Buddhas of the World Museum

Gandharan Heritage

Introduction

Before you enter the museum, you will be greeted by the impressive display of the Standing Buddha Shakyamuni (as seen in the Buddhas of the World Introduction), which was carved during the Gandhara period (2nd CE to 3rd CE). This is in a special display cabinet with a 3-dimensional projection.

Gandhara is the ancient name of a region in northwest Pakistan, bounded on the west by the Hindu Kush mountain range and to the north by the foothills of the Himalayas. The first known figurative images of the Buddha are thought to have emerged from this region.

Artefact Description

This is a classic sculpture of a Standing Buddha Shakyamuni, with a chipped Halo behind His head, is standing on top of a plinth, adorned with lotus flowerheads, smiling with a benign expression, while His lowered left hand is holding the tip of His robe. The right hand is broken off and may be raised in Abhaya mudra, which refers to the gesture of fearlessness. From an acquisition standpoint, Standing Buddha Shakyamuni is deemed rarer than the Buddha Shakyamuni often depicted in meditation or walking posture in Asia.

This remarkable artefact shares many characteristics of the Greco-Roman art (50 BCE to 400 CE) and Parthian art (247 BCE to 224 CE) – curly whorls of hair, sharp facial features, musculature and voluminous robes with cascading folds – combined with Indian artistic traditions. Gandharan sculptures such as this Standing Buddha Shakyamuni reveals strong Greek influences like the depiction of a 'man-god'.

Historical Background

Gandhara is the ancient name of the area on the west bank of the Indus river, comprising the Peshawar valley, Swat, Buner and Bajaur.^{2 p1} The eastern side extend to Taxila, Manikyala and Jhelam river.^{4 p5} In the 4th century BC, it was occupied by the armies of Alexander the Great.^{2 p1}

Gandhara witnessed the rule of several major powers of antiquity as listed here:

Achaemenids (~600-400 BCE)
Greeks (~326-324 BCE),
Mauryans (~324-185 BCE),
Indo-Greeks (~250-190 BCE),
Scythians (~2nd century to 1st century BCE),
Parthians (~1st century BC to 1st century CE),
Kushans (~1st to 5th century CE),
White Huns (~5th century CE),
Hindu Shahi (~9th to 10th century CE).

The earliest signs of Buddhism in Gandhara can be traced back to two rock-cut edicts commissioned by the Mauryan King Ashoka, during the third century BCE.^{2 p3}

Early Buddhist art depicted the Buddha by His footprints, throne, bodhi tree, stupa as well as the Jataka stories.^{2 p8}

It is to the Greek workmanship of the Bactrian school that Gandhara art owes its origin.^{4 p13} The earliest image of the Buddha was unearthed at Dharmarajika, late Saka period, first quarter of 1st century AD, portray the Buddha after Enlightenment.^{2, fig 28}

Although its heartland is in present-day northwest Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan, Gandhara art (1st CE to 7th CE) spread throughout Central Asia and reached the Tarim Basin.

As a result, many ideas and images of the Buddha that developed in Gandhara eventually travelled to China, and from there to Korea and Japan. This extraordinary history makes Gandharan art of enduring importance to scholars east and west.

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