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Item Relic Shrines Pilgrimage(The International Conference on Land Transportation, Locomotive Heritage and Road Culture - 2017, 2017) Kumar, A.In the South Asian world, the first and second centuries CE gives a new dimension to Buddhism and its pilgrimage with the rise of Buddha image in human form. Whether the image originated in Mathura school of Art or Gandhara school of Art had been a long time question for scholars. This paper does not dwell into the origination of Buddha image but inspite it offers some light on Gandharan regional sites, and relic shrines pilgrimage and routes. Chinese pilgrims' accounts this region mostly confined to Peshawar basin, but due to its unified artistic and stupa tradition which had an extent to South-Afghanistan, as well as on the east of it due to Graeco Roman influences on art, Kashmir is also taken in examples. Buddhist art, culture and traditions flourished in Gandhara which was an ancient region between north-western Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. The spread of Semi-Mahayanic tradition and monastic art from India via Gandhara to Central Asia and China played a vital role in the propagation of Buddhism as a world religion. Rise of Buddhism is evident in the period of the 1st century CE to 4th century CE during the rule of Kusana Empire. A distinctive feature of this period was the sustained patronage of Buddhist monasteries, art and architecture. Buddhist chronicles give an idea of pilgrimage sites which venerated body relics of Buddha which later were enshrined in the stupa. It comprises several narrative strands that relate the life story of the Buddha and the manner in which Buddhist teachings and institutions were established on the Gandharan periphery in ancient times. The focus of this work traces the relics associated with the historical Buddha.This paper traces the art and religiousity of relic shrines via Buddhist and cultural context in selecting some specimens of the 4th century BCE until 5th Century CE. Thus the paper will address some broader parameters in the history of Gandharan pilgrimage and move to a focus on Gandharan sculptures and Indo-Greek antiquities, coins that have been subject to concerted collecting efforts in the nineteenth and early twentieth century.Item Images of Dāna in Gandhāra(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2017) Kumar, A.This paper draws on the Buddhist narrative panels from the legend of the Buddha’s life in the Gandhāran Art. Dāna is a Pali word that connotes the virtue of generosity; and it played pivotal role in putting structure of Buddhism. Dāna is one of the important virtues in putting strength to material aspect of Indian religions namely Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism, The spread of Buddhist tradition and monastic art from India to Gandhāra and Central Asia played a vital role in the propagation of Buddhism as a world religion. A distinctive feature of the Kusānas resulted in a sustained patronage of Buddhist monasteries through art and architecture. Gandhāran art has more narrative reliefs as compared to Mathurā school of art especially to show the visuals of Dāna. This paper springs from my research and field work which examine cross cultural assimilation and change of the artistic tradition of Gandhāra as well as the interpretation of Buddhist panels via connecting the visuals with the Buddhist literature.Item Classification of the Stupas(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2017) Prasad, P.; Prasad, S.K.K.Out of the primary ten Buddhist stupas, eight were built over the Buddha's relics, and one over the ashes of the funeral pyre and another over the vessal, that was used for distributing the relics. Thus total ten stupas were built after His death. Cunningham categorized the stupas into three viz. ''sharirika'', ''paribhigika'' and ''uddeshika''. The first two refer to the contents kept inside the stupa and the third refers to the places associated with the Buddha. These stupas are mostly huge in structure. Later it was felt that the small stupas built in the vicinity and around the bigger ones were not represented in this classification. Hence, the fourth category ''votive'' was added to the earlier three. Though four different categories are generally accepted, the study of the archaeological findings from different stupas bring out certain anomalies in the classification. It is observed that only eight stupas that contain relics can be termed as ''sharirika'' and none of the other two stupas can be kept in either ''paribhogika'' or ''uddeshika'' categories. These stupas are equally important and therefore cannot be ignored. Moreover as the meaning of the word votive is ''consecrated in fulfillment of a vow'', fourth category, ''votive'' doesn't represent all varieties of the small stupas. Because small stupas were used for many other purposes also. Finally, an entirely different variety of the stupas, e.g. ''chaitya stupas'', has not been given a place in the stated classification. The classification of stupas proposed in the paper is based on the purpose and they are mahastupas, cave stupas and miniature stupas. The mahastupas are further sub-classified on the basis of architecture and they are round medhi, square medhi, medhi like a drum, projections in medhi, medhi with ''ayaka platforms''. The miniature stupas are further sub-classified on the basis of materials used and these are stone, brick, terracota, crystal and metal. The details of the classification and sub-classification are brought out in the paper.Item Buddhist Art in Ancient Gandhara, an Appraisal of its Distinctive Features(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2017) Aslam, N.; Bukhari, M.F.The present research paper focuses on the Buddhist art of Gandhara. The main objectivee behind this has been to focus on the distinctive features of this art. Gandhara art was initiated under the powerful Kushan kingdom and this was its blossoming period. Thus the term Gandhara art applies to the Buddhist art and architecture that flourished in Gandhara region from the 1st century to the 5th century A.D. After the Mahaprinirvana of the Buddha, his followers started to worship him but they did not have any object for worship like stupas