupa was enlarged by the addition of large numbers of other religious structures (small votive stupas, chapels, etc.).

This monument was largely destroyed by an earthquake in 30 A.D.? but it was rebuilt and its imposing mass (15 meters high and 50 in diameter) was shored up by several retaining walls, which resemble the spokes radiating out from the hub of a wheel and thus recall the dharma-chakra (the wheel of law), from which the site complex takes its name.

The surrounding wall of the stupa, embellished with painted and gilded statues of the Buddha, dates from early in the second century A.D. Further north, all that remains are the ruins of a monastery that had a hundred monks' cells. It was completely sacked by the Huns in 455 A.D.

THE PARTHIAN CITY: SIRKAP

Sirkap (second century B.C. to first century A.D.), the second town on the Taxila site? is half an hour's walk north from the site of Bhir. Excavations have brought to light the city walls, dating from various


periods, including those built by the Parthian in the first century A.D., which were six meters thick, had tall bastions and were in places nine meters in height.

When Saint Thomas, who brought the Gospel to India, visited the Parthian king Gonophores in 47 A.D., he found a flourishing town where caravans from China, India and the distant western lands all met. Unlike Bhir, Sirkap was built according to a plan, with streets regularly laid out along two perpendicular north-south and east-west axes. Scattered among its huge, rectangular dwelling-houses, in the oriental style, with rooms arranged around an open central c courtyard, were Jain stupas, Buddhist altars and private chapels. Like Bhir, Sirkap had neither wells nor mains drainage. The main thoroughfare was lined by a large number of open-fronted shops with wooden stalls. Numerous Greek-inspired objects have been excavated, including a silver head of Dionysus and a cornelian seal with representations of Eros and Psyche.

One particularly remarkable stupa, known as the shrine of the double-headed eagle (first century A.D.), provides a perfect illustration of the fusion of Indian and Greek styles: pilasters with Corinthian capitals, recesses decorated in a manner inspired by Greek architecture, and Bengali-style roofs. A similar cross-fertilization of cultures is evident in the sculpted representation of the Buddha and bodhisattvas at the foot of the votive stupas. The way in which the robes hang, the smiles and the facial features, executed in accordance with the standards of the Hellenistic school, are combined with the traditional meditative poses of Buddhist art.

On the Jandial site, near the northern gate, are the ruins of two temples built by the Bactrian Greeks. Pillaged by the Scythians in the second century A.D., they disappeared in the earthquake of 30 A. D.

THE KUSHAN CITY: SIRSUKH

Sirsukh (first to fifth centuries A.D.), the last of the three fortified towns on the Taxila site, was the regional capital of the Kushan, who originally came from Central Asia and brought to Taxila their own ideas of town-building and their own construction methods. We have less information about the life of the inhabitants than in the case of Sirkap since few excavations have been carried out here. It nevertheless appears that Gandhara art benefitted considerably from the contributions made by the Kushan, who encouraged local sculptors and promoted the development of Buddhist monasteries.

Taxila's decline, resulting from internal dynastic dissension, began at the end of the second century A.D. The town seems to have escaped the Sassanid invasions, although Sassanid influence may be discerned, particularly in the coinage. The preponderant influence thereafter was Indian. The Brahmi script came into use, Hindu divinities like Shiva and Vishnu made their appearance in local statuary art, and the influence of classical Gupta art made itself felt in that of Gandhara. Taxila's economic and cultural ruin was, however, largely due to the Huns, who swept into Gandhara in the middle of the fifth century.

MONASTERIES

Taxila also became an influential centre of Buddhism. It was said to be here that the Buddha, emaciated by the long practice of asceticism, beheaded himself, as a symbolic gesture denoting the renunciation


even of thinking, in order to attain illumination. Students came from all over northern India to follow the many courses of study on offer, which in addition to Mahayana Buddhism included the teaching of the Vedas, military science, medicine, law, political economy, astronomy, mathematics, the arts and letters. Among the students was the celebrated Indian grammarian Panini (c. 400 B.C.).

As well as the sites of the three fortified towns, Taxila contains those of many Buddhist monastic establishments which testify to its religious significance. Scattered about beyond the walls of the three towns but always built near to a spring, most of them date back to the Kushan and post-Kushan periods.

Dharmarajika is undoubtedly the most important of them, but mention should also be made of the monasteries of Khaddar Mohr and Kauri, which, with two others, form the four corners of a vast quadrilateral with sides measuring between 400 and 500 meters. Probably erected in the Kushan period, these buildings show signs of a certain evolution in monastic architecture. In three of them, the stupa is separate from the monks' cells, which are arranged around a central courtyard, while two of them have neither a refectory nor commons.

