conversion, however, that gave a huge impetus tO the spreading of the word.
Buddhism flourishes
Dr J.B. Disanayaka, Prof Emeritus at Sri Lanka's Colombo University and our Gandhara Week guide, explained that "Gandhara was a holy land where the teachings of the Buddha flourished, espedally under the reign ofAsoka the Great."
"Buddhist art also flourished during this time. It is from Gandhara that the first image of the human form of Buddha emerged.
"Another important contribution Gandhara made was when the town of Taxila was developed into one of the first centres of Buddhist education. Princes from around the region were sent there to study not just philosophy but the sciences, archery, swordsmanship and even magic."
Taxila was built during the reign of the Kushans, a Turkish people who had moved out from China to take over Gandhara and other parts of present-day Pakistan at about 75CE. This was considered Gandhara's golden period during which art, particularly sculpture, flourished and the world's first visual representations of the Buddha emerged (as Prof Disanayaka mentions above).
Under the Kushan king Kanishka (128CE-151CE), Gandhara became one of Buddhism's holiest lands and attracted pilgrims from all over the world.
As with all Golden Ages, this period was followed by great decline and Gandhara collapsed under the onslaught of Muslim invaders led by Mahmood of Ghazni from the nearby Kabul valley towards the beginning of the 11 th century. Gandhara's very name was forgotten - though some say Kandahar in A/ghamstan was namea after this ancient Buddhist empire
Reviving past glory makes cents But Pakistan is trying to remedy that and re-introduce Gandhara to the world.
Indeed, Gandhara Week delegates this year were carefully chosen from countries with either a Buddhist majority or a significant Buddhist minority and/or past. Aside from the five Malaysians present, delegates from Sri Lanka, Nepal, China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore were also present. Of course, uncovenng the ancient site's secrets will also help Pakistan's tourism industry - which is in sore need of a boost, reckons Sheikh Rashid Ahmed who was speaking in his capadty as Minister of Information (a day before a Cabinet reshuffle made him
Railways Minister).
'q'ourism is one of the biggest industries in the world, but we are getting peanuts -
we don't get even 10% of South Asia's tourism revenue! Tourism can change the shape of our economy.
"Also, because of human rights and security issues, the world has the wrong impression of Pakistan. I believe the attention given by President (General Pervez) Musharaff to boosting our image will improve this situation."
Indeed, showing that Pakistan, despite being a Muslim nation, is tolerant enough to
celebrate its Buddhist past can do nothing but good for Islam, which seems so embatfled in the West at the moment.
~ FROM PREVIOUS PAGE
what had happened, he had his queen executed - and by a miracle, Prince Kunala's eyes were restored! Letters from Asoka
~Ol~'S rock edicts at Shahbaz Garhi were a particular thrill as they are among the oldest historical "documents" found on the subcontinent. These are believed to date back to
257BCE.
Asoka was first an immense wamor who conquered much of the subcontinent and then a just king, who repented his violent ways and ruled based on the Buddhist philosophy of dhamma I"the eternal truth as taught by the Buddha").
Mark of different eras SIRKAP was one of the most important Greek settlements in Gandhara and was founded by the Bactrian Greek Demetrius.
"the Bactria lndo-Greeks (some call them Gandharan-Greeks) had a documented list of 39 kings and four queens who ruled for nearly 200 years an area that stretched from Kabul to Peshawar," explained Prof Firdaullah.
"Different eras can be traced in the ruins, as the Scythians eventually overthrew the Greeks before they themselves were replaced by Parthians, and then the Kushans from China."
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) World Heritage Site
From monastery to university
AS impressive as some of these constructs were, they couldn't match the sheer majesty of the Takht-l-Bahi monastery, which is a Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) World Heritage Site.
Built high up on a hill(one hell of a climb at 2pm after a rich Mogul meal, 1 can tell you !) the monastery was located near a spring on the hill's flat top. Amazingly, the guest quarters are located on a neighbouring hill - they must have been fit folk in those days!
Takht-l-Bahi dates back to circa 200CE and was probably active until 500CE. It occupies an area of 32.9ha and was excavated first by archaeologist D.B. Spooner (a curator of the Peshawar Museum) and then Harold Hargreaves from 1907-1911.
Prof Firdanllah painted a vivid picture of life in the monastery, beginning with, "Takht-l-Bahi was the most beautiful
monastery of Gandhara !
"One of the greatest achievements of monasteries was to set the pattern for universities in this part of the world. There were spiritual teachers and regular teachers./klmost all of it was oral "teaching as writing came very late.
"When it did come into being monasteries became book repositories. The monks also studied agriculture and architecture. In fact, the chief monk was the chief architect and usually his wife would look after sick students or travellers.
"There were many princes who would live in the monastery, sometimes with servants in attendance, but poorer students would have to work and study. Lectures were also open to non-students ... although the lower castes (chandel) were not allowed to enter the monastery."
