Guldara Buddhist Stupa- Afghanistan

Address

Guldara Buddhist Stupa- Guldara, Afghanistan

Diety

Buddha

Introduction

The Guldara stupa is a Buddhist Stupa in the village of Guldara, Afghanistan. The Guldara stupa is about 22 km or 14 miles south of the city of Kabul. It is a large stupa, a solid mass made of rough stone and mud stupa in Afghanistan. A small stupa, a replica of the main one, is set on the side of the hill and, nearby, are the remnants of a fortified monastery. Facing the monastery “was a group of very large standing figures” of which the excavators only found two large feet which have since disappeared.

Puranic Significance

It appears to have been established in the late 2nd century CE, as it contained six gold coins of the Kushan king Vima Kadphises ruled c. 113-127 CE, the father of Kanishka I, and two from Huvishka, Kanishka’s son, who is thought to have ruled c. 150-190 CE. The stupa itself stands on a square base with two cylindrical domes topped with a dome above it. The base is decorated with false Corinthian columns flanking, on three sides, a central niche, and on the southwest side, a staircase leading to the top of the base. Statues once occupied the niches. The decoration of the first drum is similar to that of the base but the second drum is more elaborately embellished with a false arcade of alternating semicircular and trapezoidal arches. The motif between the arches represents the umbrella mast with which stupas are usually crowned. The walls present a fine example of Kushan workmanship known as “diaper masonry”, consisting of thin neatly placed layers of schist interspersed with large blocks of stone. The construction of the capitals is also especially interesting and most effective in its simplicity. The entire stupa was originally plastered and painted ochre-yellow with red designs.