Butkara stupa

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Construction stages of the Butkara stupa

The Butkara Stupa (also Batkara Stupa ) and the surrounding monastery are among the oldest evidence of the presence of Buddhism in the Swat Valley in northern Pakistan .

location

Butkara is about 1000 m above sea level. d. M. in a side valley of the Swat valley about 1.5 km (driving distance) southeast of the city of Mingora . An old trade route ran near the monastery. The archaeological site of Butkara consists of three excavation sites (Butkara I to III); while Butkara I and III are Buddhist sites, Butkara II is a necropolis of the 1st millennium BC.

history

Excavations have shown that the stupa of Butkara I was built in the 3rd or 2nd century BC and was built over several times in the following period. It is believed that monastic life continued here until the arrival of Islam in the 10th century. The British discovered the sparse remains of the stupa in the 19th century, but the revealing excavations of the entire monastery complex in 1956 were in the hands of a Turin excavation team under the direction of Domenico Faccenna. In the Museo d'Arte Orientale in Turin numerous finds from Butkara are also kept.

Adoring figure with cap ( Skythe ?)

Architecture and sculpture

The stupa, which is largely ruined today, developed from a rather simple beginnings to an ever-increasing structure with a square base zone ( medhi ) and a high, multi-part umbrella attachment ( chhatra ). In the monastery complex, which was probably forcibly destroyed in Islamic times, there were several votive stupas, Buddha figures and free-standing honor umbrellas. The sculptures found clearly show the influence of the Indo-Greek Gandhara style .

  • Buddha head with ushnisha

  • feminine figure

  • male figure in garlands

  • 3 royal persons

  • Indo-Corinthian capital

literature

  • Domenico Faccenna, Piero Spagnesi: Buddhist Architecture in the Swat Valley, Pakistan. Stupas, Viharas, a Dwelling Unit. Sang-e-Meel Publications 2014, ISBN 978-9693526837
  • Kurt A. Behrendt: The Buddhist Architecture of Gandhāra. (Handbook of Oriental Studies, Section Two: India, Vol. 17) Brill, Leiden / Boston 2004

Web links

Commons : Butkara  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Commons : Butkara in the Museo d'Arte Orientale (Turin)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 34 ° 46 ′ 50 ″  N , 72 ° 22 ′ 0 ″  E