Paintings in Rock Shelters
摘要
The landscape of Gandhāra is composed of high mountains, low hills, narrow valleys with dense forests, and fertile land. Such a landscape provided an ideal environment for the Buddhists of Gandhāra to practice their religious beliefs in oral, practical, and iconic forms. Evidence of these practices is found throughout the region. Some of this evidence is in the form of paintings inside rock shelters which is the theme of this chapter which studies the various localities where these artworks were discovered and examines them within their landscape context. Alongside other contemporary paintings, these evidences include both Buddhist figural drawings and inscriptions, which were either painted directly onto the rough surfaces of rock ceilings or created using fresco techniques.