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The Buddhist Art of Gandhara
The school of art which flourished during the
Kustn epoch,in the tract of country called Gandhara,in the
north-1est of India is known as the Gandhara sch'ol of art. Unde
the supremacy of the Kushan kings,who were Buddhists,a large
nuber of Buddhist monasteries and stupas sprang into existence.
The Khaesta s tupa at Jalalabad;the Tappa Kalan monaste
at Hadda and several monasteries and colossal statues found at
Barniyan constitute some of the important remains of Gandh ra ar
found in Afghanistan,while in the Svat valley (Udyana) there ha
been found nuerous sculptures now preserved in various museus
TaKht-i-ahi in the centre of Gandhara which yielded man sculp
-es; Shah-ji-ki Dheri ,the venue of the Kanika stupa,in the
relic chaber of which the famous Kanika reliquary and the ins
iption bearing the names of Kanika ahd Agisala were found;and
Taxila where Sir John Marshall's excavations have revealed thre
distince cities viz. the Bhir Mound,Sirkap and Sirsukh,are other
centres o Gandhara art.The more important remains of monuments
revealed by exc;lvations at Taila' are the Dharmarajika stupn,a
number of small circular stupas and a circle of small chapels
round this central stupa,the stupas at Sirkap,in the reli chm
of one of which was found the Bimaran reliquary together with s
coins of Azes I;the monument called the shrine of the double
headed eagle';the Kuala stupa and monastery and Bhallar stupa
the neighbourhood of Sirsukh;stupas and monqsteries at Mohra
MoraQu and Jaulian and remains of Buddhist settlements at Tofki
and Badalpu.
As the above enueration of sites and monuments sug
sts,the remains of Gandhara art are considerably numerous ,and
the sculptures executed in stone,stucco and terracotta amount t
thousands.But not one of them bears a date of any known era. Hen
the dating of these works of art and determining their chronolo
cal sequence has been problematic.A nmnber of opinions have bee
x: advanced by different scholars,the criteria they used bei
the consideration of style using Roman and Greek art as the eta
qrd of comparison ,assuming that the earlier the work of art is.
the more it approximates in style to Hellenistic \orks and a
comprison of the artistic merit of the reliquaries of Kanishka
and Bimran ,relying on the supposition that the better example
is the earlier one. Thl. various hypotheses that they established
regarding the era in yhich some of the images area dated also
inflaenced their decisions.
110st of the earlier archaeologists regarded the flo:
scence of North-West Indian art as occuring before the end of t:
second centur A.e,On account of the influence of this art seen
Amqravati,and during Kanika's reign probably due to the trHdit
that this monarch was a great patron of the fine arts. However,
after the discovery of the Kanika reliqu'rY,Foucher and other
archaeologists declared that Kanik-
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s reign m1.rked the declini

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eriod of Gandh3.ra art ,for they reg"rded the clusy fe'tu!'0s (
the reliquary as markirg a degeneration of art. \vhile agreeing
wi& them that the reliqu3.ry does not belong to the flourishinE
perio-d of art ,MEe. Van Lohuizen-De Leeuw advances the view th'.t
it belonged to the period of the beginning of Gandhara art in
publiction on the Scythian Period.
Gandhara art seems to have been the subject of controver
not only regarding its date but also its character.All scho11r
agree that it is a hybrid art - hence the name Graeco-Buddhist
art given to it -but there is a diversity of opinion in discus
the extent of the Hellenistic influence or the Indian element
seen in it. Some authorities maintain that the foreign influenc
was negligible while others think that it is the predominant a1
underlying factor. The truth seems to be between the two extrem(
as a comparison of Gandhara art with the earlier native art of
Bharhut and Sanchi shows,though such a comparison is not easy (
to lack
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In Gandhara, we often find Indian ideas prel
ted with a Hellenistic appearance. But several examples are fow
in which not only the idea,but the design and presentation of 1
scene,appear to be influenced by the ancient national art.An e:
plary relief of this kind is that on the stupa dru of Dhruv .
representing the descent of the Buddha from the Trayastriwsa
heaven, where the Buddha is portrayed as standing in the middle
a triple ladder,with Brahma and Indra on His right and left.Th.
the design existed in the earlier art of India,-mXHrSH with
difference that * the Buddha was not portrayed in bodily form-"
is seen by observing the relief from the railing of Bharhut Whl
a large number of gods are represented on both sides, or the re::_
preserved at the museum of Mathura,where a solitary devotee is
shown in the attitude of adoration.The reliefs from the stupa <
Sikri x:<xxk:xe depicting the visit of Indra to Buddha may
compared to the representation of the same theme on a relief o.
the railing at Bodh Gaya or that on the cross-bar of a toraQa ;
Mathura.x It is interesting to note that the sculptors of all
these places considered Pafcasikha,the musician with the harp,;
a means for the identification of the scene.
k2XBiHiE%Rd The above two examples are just tWI
instances of the numerous incidents of the life of the Master
that are visualized in the stupa drums of Gandhara,very often
chronological order. The stone balustrades and toratas of Centr
India are missing in Gandhara while scenes from the Jatakas to
are,comparatively s

eaking rare.The few that occur are from st

es like those of Visvantara and Sibi and seldom from the beast
fables,so popular with the sculptors of Bharhut and Sanchi.
However,the Gandara sculptors have portrayed wild life,wherev,
possible.A relevant instance is the scene of the entourage of
relief at Mamane-Dheri representing Indra's visit,where money
deer,birds and Airava,Indrats elephant,holding the sunshade
portrayed,with a love for detail.Here again we find a ohnracte

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