Gandhara Art and Architecture

V.Durgalakshmi
Roll No. 345
2-A
Abstract: Gandhara, with its wide variety of
architectural remains and sculptures displays its
association with Buddhism and the outside influence
of Greaco-roman art because of the constant influx of
people and ideas into the civilization. The paper
attempts to understand the distinct style of
architecture, taking the study of two sites, Takht i-
bahi and Sirkap.
 The Gandhara region existed since the Rigvedic times (1200-1500 BC) and was one
of the important mahajanapadas situated in modern day northern Pakistan in Peshawar
valley.The major cities were Purushapura, Takshshila and Pushkalavati. The influence
of Gandhara spread within and across the Kushana Empire making it an important
cultural centre at that time.The Gandhara art, named after the region portrays the
dominating influence of Buddha, specially Mahayana Buddhism. Mahayana Buddhism
offered a fulfilling package of living appealing to the hearts and minds of people and
giving people the liberty to strike a balance between spirituality and worldly lives.
Gandhara was known for developing progressive institutions carrying the spirit
embodied by the Mahayana scriptures. The large number of sangharamas
(Sangharama is a Sanskrit word meaning "temple" or "monastery", the place, including
its garden or grove, where dwells the Sangha, the Buddhist monastic community.),
constructed all over Gandhara, special attention was given to the aesthetics leading to
the development of sculptural and architectural styles that emerged in Gandhara and
became popular in other regions of Gandhara as well.
As a focal point of Bactrian Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, and later, Greco-Buddhism, and
celebrated around the world for its neighborhood convention of Gandhara (Greco-
Buddhist) Art, Gandhara accomplished its range from the first century to the fifth century
under the Kushan Empire. Buddhism flourished until eighth or ninth hundreds of years,
when Islam initially started to pick up influence in the region.Pockets of Buddhism
persisted in Pakistan's Swat valley until the eleventh century.

The architecture of Gandhara, has manifestations of both local and foreign influences
as Gandhara thrived to be at “the junction of Asia” interfacing exchange courses and
engrossing social impacts from different developments..The Gandhara school was
based on Greco-Roman norms encapsulating foreign techniques and an alien spirit and
was popularly known as Graeco-Buddhist school of art.Grey sandstone was widely
used in the sculptures, other materials being mud,lime stucco and terracotta
(rarely).The Major reminiscents of Gandhara architecture is seen in the religious
establishments such as stupas and monasteries. Stupas are reliquary structures in
monasteries that are the focus of veneration. The first Buddhist stupas were built to
house the remains of the historical Buddha, who lived between the fourth and fifth
centuries BCE and remains of the Buddha or Buddhist saints, or such sacred objects as
jewelry, precious stones, coins, texts, or sometimes figurative works of art.
The Traditional design layout of a stupa consists of a cylindrical base, a structure called
a drum, and a hemispherical dome. This dome supports a post, surmounted by one or
more canopies, that represents the axis of the world. Worshippers walk clockwise
around the base of the dome, with one circle of the stupa representing the Buddha’s life
cycle. In Gandhara a unique type of stupa developed. The drum is elevated and rests
on a square podium. Sometimes lion columns mark the four corners of the podium, and
Corinthian pilasters are added to the base and drum. Gandharan stupas also frequently
featured large, richly decorated false dormer

The bases, drums, and fences (harmikas) of Gandharan stupas were frequently
decorated with images of the Buddha and bodhisattvas, or with narrative reliefs
depicting many scenes from the Buddha’s life, although his birth, enlightenment, First
Sermon, and attainment of Nirvana are considered the key events. Great importance
was also attached to the Buddha’s “Great Departure,” when he left his palace as a
young prince to become a mendicant. These stupas received commissions from not
only kings and chiefs but also the local people who made donations to the stupas.
Donors dedicated many sculptures of the Buddha to monasteries in Gandhara, and
shrines surrounding and aligned with stupa courts often contained larger-scale Buddha
sculptures.s.

The popular Indian motif of a woman beneath a tree, seen in the Indian sculpture from
Uttar Pradesh, was often used as a scene divider for Gandharan friezes. Such a figure
appears next to the scene of Siddhartha saying farewell to his horse Kanthaka.

The main scene of a carving also shows the Buddha preaching his first sermon to a
group of ascetics, his first disciples. The wheel in front of the throne symbolizes
teaching, also known as “turning the wheel of the law” (dharmacakrapravartana). The
arches above this scene depict the veneration of the Buddha and his begging bowl by
the Four Guardians of the World.

