How ancient Gandhara art gave a body to the Buddha
A new travelogue investigates the Buddhist sites of ancient Gandhara and sheds light on an often forgotten confluence of civilisations By Bibek Bhattacharya In 2001, when the Taliban blew up the monumental statues of the Buddha at Bamiyan in Afghanistan,…
Afghans recall Taliban’s destruction of famed Buddha statues
BAMIYAN, Afghanistan: Afghanistan’s giant Buddhas stood watch over the picturesque Bamiyan valley for centuries, surviving Mongol invasions and the harsh environment until the Taliban arrived with an apocalyptic worldview that did not care about one of the great wonders of…
The Thousand-Buddha Motif: On the Timelessness of Ancient Art
The Thousand-Buddha motif is a recurrent theme in the Buddhist art of Central Asia and China. The motif depicts a multitude of buddhas arranged in a grid fashion, all seated in meditation on a lotus pedestal, and its popularity increased…