Pakistan has made a remarkable discovery: The oldest Buddhist temple of the coun

Pakistan has made a remarkable discovery: The oldest Buddhist temple of the country.

What you’re gazing at is the recently excavated Buddhist apsidal temple of Bazira. Nearly 2300 years old.

Excavated in the ancient city of Bazira in Swat (KPK), it represents the grandeur of Pakistan’s Gandharan heritage.

Bazira was one of the 3 principal cities of Swat, known back then by its Sanskrit name Suwastu, which locked horns with the armies of Alexander the Great. Although greatly inferior in war tactics and isolated from other tribes and regions, the valour of these warriors is ingrained for many millennia in Ancient Greek texts.

Now nearly 2300 years later a group of Italian archaeologists in collaboration with Archaeological department of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa has been excavating the ancient city. Much antiquity has come to light and amongst many things we’ve been gifted the oldest Buddhist temple of Pakistan. The temple from the early centuries of the spread of Buddhism was most probably from the Mauryan period when Buddhism was first preaches in the region and spread far and wide in Gandhara and other parts of South Asia.

The temple shall be a remarkable addition to the already colossal collection of Gandharan antiquities of Pakistan’s history and Heritage.
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