Gandhara developed images of Buddha and Bodhisatvas on patterns of the images of

Greek Gods and incorporated Greco-Persian features in sculptures such as folds in
robes and hairstyles.

The famous archaeological sites for the Gandhara style of art have been spread across
Peshawar, Taxila, Afghanistan, Swat and Swabi.
The ostentatious structure and imposing relics of the Buddhist monastery Takht-i-Bhai
(Throne of Origins) has captivated a large number of locals and tourists who have
flocked to see the ancient site which dates back to early 1st century AD
The Buddhist complex and the village, as locals say, is named after the two wells found
on top of the hill near the complex, however, majority believe that takht means throne
and bhai means water in Persian language.
“I am a second year student of Archaeology and seeing this great Buddhist site is a
unique experience. The architecture is astonishing, it shows how highly advanced those
people were in civil works and engineering,” [Junaid Ahmad, Archaeology student]
It consists of numerous chapels and stupas sticking to the high, rocky spurs. They date
from the 1st century CE. The complex is regarded by archaeologists as being
particularly representative of the architecture of Buddhist monastic centers from its era.

The site is a great source of information on Buddhism and the way of life people here
used to follow. The village is built on the ruins of the ancient town, the foundation walls
of which are still in a tolerably good formation. As a proof, that it was in the past
occupied by the Buddhists and Hindu races, coins of those periods are still found at the
site. the monks constructed it for their convenience. Spring water was supplied to them
on hill tops; living quarters for ventilators for light and alcoves for oil lamps were made in
the walls. From the description of Song Yun, a Chinese pilgrim, it appears that it was on
one of the four great cities lying along the important commercial route to India. It was a
well-fortified town with four gates outside the northern one, on the mound known as
Chajaka Dehri which was a magnificent temple containing beautiful stone images
covered in gold leaves.

Sirkap is Taxila’s second major city. Stretching for miles, tall green grass grows

between the rubble that once marked a five kilometre long fortification wall with a tall

acropolis along the defence lines.

The Jain Temple is a sanctuary built around a stupa, perhaps for pilgrims of that time. It

now lies buried under grass and dirt, with rubble walls outlining its silhouette.The

influence of Greek architecture is most evident in the Shrine of the Double Headed

Eagle. Four Corinthian columns stand tall and proud on the stupa, with fierce eagle

heads staring at us.The city’s symmetrical pattern was born of the Greek Hellenistic

period. The architecture of Sirkap features the characteristic of Greek cities. It has been

observed by the historians that the ruins are Greek in character, similar to those of
Olynthus in Macedonia. A number of Hellenistic artefacts have been discovered that

reveal Greek mythological scenes.

Conclusion:

The Gandharan landscape is dotted with Buddhist architecture and also contains a rich tradition

unlike that which is found throughout the rest of India. Like the artistic innovations attributed to

this region, the architecture also features new forms not found in the Indian subcontinent before

Kanishka I. Several sites deserve special mention. At Guldara in modern Afghanistan, the stupa

and monastery survived mostly in situ. Oriented to the east, a large stairway up to the stupa

shrine is quite elaborate and elevated. Around the plinth of the raised platform are individual

niches which would have housed stone steles, likely of standing Buddhas. The arches of the

niches are oblong and each has an inverted widow’s peak, a feature taken from the earlier forms

of Buddhist architecture commonly found at cave sites. Large sockets can still be seen in the

brick which would have been used to bracket the sculptures in to the niches so that they could

not easily be removed or fall out. The stupa itself consists of a diaper-masonry style undoubtedly

influenced from the Parthians. Sedimentary rock was piled evenly in horizontal rows. Each row

is gradually accentuated as the structure rises vertically, giving the illusion of size. The masonry

styles on the outside of the stupa itself were elaborately carved in ornate patterns, which also

served to accentuate the height and prominence of the structure. The base of the site likely dates

to the 2nd century CE.

References

1. S. L. Huntington and J.C. Huntington: The Art of Ancient India (Boston and London,

1985).

2. F. H. Wilcher: ‘Report on the Exploration of the Buddhist Ruins at Takht-i-Bai,

January to April 1871’, Punjab Govt Gaz

3. Buddhist Gandhara : History, Art and Architecture Ihsan H. Nadiem