and Buddha images. Firstly, King Asoka built thousands stupas and viharas and during this time Buddhism was spread in Gandhara by Majjhantika. Gandhara received its share from the relics of the Buddha, and they erected stupas to enshrine the relics of the Buddha and the story of Buddhist art and architecture also started with that. Maurya state followed the Graeco-Bactrians kingdom. The Indo Greeks rulers arrived with new philosophical and cultural approaches giving new dimensions to the art of Gandhara. Subsequently, the Indo-Scythian and the Indo-Parthian set new trends in the local traditions. However, the Kushan rule proved more innovation in the field of art and architecture. It is in this regard that reign of Kanishka-I is considered the golden age of Gandhara art. During the reign of Kanishka, Buddhism took a new twist and developed into Mahayana Buddhism (the Great Vehicle). Mahayana Buddhism gave birth to the most tangible form of Gandhara art. In India, initially Buddhist sculptures were made in the form of symbols but Emperor Kanishka gave physical shape to the Buddha statue and the first Buddha figure was constructed in Gandhara. This was the most important contribution of Gandhara art in the depiction of the Buddha in human form. The main purpose of Gandhara art is the spread of Buddhism through the different sculptures carved in stone, stucco, terracotta bronze and even paintings. Gandhara art is first and foremost a religious Buddhist art. The events of the life of the Buddha starting from his mother dreaming up to his great demise are captured in these art works. Besides the sculptures exemplify the life of the Buddha, single statue or relief of him, either standing or seated were also erected. Gandhara art Sculpture is divided into three groups: Independent cult images of the Buddha and Bodhisattva, Non-Buddhist deities’ images, Relief panels. Gandhara sculptures are entirely connected with Buddhist iconography, though many of them manifest some western or classical influence and this Buddhist art is generally known as Graeco-Roman, Greco -Buddhist, Indo-Greek and Indo-Bactrian and Roman-Buddhist. The images of the Buddha resembled precisely to ‘Apollo’ the Greek god of beauty .The describing style is sophisticated and has stylish manners. The Buddha images are shown in many different poses such as abhayamudra, dhayanamudra, dharamacharkamudra and bhumisparsamudra. The images of the Buddha show some special signs or symbols. The most prominent among those that appear are ushnisha, urṇa and wheel. The main focus of the art was Buddha's life stories and individual images, his previous birth stories or jatakas. Bodhisattvas and Buddha. The theme of Gandhara art was the depiction of different concepts of Buddhism. Many aspects of Gandhara art have been studied but however this art misted up in obscurity. Even today many questions remain about the date of its rise and decline; the sources of its influences and causes of its destruction. All these issues are part of discussion of the present research study.Item The Elephant in Gautam Buddha’s Life, Jatakas and their Depiction in Sculptures and Paintings(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Mudgal, K.; Joshi, Y.There were two major events in Gautam Buddha’s life in which the elephant had a prominent role. The first event was related to Gautam Buddha’s birth and the second one was his miracle at Rajgriha. Jatakas are the stories of previous births of Gautam Buddha. Before he received the Bodhi (Great Enlightenment) he was born in many births in different forms like a king, elephant, monkey, etc. After passing through these various births finally he was Enlightened. In these Jatakas, Gautam Buddha appears as a Bodhisatva. These Jataka stories are used by Gautam Buddha’s disciple to spread their Dhamma. There are a lot of Jataka stories in which Bodhisatva had been born as an elephant or an elephant is the main character in those stories. These two events in Gautam Buddha’s life and Jataka tales are depicted in the forms of sculptures and paintings at many Buddhist monuments in India as well as countries where Bauddha Dhamma reached like Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Siam etc. In this paper we shall take a collective review of various art forms where the above mentioned stories are used as themes.Item ‘Elephant’ in Pali Literature(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Mutsuddy, S.The ‘elephant’ symbol is used to portray the conception of the Bodhisatta and His renunciation in Pali literature. The metaphors like `elephant look' in the scriptures are compared with the Buddha's qualities. This directly relates to the thought in Buddhism that suffering is caused by the untamed mind. Elephants once tamed however, obey their masters far better than any other animal. Sometimes it describes how one overcomes this untamed evil by “binding the elephant with mindfulness” within a closed gate. The job of caging an elephant, as described in the poem -I shall fasten you, mind, like an elephant at a small gate... When fastened, you will not go, like an elephant not finding the gate open (Theragāthā) is not a small thing to be argued. By using an elephant as the key animal, he effectively pays homage to the challenging task of meditation. In Pali literature like Digha Nikāya ; Majjhima Nikāya; Dhammapada, Thera and Therīgāthā of Saṃyutta Nikāya , elephant is used as an innumerable metaphor from the story of birth to the life of the Buddha . The Buddha had a special fondness for elephants adjudicating by how often he referred to them. He seems to have been impressed by their intelligence, their awareness, thoughtful behaviour and particularly the males' fondness for living alone in the jungle. He said: `On this matter the enlightened sage and the elephant with tusks as long as plough poles agree, they both love the solitude of the forest' (Ud.42). In some ways the Buddha even considered elephants better than humans. The paper would try to illuminate various types of similes of elephants used in Buddhism as well as Pali literature. The most popular parable of ‘the blind man and elephant’, the birth story of the Buddha given in Bharhut inscription or Chaddanta Jataka story would also be narrated in the example of allegory of elephants.