Zurmala stupa is a remnant of the largest 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 ...

located in

Termez Termez ( ) is the capital of Surxondaryo Region in southern Uzbekistan. Administratively, it is a district-level city. Its population is 182,800 (2021). It is notable as the site of Alexander the Great's city Alexandria on the Oxus, as a center ...

district in Uzbekistan. It is considered to be the oldest construction still standing in Uzbekistan. It was built in the first or second century CE. The stupa is 13.5m tall and has a diameter of about 14 m. It is made up of square bricks. Each of the bricks has a stamp which is similar to one used in

Bactria Bactria (; Bactrian language, Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization in Central Asia based in the area south of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya) and north of the mountains of the Hindu Kush, an area ...

during the

Kushan Empire The Kushan Empire (– CE) was a Syncretism, syncretic empire formed by the Yuezhi in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. It spread to encompass much of what is now Afghanistan, Eastern Iran, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbe ...

in the 3rd century AD. The fragment of kilned bricks can also be found around the stupa. It is believed that the exterior facade of the stupa was painted a bright red colour. Currently, the stupa has huge cracks around it.

History

The early information about the stupa can be found in the diaries Xuan Jian, a Chinese buddhist priest who visited Termez in 629-630. According to him, there were more than 10 monasteries in Termez and more than 1000 monks. He mentioned that there were many stupas in the area. The study by A.S. Strelkov in 1926–1928 in the expedition by the Oriental Museum of Moscow and the

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and holds the large ...

of St. Petersburg, noted the similarity with the description of Xuan Jian. Later, M.E. Masson organized an expedition to understand the general features of these monuments. Archaeologist Alexander Strelkov, who investigated the tower in 1927, assumed that it was a

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 medit ...

. However, this statement was confirmed only half a century later during excavations led by

Galina Pugachenkova Galina Anatolyevna Pugachenkova (; 7 February 1915 – 18 February 2007) was a Soviet archaeologist and art historian, regarded as a founder of Uzbek archaeology and central to the progression of archaeology and art history under the Soviet reg ...

. As a result of archaeological research of the monument, an assumption was made that its height is 13 meters, with a diameter of 14.5 meters. The monument is rectangular in shape (22 x 16 meters) and built of raw brick in the form of a cylindrical tower topped by a dome with bas-relief sculptures. During excavations many planks up to 3 meters long were found. Presumably the stupa was faced with red burnt bricks and stone blocks with scenes from

Buddhist mythology The Buddhist traditions have created and maintained a vast body of mythological literature. The central myth of Buddhism revolves around the purported events of the life of the Buddha. This is told in relatively realistic terms in the earlie ...

References

Buddhist sites in Uzbekistan Stupas {{Uzbekistan-struct-stub