Hadda

Hadda 

an ancient city in Afghanistan, located 8 km from Jalalabad. According to legend, the skull ot Buddha was kept in one of the city’s temples; this may possibly be the origin of the city’s name: hadda in Sanskrit literally means “bone.”

Located in Hadda are the ruins of a huge architectural complex, consisting of Buddhist monasteries dating from the first to fourth centuries, with monks’ cells arranged around an inner court, as well as of sanctuaries, numerous stupas, sometimes many-tiered, and other buildings with sculptures in low or high relief, primarily of gypsum, but sometimes of stone as well. The sculptures are done in the style of the Nangarhar school (from the ancient name of Jalalabad), combining local, Bactrian, and Hellenized Indian elements. The first excavations at Hadda were conducted in 1923.

REFERENCES

Pugachenkova, G. A. Iskusstvo Afganistana, Moscow, 1963.
Auboyer, J. L’Afghanistan et son art. Paris, [1968].

G. A. PUGACHENKOVA