Raw data
"The Buddhist sacred precint of Buutkara identified as the monestry of Ta-Lo, mentioned by Sung Yun (520 AD) visited and described by the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims of the 5th, 6th and 7th centuries AD lies at the eastern end of the ancient capital of Udyana Meng-Chich-Li, present Mingawara. The main Stupa stand in the middle, around it are crowded monuments Stupas, Viharas and columns, on the Northern side stands a great building and further to the north and west the inhabited area. The Great Stupa under event five reconstruction, each new one incasing the oldery from 3rd century B.C down to 10th century A.D." [plus several images of the monastery's ruin - tmc]
http://www.valleyswat.net/tourism/butkara.html
Fa-Hien (traveled to India from China 399 - 414 CE) spent time in the Swat Valley, which he called Woo-Chang. He observed 500 monasteries in the region, all Hinayana.
See Fa-Hien, A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms (trans.) James Legge, reprinted edition (New York: Paragon Book Reprint Corp., 1965), p. 28 -29.
For Sung Yun see Aurel Stein, On Alexander's Tracks to the Indus (New York, B. Bloom), p. 14.
Mingaora, Pakistan Page
Other names: Mingāora, Mingora
World:Pakistan:North-West Frontier Province
Latitude 34.7833 Longitude 72.3667
http://www.fallingrain.com/world/PK/3/Mingaora.html
Input by: tmc, Apr 14, 2009
Final data (and their sources)
Lat/Long coordinates' accuracy:
The monastery in question is assumed to be situated actually no farther than 2 km from the point defined by the coordinates below.
General location of the Butkara monastery, Pakistan.
lat=34.7833 long=72.3667
Mapping & images: Falling Rain Genomics (http://maps.fallingrain.com), 2009.
Google Map link:
Final data - explanatory notes
1. Monastery's name
- Butkara monastery - http://www.valleyswat.net/tourism/butkara.html
2. Monastery's modern country & province
- Pakistan:North-West Frontier Province
3. Monastery's alternative/historical names
- Buutkara monastery - http://www.valleyswat.net/tourism/butkara.html
- Ta-Lo - http://www.valleyswat.net/tourism/butkara.html
- Butkada monastery - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saidu_Sharif
4. Monastery's lat/long coordinates
- Approx. Lat 34.7833 Long 72.3667 http://www.fallingrain.com/world/PK/3/Mingaora.html
5. Other known nearby Buddhist monasteries
- The monastery is a part of the Swat Valley monastic cluster. The nearby monasteries are:
- Loebanar monastery
- Masura monastery
- Mingora monastery
- Panr monastery
6. Modern name of the known nearest city, town, or village
7. The settlement's alternative/historical names
- Mingāora http://www.fallingrain.com/world/PK/3/Mingaora.html
- Mingora http://www.fallingrain.com/world/PK/3/Mingaora.html
- Meng-Chich-Li - http://www.valleyswat.net/tourism/butkara.html
- Mingawara - http://www.valleyswat.net/tourism/butkara.html
8. The settlement's coordinates
- Exactly Lat 34.7833 Long 72.3667 http://www.fallingrain.com/world/PK/3/Mingaora.html
9. Monastery's major Buddhist tradition
- Theravada, in the time of Fa Hien.
- Theravada - Litvinskii et al. (1996:168)
10. Monastery's Buddhist sub-tradition
[missing data]
11. Date-early
12. Date-intermediate
13. Date-late
14. Details of contacts with other monasteries
- It is very likely that the Chinese pilgrim Sung Yun has stayed at Butkara in 519 CE. - http://www.valleyswat.net/tourism/butkara.html
15. Type of evidence regarding the monastery
- archaeological, pilgrimage accounts
16. Additional notes
- With 500 monasteries in the surrounding area the population of monks must have been in the thousands in the early fifth century when Fa-hien stayed there. Many of these were deserted when Xuanzang arrived around 630 Ce.
17. Corrections & addenda to this page were kindly provided by
[missing data]
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