thank you China for preserving a great part of India as your own.(1:16-1:18) the statue is in pure Indian dress. The north'India was completely destroyed and devoured of this culture during barbarian era from 8-18 century AD.
Buddhism did not "die out" but was violently exiled and adherents either converted, put to the sword or forced to take flight by militant and intolerant Islam.
It's wonderful to see these artifices so well preserved. I hope that someday someone will be done to restore the statues of the Buddha which were so wantonly destroyed in Afghanistan.
Although the Buddha was born in what was now Lumbini, Nepal and reached nirvana, preached, and died in India, Buddhism, especially the Mahayana form, did develop greatly in what is now Pakistan. China and the rest of East Asia would not be the same w/o Mahayana Buddhism. The sculptures shown here were also done in the Gandharan-style, which also developed in what is now Pakistan. It is a shame though that Buddhism died out in Pakistan and Central Asia.
