IMPACT OF GANDHARA SCULPTURES MOTIFS ON HARIPUR EMBROIDERY PATTERNS

Abstract

The ancient kingdom of Gandhara in the Swat and Kabul River valleys and the Pothohar Plateau, in modern-day northern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan, lasted from the Vedic period (c. 1500-500 BC) to the 11th century AD. The Haripur district (of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan) is situated at the heart of the ancient Gandhara civilization. At the time of Alexander, the region including Taxila was known as "Eastern Gandhara. This region was and is considered as a hub for embroidery work from the dates almost unknown. Furthermore, regardless of which type of technique is used (i.e. hand embroidery or machine embroidery) as well as which type of stitch is used, the very basic common patterns of embroidery are found to be Lotus or wheel or Acanthus leaves in any form. These three motifs are inspired by the Gandhara art because all the Gandharan sculptures contains these motifs. This study only focuses on the ‘’Lotus motif’’ of Haripur’s local embroidery and its connection to Gandhara art.