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Abstract
Buddhism and the Buddhist art of Gandhara represent a bright chapter of the history of Pakistan. About Buddhism we find texts in different parts of the world which narrates the life of Buddha and his teachings. Art, in addition, narrates about the environment of the society
Gandhara art has played a very significant role as an expression language which very effectively narrates not only Buddha's life story and his teachings but also the society of ancient Gandhara which include humans of different ethnic groups, flora and fauna.
For this work the importance and symbolism of an important animal, the elephant, has been selected which was a key animal in Hindu-Buddhist mythology and which was widely sculptured in Gandhara that show the diffusion of Hindu-Buddhist philosophy on this land. The significance of this animal can be understood from the most significant fact that Buddha Sakyamuni opted to be conceived by Maya in a dream for the last time as a white elephant.
Historical Importance of the Elephant
Animals found in the Indus Valley show some kind of sacred or magical importance. It is not clear whether in the Indus valley there was any importance of elephant separately but from the seals excavated from Mohen-jo Daro it seems that elephant had a prominent place in their religion or mythology.
According to Gupta (1983), it seems that from Indus Valley age up to the age of the Mauryas elephant cult continued to exist beside many other animals. The Maurya kings exploited the popularity of animal worship for their own purpose. All the Asokan pillars can be seen surmounted by elephant and other animal capitals only.
Elephant has influenced the life of man from prehistoric times. Figures of elephants on ivory, bones, cave paintings and later sculptures found on banks of Nile prove that the ancient Egyptians were quite familiar with the beast. It was also known to the ancient Persians and Mesopotamians.
In Indian history the elephant is known as early as the Indus civilization. For among the animals on the seals elephant have a prominent place. Alexander the great found great difficulty when he arrived to India and faced elephant in the war.
The Macedonians and Romans later, too, employed the animal after knowing...