Kalwan ("the caves"), the largest of the Buddhist sites at Taxila, also dates from the Kushan period. It comprises three groups of cells, each built around a cloister, and a central stupa encircled by smaller stupas and by numerous shrines decorated, in particular, with clay and stucco statues of the Buddha and bodhisattvas. The floors of the living quarters were of rammed earth, while the courtyards were generally cobbled with stones from the river-bed. The roofs were made of rough, clay-covered beams. Water was drawn from an enormous well nearly four meters in diameter, with a stone lining almost a meter thick at the mouth.

Among the many other monasteries, Mohra Moradu has some of the finest examples of stucco statuary, and Julian, built on a hilltop, is one of the best preserved in Taxila. Excavations conducted here by Sir John Marshall in 1912 uncovered various buildings such as the commons, refectory, kitchens and storerooms The monastery probably catered for many pilgrims and travelers, which would explain its many outbuildings and the fact that it had three entrances. One of these opened on to the southern slope of the hill, where the wells providing the monastery with water were sunk, while the eastern entrance gave access to the living quarters proper The northern entrance opened directly into the lower courtyard in which stood stupas decorated around the base with many statues of the Buddha. At the feet of these statues was a stucco frieze depicting allegorical scenes from his life and showing him surrounded by bodhisattvas, lions and elephants. In the central courtyard stands the dome--originally gilded--of the great stupa, more than 20 meters high and surrounded by a score of votive stupas, all of whose bases are richly decorated with animals, bodhisattvas and columns in the form of human figures. At the base of the main stupa is a "healing Buddha" which has a hole where the navel should be: for centuries, believers, while praying to be healed, put their fingers in this hole.


SCUPTURES:

Some sculptures of Gandhara art are:

RARE BRONZE SEATED BUDDHA3rd – 4th Century AD

A rare Gandharan bronze seated image of Buddha. Seated on a lotus throne, his robes spilling down at centre and head held high, with a serine expression, aquiline nose, protruding urna and elongated ear lobes. The face is surmounted by the usnisa and his hair rendered in tight curls and eyes inlaid with silver. His left hand raised to hold the lotus blossom by its stem while the right is out stretched in abhaya mudra. The patina of the bronze suggests a high silver content in the casting of this image.Measurements not including stand: 6" (15cm),

RELIQUARY IN THE FORM OF A GOLD STUPA1st Century AD

A rare Gold reliquary in the form of a Stupa crated in two sections, consisting of a finely decorated square base (Sanskr. medhi), and a round decorated drum (ghantãkãra) with hemispherical dome (anda) decorated with stylized lotus leaves, including a central shaft (yasti) supporting a series of five parasols (chattra) of diminishing size. Inside the Stupa remains five red semi precious stones, or glass beads.

A Stupa (Sanskrit Thupa or Thapa: ‘mound’) is the principal type of Buddhist shrine and was originally a funeral mound, constructed to house relics of the Buddha or of one of his noble acolytes (see also catalogue no. 8). By the Kushan era they had evolved into places of pilgrimage consisting of a large hemispherical dome, often on a square base and decorated with statues and reliefs depicting the life of the Buddha. Pilgrims would often construct small votive stapes around the main Stupa as a mark of homage and to commemorate their visit.

http://www.gandhara.com.au/gandhara7_bronze.html


This beautiful gold relic Stupa would have probably been inside a larger schist Stupa.Measurements not including stand: 2.25" (5.5cm),

RELIQUARY IN THE FORM OF A CRYSTAL STUPA1st Century AD

A rare crystal reliquary in the form of a Stupa, consisting of a round drum base (ghantãkãra), a hemispherical dome (anda), and a central shaft (yasti) supporting a series of five parasols (chattra) of diminishing size.A Stupa (Sanskrit Thupa or Thapa: ‘mound’) is the principal type of Buddhist shrine and was originally a funeral mound, constructed to house relics of the Buddha or of one of his noble acolytes. By the Kushan era they had evolved into places of pilgrimage consisting of a large hemispherical dome, often on a square base and decorated with statues and reliefs depicting the life of the Buddha. Pilgrims would often construct small votive stupas around the main Stupa as a mark of homage and to commemorate their visit.Crystal Stupas are rare. A larger Crystal and gold stupa is in the collection of the Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney.

Measurements: 4" (10cm tall).







