Kanishka Vihara, An Ancient Peepal Tree and A Sacred Begging Bowl

Peshawar circa 2nd Century CE

By Sayed Amjad Hussain

Peshawar is the oldest living city in Asia. Its foundations reach back in time to
many centuries Before the Common Era (CE). As such it received and nurtured
diverse cultures and religions. It was an important city on the famous east-west
Silk route and hence played an important role in the development of Gandhara
art and its seamless fusion with Greek statuary art.

Chinese pilgrims who came to Peshawar between the 4 th and the 7th centuries CE
left detailed accounts of the city and its environs. From that misty and otherwise
obscure and opaque past, we can, through those writings, visualize and recreate
a city that was vibrant, progressive and known through out India and China as an
important center of Buddhist learning.

This lecture is based on decades of research by the author to reconstruct the

image of the city, as it existed during Kanishka’s realm in the 2 nd century CE.
Based on the archival and archeological evidence, an oil painting of Peshawar
was commissioned by the author and created by the noted American painter Kim
Seidel. It shows the cityscape with the Peepal tree, the top of Kanishka’s Stupa
and the hilltop monastery, present day Gorkhatri, where the Begging Bowl of
Buddha was interred during Kanishka’s realm.

The presentation discusses at some length the Kanishka’s Stupa that was
excavated in 1908-9 by the American archeologist and the first curator of
Peshawar Museum Dr. David Brainerd Spooner. Some historians had called
Kanishka Vihara as the forgotten 8th wonder of the ancient world.

The audio-visual multimedia lecture discusses the city of Peshawar and its
important 3 landmarks in the backdrop of the new painting.

Time 50 minutes
AV needs: multimedia projection

Contact:
Sayed Amjad Hussain
Professor Emeritus Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
College of Medicine and Life Sciences

Emeritus Professor of Humanities

College of Arts and Letters
The University of Toledo

aghaji@bex.net
Phone 419-290-4777

Page 1 of 1