Ancient Buddhism the East and

Ancient Buddhism The East and West Great Buddhas in the Bamiyan Valley are an artistic reflection of the growth and spirit of ancient Buddhism, and are especially representative of the nature of Buddhism as a pilgrim's faith.

Introduction Ancient Buddhism Bamiyan Buddhas Growth and Spread Pilgrim's Faith Afghanistan's Bamiyan Valley Buddhas Contested Timeline Sleeping Buddha Archeological Search Art as a Reflection of Buddhism as a Pilgrim's Faith Central to the Silk Road Colossal in Scale Introduction Ancient Buddhism and the Bamiyan Buddhas Ancient Buddhism is known for the aspect of Buddha's life that involved pilgrimage and travel. The Buddha and his believers traveled all over the known world spreading the word of the Buddha and seeking for themselves the Nirvana of legend.

In so doing Buddhist monks built many shrines and monuments to the Buddha and his faith. In one case a whole valley in the present day Afghanistan was decorated with the images of the Buddha in the form of many small (movable) and two very large statues of Buddha. The statues have drawn tourists and pilgrims of Buddhism for centuries to the area known as the Bamiyan valley and for all that time the statues have looked upon the valley in a powerful, peaceful and protective manner.

The statues themselves have recently come into the public eye, as the fundamentalist Islamic group, in power in Afghanistan for a painful decade has recently (2001) destroyed them calling them un-Islamic. The ruling power was overthrown but not until after the statues had been irrevocably destroyed. (BBC News, March 11, 2001, NP) The East and West Great Buddhas in the Bamiyan Valley are an artistic reflection of the growth and spirit of ancient Buddhism, and are especially representative of the nature of Buddhism as a pilgrim's faith.

Afghanistan's Bamiyan Valley Buddhas Recent archeological digs have attempted to unearth and even larger statue that was said to be a depiction of a sleeping Buddha and was reported to have existed, along with a lavish monastery and temple in the valley that was describes by a Chinese Pilgrim nearly 1,400 years ago.

(Kaufman, February 7, 2005, NP) There is not complete agreement in the religious, art or archeological world with regard to dating the two giant statues but it is known that they were likely constructed in two phases with the Eastern Great Buddha and the larger of the two being constructed prior to the Western Great Buddha.

The sleeping Buddha has yet to be dated, as archeological digs are still current in the area and it has yet to be found, though it is the great hope of the region, now that the two standing Buddhas and many of the smaller artistic depictions have been destroyed by the Taliban. By no means is there agreement among scholars on the dating of the two Bamiyan colossal Buddhas. According to the French Q.

Hackin and others), the two colossal Buddhas are later than Kushana Gandhdran art and earlier than the cave temples ofYun-kang (started in the 460's) and Lung-men (started in the 490's). Hackin thought the 53 m Buddha is late 4th century or early 5th century and the 35 m Buddha was finished in the latter part of the 5th century. B.

Rowland dated the Eastern Great Buddha to the 3rd-4th century as a version of the Gandharan Buddhas, and the Western Great Buddha, which he assessed as Mathura Gupta style, dating a little later than that Indian school. Itsuji Yoshikawa dated both Buddhas early, but the eastern one earlier and the western one to the 5th century. Akira Miyaji placed the Western Great Buddha earliest and the eastern one in his Style II period. T.

Higuchi, on the basis of the construction technique, dates the Eastern Great Buddha earlier than the Western Great Buddha (Fig. 3.77).HS (Rhie, 1999, p. 229) While a single expert describes the Buddhas as being created in the same period and as part of the same artistic movement, this is not the standard ideology associated with the works. What is known is that the whole valley is a rich traditional example of the spread of Buddhism and the value and messages of its art.

Deborah Klimburg-Salter dates all the caves at Bamiyan to a single, cohesive movement, religious concept and artistic school from the 7th-9th century and the two colossal Buddhas to no earlier than 600H6, but clearly before the arrival of the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Hsuan-tsang in ca. 632, who describes both Buddhas in his famous writings. (Rhie, 1999, p. 229) Artistically speaking the two Buddhas are clearly different and depict different periods of art and worship as well as different symbolism and drives on the part of the creators.

The recent archeological digs, to find the temple, monastery and the sleeping Buddha statue were inspired by the writings of Chinese pilgrim, who wrote of the places in his travel logs. This author is also a primary source regarding the features and scale of the standing Buddhas. The sleeping statue is said to be larger than the other two at an estimate of 1,000 feet.

Inspired by the writings of a Chinese pilgrim almost 1,400 years ago, Afghanistan's foremost archaeologist is leading a dig within view of the cliff walls where the two Buddhas once stood. The initial goal is to find the ancient monastery that the Chinese traveler Xuanzang described around A.D. 630, and then the gigantic reclining Buddha that he said was inside its walls.Although some promising discoveries have been made in the past two years, archaeologists do not really know what they might find beneath the cliffs.

But the leader of the dig, Zemaryalai Tarzi, is optimistic that important discoveries lie under the soil, and he will return to Bamiyan this summer to continue the excavation. (Kaufman, February 7, 2005, NP) The hope is that finding the sleeping Buddha statue, which is said to be much more colossal in scale will save the valley from any further destruction and restore it to its rightful place in history, despite the destruction of the two standing Buddhas by the Taliban.

Art as a Reflection of Buddhism as a Pilgrim's Faith The work of the whole valley tells a story of many hundreds of years of Buddhist art and settlement, all over the region of south Asia. Pilgrims and Monks sought to create a place of worship and travel to answer the growth of the faith and the desire of many of its adherents to seek the faith through a reflection of the actions of the Buddha, following in his footsteps as pilgrims and seekers of knowledge.

Dating the statues, is controversial as a result of the fact that such a date would determine or refute the fact that the woks are the first of their kind with regard to size. Certainly prototypes of colossal images have been known from earlier times in the West, from the ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman empires and these may have been a factor in the underlying stimulus for the Bamiyan colossal Buddhas.

The appearance of very large images is apparently not known to ancient India before the 5th century and even those of the 5th century and later do not classify as colos- sal in the sense of the Bamiyan Buddhas. Nevertheless, the ideas contained within the literature of India, even in the Buddhist works, supply ample basis for the con- cept of a colossal image.

Bamiyan's location like a hub at the juncture of the West, India and Central Asia, not only afforded easy access to influences from the Silk Road, but also meant that Bamiyan could readily be both receiver and transmitter of art forms. Whether or not the colossal images of Bamiyan are to be thought the first in the Buddhist world, i.e., the primary prototype for the colossal images of Central Asia and China, depends in large measure on determining the date of the Bamiyan colossal images. (Rhie, 1999, p.

229) The imagery itself is depictive of the pilgrim spirit of the era and the foundational worship of the Buddha and his vision. The work, at a crossroads in the silk road, the trade route of the region is important in that the placement of the valley's artistic works was meant to further the growth of the faith, display its imagery in a glorious and colossal fashion and lend a sense of spirituality to trading in the region.

Trade for the whole period was associated as much with financial gain as it was with personal religious and spiritual growth, and these works clearly express the idea of the trader and his massive adjunct staff were in need of religious iconography that reminded them of home and of the greatness of ancient Buddhism. (Wriggins, 1996, p.

257) Below is a reconstructed depiction of the cave ceiling that was carved over the Great Eastern Buddha, and is reflective of the greatness of other colossal architecture of the period, namely the Roman and Greek temple ceilings and even domes that were constructed much later but that reflect.