ARCHITECTURE IN AFGHANISTAN,

NEPAL AND TIBET

E. G. Clemente

A. AFGHANISTAN
INFLUENCES

I. GEOGRAPHICAL

Situated in the northwest of the IndoPakistan subcontinent, with Iran

(ancient Persia) on the west and
Russia (in part ancient Bacteria) and
central Asia to the north

Is mainly a vast high plateaux

between (1800m) 6000ft and
(4000m) 12600ft above sea level,
with the Hindu Kush mountains to the
north presenting a formidable barrier
The narrow valleys of the Khyber and
Oxus rivers were the only
communication routes with ancient
northwest India (Gandhara)

II. SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL

In the 4th century BC, Alexander was

part of the Achaemenid Empire of
Darius
It was the next occupied by
Alexander the Great armies (356-323
BC) followed by Bactrian Greek
colonist, who created a colonial type
Greek city state in Balkh (Northern
Afghanistan)

There was continual culturally with

Greece through Asian Greek cities
settlement, with Persia and by the
first century BC with India
The city of Kapisa (now Begram), the
capital of Kushans was a famous
Mahayana Buddhist site and
cosmopolitan meeting place on the
great trade route to the Far East

In the fourth and fifth centuries AD,

the Kushan empire gave place to the
Sassanian occupation which had a
profound cultural influence
throughout the East, spreading even
to China
Chinese pilgrims, Fa-hian (5th century)
and Hiuen Tsang (7th century) of
those days with its magnificent
palaces and monasteries

III. RELIGIOUS

Afghanistan has passed through many

religious phases:
Achaemenid and Parthian, Sassanian
(Zoroastrian), Indian Buddhist, Greek
Hellenist (with Alexander the Great)
and Scythian

The impact of Mahayana Buddhism,

became the predominant influence
superseding the earlier Buddhist
faith
In the 8th century, the Moslem religion
penetrated the country and, under a
Turkish Gazni dynasty and after,
Afghanistan became a Moslem
kingdom

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER

The area of northern Afghanistan

known as Balkh belongs culturally to
Central Asia, being Greaco Bactrian
The southern part, the Kabul valley,
was bound geographically, culturally
and politically with northwest India on
the hand and on the other with Persia

This composite stream of influence

produced Greaco-Roman and
Gandharan Buddhist art and
architecture
Ruined stupa mounds are scattered
round Kabul and the Kabul rivers, the
most significant being the monastic
remains of Bamiyan and Hadda

EXAMPLE
1. BAMIYAN
With its monasteries and temples, is important

for its relationship to Persia and Central Asia

Superbly situated, the huge group is carved out
of sandstone cliff face
The interior honeycombed with sanctuaries and
assembly halls extending for nearly two km
with painted niche at either end; each
sheltering a vast Buddha statue

 The eastern image is 37m (120ft) high

and the western about 54m, the former

an enlarge third century Gandhara type,
the latter (5th century) an example of the
eclectic cosmopolitan influences on
Buddhist art
The rock cut sanctuaries and assembly
halls probably reflect the building types
once existing in Gandhara, influenced by
Greaco-Roman-Sassanian styles

B. NEPAL
INFLUENCES

I. GEOGRAPHICAL

Nepal forms an irregular parallelogram some 720km

(450 miles) long and 240km (150 miles) in average
breath
Extending across the Himalayas and along the
northern borders of India
Mainly composed of high (plateaux) mountains,
which include Mt. Everest

Is sparsely populated/inhabited
except in small area at the center,
the valley of Nepal
In prehistoric times this was a
shallow lake; today it is an undulating
tract of land used for the cultivation
of rice, millet, oil seed and tobacco
Contains the three old capitals;
Kathmandu, Patan and Bhatgon

II. HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL

The bulk population are Newars and Ghurkhas

(Tibetan-Mongol stock) who settled in Nepal in
very early times and established on
indigenous style in art and architecture
Arts flourished specially during the reign of
Mullah Rajas (13th to 18th century) and more
particularly in the 14th, 15th and the early 16th
century

In 1768, a Ghurkha Raja seized the

kingdom and a Ghurkha Dynasty
Real power however, lay for more
than a century in the hands of
hereditary prime minister
Since 1950, there has been a cabinet
and an elected president

III. RELIGIOUS

In the 3rd century BC, Indian Emperor Asoka

brought Buddhism to the valley of Nepal and
built many stupas to co memorable his mission
In the 5th century AD and again in the 7th
century, both Buddhist and Hindu settlements
were formed, conversions made and
monasteries founded
Since then, Hinduism, Buddhism with Tibetan
tantric influences existed side by side

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER

Influenced greatly by India and

Chinese cultures, reflected in the
exhuberant and decorative treatment
in buildings
Stupas, temple, picturesque township
and intricate craftsmanship are her
characteristics architectural heritage

The oldest monuments are stupas, being

associated with the Emperor Asoka, the
Swayambunath and Bodnath both near
Kathmandu
Stupas were of orthodox hemispherical
mound faced with brick plinth serving as a
processional path
Two kinds of temple survive, the SIKHARA and
the PAGODA, the first reflecting Indian and
the second Chinese (Burmese) influences

The temple is a shrine enclosing a cella for

the God or divine symbols
A formal feature of the Nepalese towns is
the monumental pillar, generally
supporting a metal superstructure adorned
with mystic symbols group of divinities
and specially portrait statuary of royalties
Secular architecture principally of wood,
but brick is used for structural purposed
and metal for ornament

