Gandharan Sculpture from Nimogram (Swat)
The
Swat valley of Pakistan - Ancient Gandhara is the land where hundreds of
Buddhist temples are concentrated. This place is described in ancient Tibetan
texts and is revered as a shrine, since, according to legend, Padmasambhava,
the second Buddha and the founder of Tibetan Buddhism, was born here.
The
favorable location of the valley along the caravan routes provided it with
important strategic links with Ancient China and the West. The art represented
primarily through architecture and sculpture is the evidence of the fusion of
civilizations. For a long time, Swat hosted numerous craft schools of icon painting,
weaving, sculpture, which contributed to the unprecedented rise of artistic creativity.
The
English-language monograph by Sadid Arif "Gandharan Sculpture from
Nimogram (Swat)" is available for download on the website of the
International Institute for Central Asian Studies (IICAS) (http://unesco-iicas.org/library/2/Monographs). The paperback version of the
monograph can be obtained upon request from the Secretariat of IICAS in
September.
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