Bhamala Stupa () is a ruined Buddhist

stupa In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...

and

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

near Haripur, Pakistan, that dates to the 2nd century CE. It is located on the banks of the

Haro River The Haro () is a river in Pakistan that flows through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and parts of Punjab. It is a left tributary of the Indus. Its main valley is in Abbottabad District, in the Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, northern Pakist ...

, near

Khanpur Dam The Khanpur Dam is located on the Haro River in Khanpur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, about 50 km from Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. It forms Khanpur Lake, a reservoir that supplies drinking water to Islamabad and Rawalpindi and irrigation w ...

, and is a tourist destination. Bhamala stupa is part of the larger Bhamala Buddhist Complex. The site is known for its 1,700-year-old statue of the Buddha attaining enlightenment—considered to be the oldest such statue in the world.

Excavation

Dating to the 2nd–5th century CE, the site was first excavated by Sufian Malik and

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American statesman, jurist, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth chief justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remai ...

, in 1929, and work continued until the early 1930s; excavations resumed in 2017. The spot was nominated as a

UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

, which led to partial restoration, mainly of the stupa. As of June 2015, the site is under the oversight of the Department of Archaeology and Museums of the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is believed to be one of the best preserved sites in the Taxila valley. The stupa has a characteristic

cruciform A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...

plan, with flights of stairs in the four cardinal directions, which is one of the last steps of the evolution of the

Gandhara Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan people, Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar valley, Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending ...

stupa, the preceding steps being: # the

Dharmarajika Stupa The Dharmarajika Stupa (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ), also referred to as the Great Stupa of Taxila, is a Buddhist stupa near Taxila (modern), Taxila, Pakistan. It was built over the relics of the Buddha by Ashoka, the Emperor of Magadha, in ...

, with a near-Indian design of a semi-hemispheric stupa almost directly on the ground surface # the Loriyan Tangai stupa, with an elongated shape and many narrative reliefs # the near-pyramidal

Jaulian Jaulian (; meaning ''Seat of Saints'') is a ruined Buddhist monastery dating from the 2nd century CE, located in Taxila, in Pakistan. Jaulian, along with the nearby monastery at Mohra Muradu, form part of the Ruins of Taxila – a collecti ...

stupaAfter Le Huu Phuoc, Buddhist Architecture, Grafikol 2009, p.179 The cruciform design further evolved into the towering design of the second Kanishka stupa.

Specifications

According to current understanding, the shape of the main stupa is cruciform, and it is the largest surviving example of this shape in the Taxila and

regions. There are about nineteen small,

votive A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...

stupas in the courtyard surrounding the main one.

Gallery

Bhamala Site-Haripur.jpg, Smaller votive stupas Bhamala Stupa, Pakistan.jpg, Monastery cells Bhamala Stupa.jpg Bhamala stupa excavation.jpg, A Gandharan sculpture being excavated

References

{{Buddhism-stub Haripur District Archaeological sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Excavation

Specifications

Gallery

See also

References