VERY RARE BRONZE MASK2nd-3rd Century AD

Bronze Mask with Green Patina, head-dress is separate NWFP Pakistan. Face 21x16cm + head-dress 12.5x13.5.Measurements not including stand: face 8.25"x6.25" (21x16cm) + head-dress 5"x5.5" (12.5x13.5).

POLISHED SCHIST COSMETIC TRAY2nd-3rd Century AD

Polished Schist Cosmetic tray - perfect condition first class piece wonderful patina. 15cm diameterMeasurements not including stand: 6" (15cm) tall

RARE FIRED CLAY HEAD OF BUDDHA4th Century AD

Red fired clay head of Buddha, with gold leaf flecks remaining, cracked will require some restoration. Measurements not including stand: 8" (20.5cm) tall






RARE SCHIST STUPA2nd-4th Century AD

Schist Stupa in three sections with relic a container one of which is Gold and contains a small crystal. This is the finest of its type, perfect condition. 27.5x14cm when fitted together.Measurements not including stand: 10.8" (27.5cm) tall







POLISHED SCHIST CONTAINER2nd-3rd Century ADMeasurements not including stand: 4.25" (11cm) wide

SCULPTURE OF BUDDHA DHARMA




BUDDHA HAND WITH LOTUS

BUDDHA’S DEATH SCULPTURE


BAMYAN FRIEZ SCUPTURE


FRIEZ SCULPTURE

BUDDHA COIN


STANDING BUDDHA2nd – 3rd Century AD

The Buddha wears the monastic garment, sanghati. His hands would have been in standard positions, the right one raised – expressing reassurance, abaca mudra (now missing), while the left extends along the body, supporting the hem of the monastic garment. The posture of the Buddha is relaxed with the figure’s weight resting on his right foot and the left leg slightly bent at the knee and protruding through the garment. Both the transparency of the clothing and the tendency to model the body is predominant in the Gandharan style of the latter part of the second - third century AD.The Buddha has elongated ear-lobes, downcast eyes. His wavy hair is lightly carried up to the top of the head and surmounted by a large usnisa.


A large complete nimbus ring supports his head, the Buddha stands on a rectangular plinth with relief carvings of dual lotus flowers.Height: 13" (32.5cm)

NARRATIVE BUDDHA RELIEFGANDHARA 1st-3rd Century AD

A fine narrative relief depicting the seated Buddha in a meditative posture and devotee in colonnaded niches. This is a nice example of Gandharan 1st-3rd century art. Would have originally been part of a much larger relief decorating the dome of a circular stupa, just above the square base upon which the dome rests.Height including stand 5.5" high (14cm).Measurements not including stand: 9.75" (25cm) Long,4.25" (11cm) High. Weight: 3 kg.

HARITIGANDHARA 1st-3nd Century

http://www.gandhara.com.au/gandhara1_stone_figures.html

http://www.gandhara.com.au/gandhara1_stone_figures.html#1




A nice,interesting tough green schist stone carving of Hariti carrying a cornucopia. She is the protector and giver of Children as well as the yaksha personifying smallpox. Hariti mother of 500 sons nourished on human flesh stole children in order to devour them. The Buddha took her last born and hid him from her, when the desperate mother approached the Buddha he replied "You have 500 sons. When you lose only one how can you be so desolate and afflicted as you pretend? In the world men have sometimes one, sometimes three or five sons, yet you kill them". Moved by these words spoken by the Buddha, Hariti became a Buddhist and was promised food from the monasteries to feed her children.Height: 5.25" high (13cm).

PALETTE

"Gandharan gilt bronze palette. c.1st cent. BC. The relief scene on this palette shows a sea goddess (Nereid) riding a sea monster (ketos), and reaching out to a winged Eros/putto. 10 cm diameter (4 inches). Complete except for a small hole in the blank area of the background, and a small hole on the fore-flipper and hindquarters of the monster, and a crack on the backing plate. About half of the gilding on the front remains. (The somewhat patchy appearance is due to some surface dirt and encrustations which have not yet been removed, since it should be done by a professional conservator.)

This is a fine and possibly unique example of a classic Gandharan art form. Small palettes or trays with similar relief figures are characteristic products of the north-west borderlands between Pakistan and Afghanistan, particularly the Taxila area. The known examples, however, are made of stone while the present one is bronze which was originally entirely covered with gilding, front and back. Further, the relief scene is not repousse from a sheet of bronze, but seems to have been



cast and soldered onto the concave palette; in a few places one can see the edge of the figure pulling up from the dish's surface. This technique of manufacture is otherwise unparalleled.

