Greco-Buddhist art

Greco-Buddhist art is the artistic manifestation of Greco-Buddhism, a cultural syncretism between the Classical Greek culture and Buddhism, which developed over a period of close to 1000 years in Central Asia, between the conquests of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC, and the Islamic conquests of the 7th century AD. Greco-Buddhist art is characterized by the strong idealistic realism and sensuous description of Hellenistic art and the first representations of the Buddha in human form, which have helped define the artistic (and particularly, sculptural) canon for Buddhist art throughout the Asian continent up to the present. It is also a strong example of cultural syncretism between eastern and western traditions.

The origins of Greco-Buddhist art are to be found in the Hellenistic Greco-Bactrian kingdom (250 BC- 130 BC), located in today’s Afghanistan, from which Hellenistic culture radiated into the Indian subcontinent with the establishment of the Indo-Greek kingdom (180 BC-10 BC). Under the Indo-Greeks and then the Kushans, the interaction of Greek and Buddhist culture flourished in the area of Gandhara, in today’s northern Pakistan, before spreading further into India, influencing the art of Mathura, and then the Hindu art of the Gupta empire, which was to extend to the rest of South-East Asia. The influence of Greco-Buddhist art also spread northward towards Central Asia, strongly affecting the art of the Tarim Basin, and ultimately the arts of China, Korea, and Japan.

Gandhara

Gandhāra (Sanskrit: पुरुषपुर or गंधार, Pashto: ګندارا‎, Urdu: گندھارا‎, Avestan: Vaēkərəta, Old Persian Para-upari-sena, Bactrian Paropamisadae [Hellenization: Paropamisus], Greek Caspatyrus) is the ancient term for the city and old kingdom of Peshawar, which encompassed the Swat valley and the Potohar Plateau regions of Pakistan, as well as the Jalalabad district of modern-day Afghanistan. During the Hellenistic period, its capital city was Charsadda, but later the capital city was shifted to Peshawar by the Kushan emperor Kanishka the Great in about 127. It is mentioned in the Zend Avesta as Vaēkərəta, the sixth most beautiful place on earth created by Ahura Mazda. It was known in Sanskrit as Puruṣapura, literally meaning "city of men". It was known as the "crown jewel" of Bactria and also held sway over Takṣaśilā (modern Taxila).

The Kingdom of Gandhara lasted from the Vedic period (c. 1500-500 BC). As a center of Greco-Buddhism, Bactrian Zoroastrianism and Animism, Gandhara attained its height from the 1st century to the 5th century under the Kushan Kings. The Persian term Shahi is used by history writer Al-Biruni to refer to the ruling dynasty that took over from the Kabul Shahi and ruled the region during the period prior to Muslim conquests of the 10th and 11th centuries. After it was conquered by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1001 AD, the name Gandhara disappeared. During the Muslim period, the area was administered from Lahore or from Kabul. During Mughal times, it was an independent district which included the Kabul province.

Gandhara (song)

"Gandhara" (ガンダーラ, Gandāra) is a song by Japanese rock band Godiego, serving as their 7th single. "Gandhara" was used as the ending theme song for the first season of the television drama Saiyūki, known in the English speaking world as Monkey. "Gandhara" was originally released in Japan on October 1, 1978, but it was later released in the United Kingdom in 1980 to coincide with the British broadcast of Monkey. "Gandhara" reached number 2 on both the Oricon and The Best Ten charts in Japan, while the British release reached 56 on the UK Singles Chart.

Godiego recorded the song in both Japanese and English, with a hybrid Japanese & English version being included on the releases in the UK. The entirely English version appears on the album Magic Monkey in Japan.

Track listing

Covers

Monkey Majik covered "Gandhara" as one of the tracks on their single "MONKEY MAJIK×MONKEY MAGIC".

Gandhara City

Gandhara City may refer to: