Jamal Garhi

Stupa drum panel showing the conception of the Buddha: Queen Maya dreams of a white elephant entering her right side, 100-300 AD, carved schist, British Museum

View of Jamal Garhi from Jamal Garhi Buddhist Ruins

Jamal Garhai is a small town located 13 kilometers from Mardan at Katlang-Mardan road in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northern Pakistan. Jamal Garhi was a Buddhist monastery from the first until the fifth century AD at a time when Buddhism flourished in this part of the Indian subcontinent.There is a beautiful monastery and main stupa,surrounded by chapels closely packed together.The site is called ‘The Jamal Garhi Kandarat or Kafiro Kote’ by the locals.

Discovery

The ruins of Jamal Garhi were first discovered by the British explorer and archaeologist Sir Alexander Cunningham in 1848. The stupa at the site was opened by Colonel Lumsden but little of value was found at the time. In 1871, the site was excavated by Lieutenant Cromten who unearthed a large number of Buddhist sculptures which are now part of the collections of the British Museum and the Indian Museum in Calcutta. At the monastery a Kharoshti inscription was also discovered which is now kept in Peshawar Museum.

See also

• Seated Buddha from Gandhara, which was also found at the site.
• Jamal Garhi Buddhist Remains