The Influence of Gandhara on Serindia
In 100 CE, with the Fourth Buddhist Councils, the Kushan ruler Kanishka, a patron of Buddhism, helps popularize a Greco-Buddhist renaissance that may have inspired the Mahayana tradition of the bodhisattva.
Gandharan Orphans
Gandhara Buddhist sculptures also were the first concrete representations of the Buddha.
Prior to such artwork, the traditional Indian representation was an empty chair or dais, to show that Buddhism was not originally idol worship, but a metaphor for a well-lived life that transcended ritual.
After converting to Buddhism in 260 BCE, the Mauryan ruler Ashoka built monolithic pillars with carved epigraphs crowned by capitals, rock-cut architecture, and stupas. Few statues of the Buddha were sculpted by Indians between 500 BCE and 100 BCE.
According to the Met Museum timeline for the Mauryan Empire, "in 254 BCE, Ashoka had monumental edicts on Buddhism carved into rocks and caves throughout his empire."
Original post: September 20, 2003 02:18 PM PDT
Updated: January 8 1953H
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