Transcript offscreen expeditions education assembly & form

OFFSCREEN EXPEDITIONS EDUCATION
EPISODE 04
TAXILA AND GANDHARAN ART
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GANDHARA WAS A CIVILIZATION
ON THE BORDER OF PRESENT
DAY PAKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN
FROM 530 BCE TO 1021 CE
Image: © 2010 Google, © 2010 Europa Technologies, US Dept of State Geographer, © Mapabc.com
THIS GANDHARAN
STATUE IS MORE
REALISTIC BECAUSE IT
HAS WESTERN
INFLUENCES.
Photo Credit: PHGCOM
THIS INDIAN STATUE
IS MORE IDEALISED.
COMPARE THE TWO
STATUES TO SEE THE
DIFFERENT STYLES.
Photo Credit: Tevaprapas
MORE WESTERN
INFLUENCES IN THIS
STATUE. THE CLOTHES
ARE ANCIENT GREEK IN
STYLE.
GREEK
PERSIAN
CENTRAL ASIAN
CHINESE
GANDHARA
INDIAN
MIDDLE EASTERN
THIS ARTISTIC CROSSOVER HAPPENED
BECAUSE GANDHARA WAS AT THE
CROSSROADS OF DIFFERENT EMPIRES AND
CULTURES.
IN 1980 THIS AREA WAS RECOGNISED
AS A WORLD HERITAGE SITE
ONE OF THE SITES IN THE TAXILA
REGION IS JAULIAN SAID TO BE THE
FIRST UNIVERSITY IN THE WORLD.
MANY OF THE ORIGINAL STATUES STILL
SURVIVE FROM WHEN THE MONASTERY
WAS BUILT 1,600 YEARS AGO.
THE DETAILS SHOW A STRONG INFLUENCE
FROM EUROPEAN STYLES. CAN YOU SEE THE
GREEK-STYLE LEAVES?
THIS IS A VIEW OF THE LIVING QUARTERS FOR
THE MONKS. THERE WERE 56 ROOMS IN TOTAL.
THE MONASTERY WAS ARRANGED ON TWO
STOREYS AND INCLUDED KITCHENS, PRAYER
ROOMS AS WELL AS MONKS’ CELLS.
THIS AREA IN THE MIDDLE WAS A CROSS
BETWEEN A SWIMMING POOL AND A
BATH FOR THE MONKS TO WASH IN.
ALL THE GUIDES THAT WE MET WERE
VERY PROUD OF PAKISTAN’S MULTICULTURAL HERITAGE…
…EXPLAINING THAT THEY STILL FELT THE
TRADITIONS OF MEDITATION EVEN THOUGH
THEY ARE MUSLIM AND NOT BUDDHIST.
THE TEAM FELT THE CALM AND
REFLECTIVE NATURE OF THIS PLACE
HUNDREDS OF YEARS LATER.