Ranigat (

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

: راني ګټ) is a collection of 2nd-century CE

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

ruins spread over an area of that dates from 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 ...

civilization. Ranigat is located in the

Buner Buner District (, ) is a district in the Malakand Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Before receiving the status of a district in 1991, it was a tehsil within Swat District. Buner's elevation starts at 1200 ft in the S ...

Valley of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

province. According to archeologists, Ranigat remained the center of Buddhist art and culture for centuries. Ranigat has been a celebrated part of folklore, with songs and stories written about it. Rani Gatt (lit. ''the queen of stones'' in

) is a 2500-year-old

archaeological site belonging to the Gandahara civilization located in the

Buner District Buner District (, ) is a district in the Malakand Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Before receiving the status of a district in 1991, it was a tehsil within Swat District. Buner's elevation starts at 1200 ft in the S ...

, Pakistan. Ranigat is a good example of the Buddhist past of the area. The site is located on top of a hill, accessible by climbing the stairs constructed by the

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese. The main attractions include the

Stupas 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 ...

, a big rock erected by the ancient people at some distance that they probably used to worship. The city or town was beautifully designed, and stones from the local mountains have been extensively used. Ranigat is easily accessible through the M1 and N35. It is about away from

Swabi Swabi (; ) is a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is located near the bank of the Indus River. It is the 73rd largest city of Pakistan and eighth largest in the province in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Swabi is also a major city in ...

and from

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

and

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

Etymology

The word Ranigat is the combination of the words 'rani' and 'gat', from two different languages. 'Rani' is a

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

word that means 'queen', while 'gat' is a

word that means a 'huge rock', hence the archaeological site of Ranigat, meaning "Queen's Rock". The referenced rock is on top of a mountain that is visible from far away. According to the archeologists, Ranigat, a developed state, remained the center of Buddhist art and culture for centuries. Ranigat, belonging to the period of the first-sixth century AD and protected under the Antiquities Act 1975, has been a celebrated part of folklore, whose songs and stories still echo from the coffee-hued ruins in Totalai in the Buner District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The site of Ranigat is situated on top of a ridge, where the remains of the region's largest Buddhist monastic complex reside. Structures on the site include stupas, monasteries, shrines, drainage networks, and other buildings. Ranigat is a 2500-year-old Buddhist archaeological site belonging to the

Gandhara civilization Gandhara () was an ancient Indo-Aryan civilization in present-day northwest Pakistan and northeast Afghanistan. The core of the region of Gandhara was the Peshawar (Pushkalawati) and Swat valleys extending as far east as the Pothohar Platea ...

and has good evidence of the Buddhist past of the area.

Access

The site is located in Nogram village in District Buner and can be reached by a small road from Nogram, where ample parking space for about 15 cars is available. From parking, there are 500 stairs to the site constructed by the Japanese government. The main attractions include the Stupas, monasteries, drainage systems, and a big rock erected by the ancient people at some distance that they probably used to worship. The city was beautifully designed, and stones from the local mountains have been extensively used. Ranigat is easily accessible through the M1 (motorway) or N35. It is about away from

and from

.Archaeological Site of Ranigat - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
/ref> It is a big stone atop the local hill and partitions the two districts,

and

, in the Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa province. The height of the Rani Gatt is roughly , and its width is almost , giving it the look of a small minaret. The local people visit this place and enjoy the wonderful view of the small, beautiful, and green villages of the district.

Conservation

Under excavation by a joint UNESCO-Japanese team since the 1980s, the site has had issues related to vandalism.Ranigat: 2nd to 6th Century AD
/ref> The site is now under surveillance and is surrounded by a barbed-wire fence. This site was added to the UNESCO

World Heritage 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 ...

Tentative List on January 30, 2004, in the Cultural category.

Notes

References

Archaeological Site of Ranigat - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
Retrieved 2009-03-03.
Ranigat: 2nd to 6th Century AD
Retrieved 2009-03-03.

External links

UNESCO Report on Ranigat

RaniGat on Facebook
{{Authority control Culture of Pakistan Ancient Central Asia Archaeological sites in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Buner District