Le vie dello Swat¹

Abstract

The physical relationship between space and objects is certainly one of the key aspects for a correct understanding of historical, cultural and artistic phenomena. This is particularly true with the Buddhist rock sculptures that flourished in Swat (ancient Uḍḍiyāna, North-West Pakistan) in the 7^th–8^th century AD. They not only revive pilgrimage routes leading to the ancient Buddhist sacred areas –many of which were already falling into decay if not abandoned – but are closely bound up with the sacred space. In fact, the primary concern of the artists seems to have been to fit the works into a suitable natural theatre in such a way as to reflect the idea that the sacred place was entirely a work of nature. Accordingly, the figures carved into the rock had to appear as if they spontaneously emerged from it.

This artistic project may have drawn fresh vitality from the Indian concept of the swayaṃbhū (uncreated, self-existent) image, but certainly it is primarily indebted to the ancient religious world – characterised by an animistic and geomantic nature – which preceded Buddhism and Islam and still survives in the regions south of the Hindukush under the guise of popular beliefs.

¹ The title (in English “The roads of Swat”) is in homage to Giuseppe Tucci and to his book La via dello Swat, Roma 1963, a small literary masterpiece that, by combining scholarly accuracy and passionate communicativeness, made great scientific achievements available to a wide audience.