Gorgeous Gandhara Art

Sculpture of blackstone was one of the basic forms of Gandhara style of sculpture

Sculpture of blackstone that is found in Pakistan, Afghanistan and the northern part of India was one of the basic forms of Gandhara style of sculpture, Johne continued. As it is a world heritage, this should interest Bangladeshis too she felt. The stone sculptures produced here in Bangladesh have the same basic shapes, Johne explained. 'From the 8th to the 12th century Pala and Sina period such sculpture is found in north east and west Bengal too,'she said.

Asked if there are any parallel cultures where such rich cultural influences have been combined, she said that it was rare as it had Indian, Iranian and Graeco-Roman influences. Giving examples of Gandhara art, she mentioned statues from the Zorastrian, Greek and Roman religion representing gods and goddesses from the different regions and religions. Explaining how the various religions came to combined, she said, it was based on the influence of trade, specially the Silk Route, as the exchange of goods is connected with ideas, beliefs philosophies as well as technical know-how, as found even in some arts and crafts (in architecture and handicrafts, among others).

Talking about whether Gandhara Art had parallels in China, Tibet and Nepal, where Gautam Buddha, gods and goddess have sculptures and artifacts, Johne said, "Not parallels, but there are sculpture and artifacts that are something similar to it.

Speaking of how she came to be interested in Gandhara Art, she said that she was fascinated in that particular genre of culture when she was studying Indian Art and Philology.

Dwelling on how she had the opportunity to undertake the study of Gandhara Art, Johne said that this was at the Institute of Indian Art and Philology in Berlin. She said, 'For good education for an art historian I felt this was necessary. I was fascinated by art and objets d'art from different parts of India.' Speaking at more length she said, ' I was particularly interested in Gandhara art as 'I did my Masters about a special mother goddess, Haritia- who happened to be an ogress of whom there are many images to be found in Gandhara culture -- who devoured, according to legend , many children. Gautam Buddha is said to have converted her to a protecting goddess.. I naturally studied a lot of Buddhism in the process.'

Talking furthermore about the subject of Buddhism, she said that it naturally belonged to her essential course of studies at her institute. She said, "I had to study Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism too, incidentally, all of which interested me equally even though they are all different from each other and might have more appeal for some other art historian."

Touching on how well preserved the Gandhara art is today, Johne said that many museums have collections of this art as in the Museum of Indian art in Berlin, a superb museum in Paris and in the British Museum in London , while there are some beautiful pieces in the Metropolitan Museum in USA and some private collections in Japan. Asked if she had the opportunity to study most them, Johne answered in the negative.

"During my lecture I shall speak about the life story of Buddha and some special gods and goddesses during the Gandhara period, the Iranian, Greaco-Roman deities and the fertility and prosperity they had brought in Gandhara life," she concluded.