Written by: Sirat Gohar Daudpoto
Posted on: October 07, 2024 | 
| 中文
Image of Buddha seated in meditation carved in rock boulder at Shakhurai or Jahanabad (Photo by the author)
The historical structural sites in Pakistan are prominent in the country’s cultural legacy, although the objects, symbols and folklores cover the large portion of the cultural heritage of Pakistan, as it appears due to their conspicuity in the landscape, as well as due to its historical importance. Associated with the people belonging to different cultures and civilizations, these monuments of the past are famous, not merely at the local level but all across the world. The earliest amongst them, the prehistoric cave structures aside, are the remains of a 9000 years old village at Mehargarh in the Bolan valley in Balochistan Province of Pakistan. Whereas, the most recent are the contemporary structures. And in-between, in the list of historical structural places, the urban centers of the Indus Civilization, the early historical and medieval cities, religious sanctuaries and monuments and the Buddhist sites. The country’s six monumental sites, namely Mohenjodaro, Taxila, Rohtas Fort, Makli Hills Graveyard, Lahore Fort and Takht-i-Bahi - Sahr-i-Bahlol, have been given the status of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO, owing to their cultural importance and architectural features.
Takht-i-Bahi, a Buddhist monastery in Mardan
Particularly, among the prominent historical monuments of Pakistan, generally speaking, the Buddhist sites are the popular ones, especially the stupas and monasteries, evident from the list of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites in Pakistan. Almost half of them belong to Buddhism, such as the ancient Buddhist sanctuaries in the Taxila valley in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, the stupa at the archaeological site of Mohenjodaro in the Sindh province and Takht-i-Bahi – Sahr-i-Bahlol in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Bhamala Buddhist Stupa in the Taxila valley. (Photo by the author)
The stupas and monasteries dominate Pakistan’s Buddhist heritage, a constituent part of which also includes paintings, sculptures, temples, symbols and texts. The Buddhist stupas in the Sindh province, and the stupas and monasteries in ancient Gandhara, need special mention as they are the only monumental sites of Buddhism extant in the country. Interestingly, the images of the Buddhist structures (stupa and monastery) are also carved in stones in Sindh and northern Pakistan side by side the figures of Buddha and Bodhisattvas and Buddhist religious symbols and epigraphs. As the structures itself, the rock art representations are also monumental in appearance in most cases (e.g. refer to Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro’s work on the Buddhist rock art in Sindh and for Gilgit Baltistan see reports of Pak-German archaeological expeditions). At this point it cannot be said with certainty that the Buddhist structures found in the rock art of Pakistan are the true representations of actual buildings of the surrounding areas and/or of that time. Understanding this problem needs further research and extensive archaeological survey guided by multi-disciplinary approach.
Inside Takht-i-Bahi monastery
Archaeologically speaking, Buddhist architecture (religious) of Pakistan is an ancient phenomenon, given the fact that all the Buddhist structural sites have been made visible as a result of the antiquarian endeavors and archaeological explorations. And since the time of its early discoveries, the antiquarians and both native and foreign scholars and archaeologists have been involved in the study of the history, art and architecture of the Buddhist monuments. Despite the research and exploration in almost past two centuries, the complete sketch of the Buddhist architecture cannot be drawn, although the past research has greatly contributed and enhanced our overall understanding about the Buddhist architecture of Pakistan. Two reasons, at least, concerning this are: (1) almost all the earlier discovered sites are not excavated as per scientific principles and (2) lack of excavations of sites. It is here to be pointed out that reconstructing the history of the Buddhist architecture of Pakistan would not be possible without further and/or more excavations of sites. To have a better or clear picture of the Buddhist architecture there is a dire need to conduct archaeological excavations, only the scientifically documented sites can potentially fill this gap.
Bhallar Stupa in the Taxila valley. (Photo by the author)
The Buddhist monuments are significant part of the cultural heritage of Pakistan. They give the sense of the historic heritage, as well as the diverse religious background of the country and the life of humans in antiquity in this part of the world.
Buddha from the Kahu-jo-daro stupa, circa 410 CE.
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