A small Greek-influenced "palette" or tray to hold cosmetics or unguents, Gandhara, c.1st c. BCE


Pushkalavati's "autonomous local coinage" in the post-Mauryan era, c.220-185 BCE

Karshapana (20 x 18 mm, 9.26 g). Uniface punch-mark with branch and hill symbols. Earthen green encrustation. RARE.


A karshapana coin, also from Pushkalavati, c.185-168 BCE

Rectangular karshapana, AS 23 x 23 mm., 6.l78 grams. Obv. elephant left symbol above / rev. lion right."


Another silver coin from Pushkalavati, c.185-160 BCE

BURMESE BUDDHIST MANUSCRIPT 19th Century.

Burmese Buddhist Palm leaf Manuscript (Kammavaca). Hand written lines of text in square letter form of black lacquer on gold leaf with wooden coverboards all beautifully executed. Superb decorative illustrations accompany the text.

http://www.gandhara.com.au/burmese_manuscripts.html





Yakshi talking to pet parrot.Rail pillar from Bhutesar, Mathura.Kushan,

2nd century AD. Indian Museum Calcutta

Princess at an entrance.Ivory carving. Begram,Kushan 2nd AD Kabul Museum.


Panel inbluish schist.3rd-4th century AD. National Museum Karachi. Flames for shoulder, torrents of water for feet. To save sister of Anathapindika Sumaghada who was disrobed in a fight following her protest to

naked followers of Nvigrantha sect in her husband's house. Buddha saved her from being accused of adultery.

Buddha in acanthus capital

Wine-drinking and music, Hadda (1st–2nd century)

Maya's white elephant dream (2nd–3rd century)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BuddhaAcanthusCapitol.JPG

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Indo-GreekBanquet.JPG

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MayaDream.JPG


The birth of Siddhartha (2nd–3rd century)

A sculpture from Hadda, (3rd century)

The Bodhisattva and Chandeka, Hadda (5th century)

Hellenistic decorative scrolls from Hadda, northern Pakistan

Hellenistic scene, Gandhara (1st century)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SiddhartaBirth.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HaddaSculpture.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HaddaBodhisattva.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GandharaScrolls.JPG

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GandharaFrieze.JPG


Fasting Buddha The Zenith of Gandhara Art!

GANDHARA ARCHITECTURE:

http://www.heritage.gov.pk/html_Pages/Gandhara_Gallery.htm


Takht-i-Bhai is another well-known and preserved monument, a Buddhist monastery located on a rocky ridge about 10 miles northeast of Mardan. This structure dates back to two to five century AD and stands 600 feet above the plane. The feature, which distinguishes this site from others, is its architectural diversity and its romantic mountain setting. The uphill approach has helped in the preservation of the monument.

The Construction of PillarsAsoka’s edicts was nothing but circular free standing pillars rising up to great heights so that they could be seen from a distance, topped off with a stone lion.Made of bricks, they carried declarations from the king regarding Buddhism. There were probably thirty in all, but now only two still stand. The pillars did not stand in isolation, and were usually found near stupas in a spot either unknowingly marked by the Buddha himself or along the royal route to Magadha, the capital. The pillars were about forty feet in height, circular and rising straight out of the ground without evidence of a base to hold it up. At the top space was left for a Buddhist symbol to be placed, normally a lion. The pillar itself would bear inscriptions from the king, or teachings of the Buddha, up to a readable height and in large letters.


Palace of Asoka- A 'Magnum opus' Asoka’s palace near Patna was a masterpiece. Made mostly of wood, it seems to have been destroyed by fire. Enclosed by a high brick wall, the highlight of the palace was an immense pillared hall three storey and 250 feet high. Pillars were arranged at intervals of fifteen feet, and the ceiling was adorned with stone images and horizontally supported by wooden beams.

Buddhist Cave TemplesThe task of making a cave temple was a simple one. Wooden pegs were driven into the mountainside and then watered so that they expanded, breaking the rock face into manageable blocks. Huge sections of stone were either moved or left where they were depending on the requirement. The split rock face would then be dug into, carving entire halls from it. After that, all that was left to be done was to carve out intricate details into pillars, walls, ceilings and doorways, which usually took years to complete.

GANDHARA JWELLERY:

GOLD BRACLET GOLD NECKLUS

GOLD EARINGS


GOLD BROCHE

ASAAD IMTIAZ

ROLL # 174

SECTION: C-2

Ghandara Art

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