Kalawan (originally meaning "The caves") is the name of an archaeological site in the area of Taxila in Pakistan, where it is one of the largest Buddhist establishment. It is located about 2 km from the

Dharmarajika The Dharmarajika Stupa ( ur, ), also referred to as the Great Stupa of Taxila, is a Buddhist stupa near Taxila, Pakistan. It was built over the relics of the Buddha by Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE. The stupa, along with the large monastic c ...

stupa. Kalawan has a vihara monastery, which is the largest in northern India. An inscription, recording the enshrinement of relics as a gift to the Sarvastivadin School, was found in a

chaitya A chaitya, chaitya hall, chaitya-griha, (Sanskrit:''Caitya''; Pāli: ''Cetiya'') refers to a shrine, sanctuary, temple or prayer hall in Indian religions. The term is most common in Buddhism, where it refers to a space with a stupa and a rounded ...

hall mentioning the date of "the 134th year of

Azes Azes I (Greek: , epigraphically ; Kharosthi: , ) was an Indo-Scythian ruler who ruled around c. 48/47 BCE – 25 BCE with a dynastic empire based in the Punjab and Indus Valley, completed the domination of the Scythians in the northwestern In ...

," which corresponds to 77 CE. Small stupas were found inside the monasteries. The Kalawan monastery, together with the

display an original kind of architectural arrangement in which an image shrine is built opposite the entrance. It is thought that this architectural pattern was initiated in the northwest and then became the prototype for the later development of monasteries with shrines in

Devnimori Devnimori, or Devni Mori, is a Buddhist archaeological site in northern Gujarat, about from the city of Shamlaji, in the Aravalli District of northern Gujarat, India. The site is variously dated to the 3rd century or 4th century CE, or circa 4 ...

, Ajanta,

Aurangabad Aurangabad ( is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a hilly upland terrain in the Deccan Traps, Aurangabad is the ...

, Ellora, Nalanda, Ratnagiri and others.

References

{{Archaeological sites in Taxila , state=expanded Stupas in Pakistan Buddhist monasteries in Pakistan Archaeological sites in Punjab, Pakistan Buddhist sites in Pakistan 1st-century Buddhism 1st-century religious buildings and structures