Afghanistan's
rich cultural heritage is the result of Greek, Persian, Central Asian,
Islamic, Mongolian, Chinese, Indian, Russian and British influences on the
country. Due to continuous wars and political instability heritage of
Afghanistan also suffered. Here is concise information on heritage of
Afghanistan.
Gandhara Art
Gandhara art is the ancient form of art in Afghanistan. Its an style of
Buddhism visual art. The art developed basically in todays northwestern
Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan between the 1st century BC and the 7th
century AD. The art flourished mainly during the Kushan dynasty. The Kushans
sponsored Buddhism together with other Iranian and Hindu faiths, and
probably contributed to the flourishing of Gandhara art. The Gandharan
craftsmen depicted events of Buddha's life into set scenes with the help of
sculpture. Gandhara art combines Hellenistic or Graeco-Roman artistic
techniques and modelling with Indian Buddhist iconography to create an
Indian hybrid.
Monuments
Great mosques of Herat and Mazar-e Sharif; the minaret of a mosque at Jam,
Great Arch of Qal'eh-ye Bost; the Chel Zina, the Great Buddha of Bamian, the
"Towers of Victory" in Ghazni, and the Bala Hissar fort in Kabul
are some of the architectural gems of Afghanistan. From very ancient time
Afghanistan is considered the land of rich architecture and art. Afghanistan
hosts some of the most impressive Buddhist monuments of western Asia. Greek
and Buddhist stupas, monasteries, arches, monuments, intricate Islamic
minarets adorn the land of Afghanistan.
Due to long turbulent history of Afghanistan, many of the monuments and
museums are destroyed but still the remains will tell you about the rich
architecture of Afghanistan. Kabul museum is one of them. UNESCO has honored
the Minaret of Jam and the Valley of Bamiyan by adding them to the World
Heritage Sites.
Museums
Artefacts in museums of Afghanistan are the witnesses of long history of
Afghanistan. Afghanistan has seen various phases of history. Thousands of
year ago, the inhabitants of Afghanistan were Hindu. Then they accepted the
teachings of Buddha and became Buddhists. Then came the period of great
artistic evolution, culmination of which was Gandhara Art. 7th century saw
the commencing of Islamic era. The way of life altered a lot under Islamic
influence. All these phases of history get reflected in Afghanistan museums.
Music, Dance and Cinema
Folk songs, ballads and regional dances are the soul of Afghan's musical
life. Kabul has long been regional, cultural, capital and musical hub of the
country. Herat has also been closely related to Iranian music. Lyrics of
Afghan music are chiefly in Persian and Pashto languages. Traditional music
includes qawwalis, ghazals (songs) as well as various regional traditional
music varies from region to region. Musical instruments popular in
Afghanistan are Tanboor, Sarod, Shahnai, Sitar and Tabla. The Attan dance
derived from Pashtun areas is the national dance of Afghanistan.