The monastery contained a number of different units, including a court of many stupas, a main stupa, an assembly hall
(where fortnightly meetings were held), a courtyard, and a meditation centre.
The Buddha captured in stone
ACCORDING to Prof Firdaullah, one of the greatest contributions of Gandhara to Buddhist art was its focus on the life of the Buddha himself.
"Gandhara really offers a 'carved drama' of the Buddha's life. Interestingly, when the Buddha's image was first personified in Gandhara (during Asoka's reign, 273BCE-232BCE), they gave him the head of Apollo, because the Greek influence was still strong.
"Eventually, though, he became more Asiatic and lost his moustache, although the Buddha-image of Gandhara consistently has both shoulders covered (in the Greek style). here are also ample examples of each of Buddha's four poses, the dhayana raudra (meditation pose), abhaya mudra (reassurance pose), dharma chakra mudra (preaching pose) and bhuraipersai raudra (touching earth pose). The Wesantara Buddha (last life of the Buddha) is very popular among the artists of Gandhara."
Keeping treasures safe
ASIDE from Pakistan's oldest museum, Lahore Museum, which contains many important sculptures from Gandhara, we visited many museums in Gandhara itself including Taxila Museum, Swat Museum, Dir (Chakdara) Museum and Peshawar Museum, each more remark-
able than the last.
Often, the artefacts in a given museum would correlate directly to a site we had just visitc-d. For example, the Peshawar Museum, which has the most extensive collection of Gandhara art in the world, contained many of the sculptures that had onginally been found in Takht-l-Bahi. Unfortunately, thieves, vandals, and religious zealots have combined to ensure that these wonderful relics cannot be left in situ.
Dr Mohammad Ashraf Khan, Director of Archaelogy at Taxila Museum, explained, "Over the years we have discovered over 500,000 objects from the various civilisations of the past ranging from terracotta, tools and coins to more sophisticated sculptures. Our museum can only display around 10,000 objects, and so every couple of years, we change the display."
The sheer volume of historical sites means that the guardians of its rich past are constantly facing new challenges. Dr
Insan Ali, of the Peshawar Museum, gave us an idea of the scope of the task when he said, "There are now 2,578 known sites in Gandhara - just six years ago, we knew of only about 400r'
AS impressive as some of these constructs were, they couldn't match the sheer majesty of the Takht-l-Bahi monastery, which is a Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) World Heritage Site.
Built high up on a hill(one hell of a climb at 2pm after a rich Mogul meal, 1 can tell you !) the monastery was located near a spring on the hill's flat top. Amazingly, the guest quarters are located on a neighbouring hill - they must have been fit folk in those days!
Takht-l-Bahi dates back to circa 200CE and was probably active until 500CE. It occupies an area of 32.9ha and was excavated first by archaeologist D.B. Spooner (a curator of the Peshawar Museum) and then Harold Hargreaves from 1907-1911.
Prof Firdanllah painted a vivid picture of life in the monastery, beginning with, "Takht-l-Bahi was the most beautiful
monastery of Gandhara !
"One of the greatest achievements of monasteries was to set the pattern for universities in this part of the world. There were spiritual teachers and regular teachers./klmost all of it was oral "teaching as writing came very late.
"When it did come into being monasteries became book repositories. The monks also studied agriculture and architecture. In fact, the chief monk was the chief architect and usually his wife would look after sick students or travellers.
"There were many princes who would live in the monastery, sometimes with servants in attendance, but poorer students would have to work and study. Lectures were also open to non-students ... although the lower castes (chandel) were not allowed to enter the monastery."
The monastery contained a number of different units, including a court of many stupas, a main stupa, an assembly hall
(where fortnightly meetings were held), a courtyard, and a meditation centre.
The Buddha captured in stone
ACCORDING to Prof Firdaullah, one of the greatest contributions of Gandhara to Buddhist art was its focus on the life of the Buddha himself.
"Gandhara really offers a 'carved drama' of the Buddha's life. Interestingly, when the Buddha's image was first personified in Gandhara (during Asoka's reign, 273BCE-232BCE), they gave him the head of Apollo, because the Greek influence was still strong.
"Eventually, though, he became more Asiatic and lost his moustache, although the Buddha-image of Gandhara consistently has both shoulders covered (in the Greek style). here are also ample examples of each of Buddha's four poses, the dhayana raudra (meditation pose), abhaya mudra (reassurance pose), dharma chakra mudra (preaching pose) and bhuraipersai raudra (touching earth pose). The Wesantara Buddha (last life of the Buddha) is very popular among the artists of Gandhara."
Keeping treasures safe
ASIDE from Pakistan's oldest museum, Lahore Museum, which contains many important sculptures from Gandhara, we visited many museums in Gandhara itself including Taxila Museum, Swat Museum, Dir (Chakdara) Museum and Peshawar Museum, each more remark-
able than the last.
