Pakistan is a paradigm example of a failed state that has undergone an extremely dangerous form of radical Islamisation.
Buddhist Architecture
Gandhara Architecture Gave Rise To Buddhist Architecture
Buddhist ArchitecturePass to the river Indus which Alexander the Great used
to invade India in 326BC. Gandhara architecture, the merger of Indian and Greek
art, took the form of Buddhist cult objects, Buddhas and ornaments for Buddhist
monasteries. Hindu icons were few. Monasteries were invariably made of stone,
and most of the sculpture (like friezes) was used to decorate the lower levels
of buildings.
The genesis of the first Buddhist stupa came about during this period. The
more decorative art was in the form of small votive stupas illustrated with clay
images of birds, dragons, sea serpents and humans.
The most characteristic trait of Gandhara sculpture is the standing or seated
Buddha in the few hundreds of temples which have survived out of thousands. The
seated Buddha is always cross legged in the traditional Indian way.
Magnificent Buddhist Sculptors
The teachings of the Buddhism were adopted by Mauryan emperor Ashoka in 255BC
as the religion that he as well as most of his subjects would follow. Towards
this the king undertook steps to awaken and enlighten his people about the
teachings of the Buddha, and to make sure that they would not forget how
important it was for them to be Buddhists Ashoka took certain measures. These
are the most early Buddhist sculptors, and were mainly of six types: stone
pillars with inscriptions on them called edicts; stupas; monolithic pillars;
shrines; a vast palace and a group of rock cut chambers. Out of these the most
important ones were the edicts and the stupas and can still be seen today.
Ashoka Edifices
The Construction of Pillars
Ashoka's edicts were nothing but circular free standing pillars rising upto
to great heights so that they could be seen from a distance, topped off with a
stone lion.
Made of bricks, they carried declarations from the king regarding Buddhism.
There were probably thirty in all, but now only two still stand. The pillars did
not stand in isolation, and were usually found near stupas in a spot either
unknowingly marked by the Buddha himself or along the royal route to Magadha,
the capital. The pillars were about forty feet in height, circular and rising
straight out of the ground without evidence of a base to hold it up. At the top
space was left for a Buddhist symbol to be placed, normally a lion. The pillar
itself would bear inscriptions from the king, or teachings of the Buddha, upto a
readable height and in large letters.
The Stupas
The stupas were large halls capped with a dome and bore symbols of the
Buddha. Their purpose was to instill awe into the minds of the common people
who, at that time, lived in small wooden houses. But the stupa was not the only
awe-inspiring monuments; it was associated with a number of additional smaller
structures such as pillared gates, decorated railings, umbrellas and lion
thrones. All these were first made with brick, but when Ashoka realized that
they would not stand the vigours of time and weather, he switched to stone.
The most famous of the stupas, the one at Sanchi, was originally built by
Ashoka. In 150BC, renovation work was undertaken and massive additions were made
to it. The stupa was made higher and broader, 120 feet in diameter and 54 feet
high, as it is today. The timber railings were replaced by stone ones, standing
11 feet high with entrances at five cardinal point, forming a barricade. The
emblem of protection, this stone railing encompassed the entire area around the
stupa and the sacred tree (actually a branch from the holy tree in Bodh Gaya in
Bihar was planted here) under which the Buddha is said to have attained
enlightenment. The entrance to a stupa is through a stone gate, intricately
carved with images of daily Buddhist life and stone lions guarding the images
and the gate.
Palace of Ashoka - A 'Magnum opus'
Ashoka's palace near Patna was a masterpiece. Made mostly of wood, it seems
to have been destroyed by fire. Enclosed by a high brick wall, the highlight of
the palace was an immense pillared hall three storey and 250 feet high. Pillars
were arranged at intervals of fifteen feet, and the ceiling was adorned with
stone images and horizontally supported by wooden beams.
Construction of Monastries
The other all important Buddhist building is the shrine or the monastery.
Here the Gandhara style of architecture comes into play, following a similar
pattern for all buildings. Definitely religious in nature, the construction of a
monastery followed a somewhat irregular design.
Built on the patterns of a fort and defended by a stone wall, the monastery
evolved from the site of an ancient stupa. Living quarters for monks were
separated from that of prayer, with the former consisting of houses, small
votive stupas, solitary pillars and tiny cells for low rank monks. The principle
buildings were housed within a rectangular courtyard with a stupa in the south
and the monastery in the north. The court was the most important building,
surrounded on three sides by a range of small chapels. A flight of stairs
connected the stupa with the monastery whose rooms were small and functional.
Called the sanghrama, these cells were located around the central courtyard.
Buddhist Temples
While the stupas were places of religious learning, buddhist temples were
used for dual purposes; prayers and teachings. Brick was rarely used, and stone
formed the base of most temple building. The Hinayana sect concentrated in the
southern and western sides of India and excavated halls out of mountains,
creating temples out of them in secluded regions. The Mahayanas were more
adventurous, as can be seen from the Buddhist temples in Ajanta and Ellora. The
Ajanta carvings consist of viharas or halls, supported by pillars, all cut out
from one solid piece of mountain.
Buddhist Cave Temples
The task of making a cave temple was a simple one. Wooden pegs were driven
into the mountainside and then watered so that they expanded, breaking the rock
face into manageable blocks. Huge sections of stone were either moved or left
where they were depending on the requirement. The split rock face would then be
dug into, carving entire halls from it. After that, all that was left to be done
was to carve out intricate details into pillars, walls, ceilings and doorways,
which usually took years to complete.
Rock art of the Buddhists was not constricted to temples and stupas. The
Buddha himself was the inspiration behind massive statues of his likeness made
out of stone, brass and copper. Buddha statues know no boundaries - they can be
larger than life, going upto great heights (over 14 metres), reaching up into
the sky or showing him reclining. However, in stupas and places of worship, the
Buddha is almost never shown and is represented indirectly through foot
impressions, empty thrones and the chakra (wheel).