Widows for houses have intricate lattice

screens and roofs have red curved tiles
Every feather is fancifully decorated with
carvings embossing, tinkling bells and
hanging lamps
The Nepalese delight in adornment is
typified by the MAKARA form of
rainwater spouts which are characteristic
of Buddhist iconography and often works
of art

EXAMPLES
1. SWAYAMBUNATH STUPA, Kathmandu
An originally Asokan tumulus on a hill
rising from a valley
Stands on a low narrow plinth and has
medieval addition of an immense finial, a
conical spire in thirteen diminishing tiers
symbolizing the thirteen Buddhist
heavens with umbrella apex

 The latter stands on a high square

base, which has a large pair of human

eyes, symbolizing the ALL SEEING
ONE, embossed in metal and ivory on
each four sides and seeming to follow
the movements of the pilgrim

2. BODNATH STUPA, Kathmandu

Has been restored in recent times, but
the old forms are visible in the plain
Austere lines of the three platforms
14m (45ft) high, low tumulus and the
14m (45ft) high sikhara resembling
the finial of Swayambunath

3. KRISHNA TEMPLE, Patan

Has the typical sikhara spire, but

with cluster of small pavilions on
each side of the three arcaded
storeys, and a carved stone frieze
depicting the Romantic Krishna
legend

4. BAWANI TEMPLE, Bhatgon

Is of the pagoda and Tantric type

Has the characteristic five storey
overhung roof
Stands on a high plinth of five
receding terraces with a stairway
leading up
to the shrine embraced
by an arcaded verandah

6. SACRED TOWN OF PASUPAT

The Benares of Nepal

Stands on the west banks of the
Bagmati
Dedicated to Siva and consist entirely
of stone and wood temples, with
burning ghat by the river

TIBET
INFLUENCES
I. GEOGRAPHICAL
Bordered on the north and the east by China,
to the south by Nepal, India and Bhutan and
on the west by India (Kashmir and Ladakh)
Is the highest country in the world, lying at
the heart of Himalayas

Much of this rugged land is a large

plateaux varying height in between
4000 and 5000m (1200-1600ft)
Very thinly populated, the inhabited
areas- generally centered upon
monastic settlements are most
exclusively in the south where sheeps
and yaks are grazed and some
agriculture is possible

II. HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL

Small regional kingdoms existed until the 7th

century
When the whole country came under the sway of
King Sron-Btsang-Gam-Po, whose two wives,
Nepalese and Chinese princesses were both
Buddhist
Thereafter, Tibetan rulers championed the cause
of Buddhism and Tibets cultural history has been
direct reflection of the development of the faith

Monasteries multiplied, leading

ultimately to a form of theocratic
government, in which the chief Abbot
(the Grand or Dalai Lama) became
the ruler Tibet
In 1270, Kublai Khan, the Mongol
Emperor of China, had conferred the
(authority) sovereignty of Tibet upon
the Abbot of Sakya monastery

By the 18th century, Tibets

independence was only nominal and
after enduring various forms of
foreign incursion, invasion and
interference in the 19th and 20th
centuries, the country has become in
the past decade an autonomous
state of the peoples Republic of
China and 1400 years of Tibetan
Lamaist culture have ended

III. RELIGIOUS

Tibetans originally followed an

animistic faith Bonpo which include
elements of mysticism and sorcery
In 630 AD, Mahayana Buddhism was
introduced, tempered by indigenous
folk cults

Followed by Tantric Buddhism,

prevalent in neighboring countries,
was established by Padma-Sambhava
Three hundred years later, the final
and lasting forms of Tibetan Buddhism
was shaped by Atisa: the cult of the
Bodhisattva (one who has vowed to
attain Buddha) magic, animism and
the belief in a living Buddha

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER

Early Tibetan art was influenced by

Indian Buddhism but after the 19th
century interest turned eastward
Architectural achievement is apparent
in stupas, the monastery complex and
the decorative arts

The usual stupa (CHORTEN) form

consist of a small bulbous on a manytiered plinth and similar to the
Nepalese type, a square harmika
with a mast supporting a chattra
(umbrella) surmounted by a flame
finial

CHORTEN

The monastery is an original expression

of Tibetan architecture
Fortress-like, sited on hilltops, often
commanding magnificent views, built
of stone and sun-dried bricks
Not to a regular plan, comprising
long lines of cells disposed about
courtyards having high while wash
wall and four gates

The temple is a rectangular stone

building with continuous vermillion or
yellow band under the eaves
The roof of tiles or beaten clay carries
a Chinese pagoda type pavilion
The plan resembles a chaitya with
a nave and pillars and side aisles
Pillars and beams are painted yellow
or red and painted silk hangs from
the roof

SARNATH TIBETAN TEMPLE

ZANGDOKPALRI TEMPLE

At the far end of the nave is the

shrine
Daylight enters through the
doorways, which have sloping jambs
The walls are covered with frescoes
or silk
Tibetan architecture is also
practically unchanged for so many
centuries due to the conservative,
unchanging nature of Tibetan society

EXAMPLES
1.SAKYA MONASTERY
80km (50 miles) southwest of

Shigatse
Once famous for its Sanskrit and
Tibetan manuscripts
Is seven storeys high with a spacious
assembly hall

2. POTALA PALACE, Lhasa

Built for the fifth Dalai Lama between 16421650
Stands on a hill 90m (300ft) above the plain
Imposing externally, with skyscraper-like
sloping walls, glided roofs and bells
crowning the chortens