Often, the artefacts in a given museum would correlate directly to a site we had just visitc-d. For example, the Peshawar Museum, which has the most extensive collection of Gandhara art in the world, contained many of the sculptures that had onginally been found in Takht-l-Bahi. Unfortunately, thieves, vandals, and religious zealots have combined to ensure that these wonderful relics cannot be left in situ.
Dr Mohammad Ashraf Khan, Director of Archaelogy at Taxila Museum, explained, "Over the years we have discovered over 500,000 objects from the various civilisations of the past ranging from terracotta, tools and coins to more sophisticated sculptures. Our museum can only display around 10,000 objects, and so every couple of years, we change the display."
The sheer volume of historical sites means that the guardians of its rich past are constantly facing new challenges. Dr
Insan Ali, of the Peshawar Museum, gave us an idea of the scope of the task when he said, "There are now 2,578 known sites in Gandhara - just six years ago, we knew of only about 400r'
Colourful past of the South Asian sub-continent
Gananara's wonders
THE rich, colourful past of the South Asian sub-continent with its many intriguing figures is still something of a secret in this Euro-centric world of ours. We may be aware of the odd important monument, like the Taj Mahai and the Golden Palace at
Amritsar in India, but how much of the region's history do we get exposed to, really?
Pakistan's Gandhara Week, from April 2,1 to 30, was an eye opener for me and the other 39 delegates who were taken to some amazing religious and artistic sites in the North West Frontier Province where the ancient Buddhist Empire of Gandhara used to be located.
The tour was particularly educational because we had as our "guide" one of Pakistan's leading experts on its Buddhist civilisations. Prof Firdaullah Sehrai is a former director of Peshawar Museum and University of Peshawar Archaelogy & Fine Arts department head, and, at 78, he showed an enviable passion for and knowledge of his country's rich history.
We saw the Jaulian monastery at Taxila, the legendary rock edicts of Asoka the Great at Shahbaz Garhi, a breath-taking monastery at Takht-l-Bahi, the Shingerder Stupa (said to be built where a mystical white elephant belonging to King Uttarasena expired), the Bactria-Grecian city of Sirkap, and the ruins of Butkara.
(A stupa is a solid, large - and much beautified! - funereal monument built by the Buddhists that often contained holy relics. It is actually the forerunner of the pagoda. It is believed that Asoka alone may have ordered the construction of some 84,000 stupas in the region!)
Legend of Prince Kunala
THE Jaulian monastery is situated at the top of a hill that used to in the suburb of Jaulian in Taxila, which was one of Gandhara's greatest towns for Buddhist arts and learning. The monastery is well preserved and contains a lovely votive stupa.
A legend from the great Mauryan dynasty (see timeline below) is associated with this area: Asoka the Great's son, Prince Kunala, caught the admiring eye of his stepmother, When he spurned her advances, she stole the royal seal and sent a letter
purportedly from Asoka saying the prince's eyes should be put out. Prince Kunala, being the noble sort, insisted that the order be carried out; however, when Asoka later found out
THE rich, colourful past of the South Asian sub-continent with its many intriguing figures is still something of a secret in this Euro-centric world of ours. We may be aware of the odd important monument, like the Taj Mahai and the Golden Palace at
Amritsar in India, but how much of the region's history do we get exposed to, really?
Pakistan's Gandhara Week, from April 2,1 to 30, was an eye opener for me and the other 39 delegates who were taken to some amazing religious and artistic sites in the North West Frontier Province where the ancient Buddhist Empire of Gandhara used to be located.
The tour was particularly educational because we had as our "guide" one of Pakistan's leading experts on its Buddhist civilisations. Prof Firdaullah Sehrai is a former director of Peshawar Museum and University of Peshawar Archaelogy & Fine Arts department head, and, at 78, he showed an enviable passion for and knowledge of his country's rich history.
We saw the Jaulian monastery at Taxila, the legendary rock edicts of Asoka the Great at Shahbaz Garhi, a breath-taking monastery at Takht-l-Bahi, the Shingerder Stupa (said to be built where a mystical white elephant belonging to King Uttarasena expired), the Bactria-Grecian city of Sirkap, and the ruins of Butkara.
(A stupa is a solid, large - and much beautified! - funereal monument built by the Buddhists that often contained holy relics. It is actually the forerunner of the pagoda. It is believed that Asoka alone may have ordered the construction of some 84,000 stupas in the region!)
Legend of Prince Kunala
THE Jaulian monastery is situated at the top of a hill that used to in the suburb of Jaulian in Taxila, which was one of Gandhara's greatest towns for Buddhist arts and learning. The monastery is well preserved and contains a lovely votive stupa.
A legend from the great Mauryan dynasty (see timeline below) is associated with this area: Asoka the Great's son, Prince Kunala, caught the admiring eye of his stepmother, When he spurned her advances, she stole the royal seal and sent a letter
purportedly from Asoka saying the prince's eyes should be put out. Prince Kunala, being the noble sort, insisted that the order be carried out; however, when Asoka later found out
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