Tepe Sardar monastery, (in) Ghazni, Velayat-e Ghazni, AF

Raw data

"The Buddhist site at Ghazni is known as Tapar Sardar and consists of a stupa on a hilltop, surrounded by a row of smaller stupas.[9] Nearby, an 18 metre long Parinirvana (reclining) Buddha was excavated in the late sixties and early seventies, it is believed to have been built in the 8th Century AD as part of a monastery complex. [see: A note on the Parinirvana Buddha at Tapar Sardar M. Taddei (1974) South Asian archaeology 1973: papers from the second International Conference of the Association for the Promotion of South Asian Archaeology in Western Europe, Brill Archive, ISBN 90-04-04189-3]
http://www.answers.com/topic/ghazni

Another important site is that of Tepe Sardar (better known as Tepe-yi Nagara. Tepe of the kettledrum) near Ghazni, which was occupied until perhaps the eighth century AD. From this period dates a huge statue of the Parinirvana Buddha (Buddha lying down at the end of his cycle of rebirths ) of unbaked clay.
In 644 AD, the Chinese pilgrim Hsüan-tsang visited Jaguda, Ghazni, while travelling from the country of Varnu, crossing the land of O-po-kien (Afghans i.e. Pashtuns)."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghazni_Province

"205. Tepe Sardar
See also Ghazni.
Ghazni Province. Four kilometers southeast of Ghazni.
Dates:  Sassanian period, 3rd-7th century AD;
           Turki Shahi, 7th-9th c. (architectural, ceramic, stylistic).
A very large stupa-monastery complex, consisting of a main stupa (the largest in Afghanistan) surrounded by many votive stupas and chapels, richly decorated in high clay relief. The remains in the sanctuary include fragments of several colossal Buddha statues, including a monumental seated Buddha and a 15 meters long reclining Buddha, all made from unbaked clay. There is also a Hindu shrine in the complex, where a statue of Durga Mahishasuramardini was found. Other finds include frescos, manuscripts, and many more sculptures.
Lat 33.533333 Long 68.450000 "
- DoDLRMP and CEMML (2010:#205 Tepe Sardar)
Input by: tmciolek, Jul 7, 2010

Tepe Sardar monastery, Ghazni
The finds of the Italian mission at the site of Tepe Sardar, near ghazni, were kept in situ after excavation in the hope of constructing a site-museum later. They were taken to the Kabul Museum for safekeeping in 1990 and were stored in the basement until 2000. They were found intact in their boxes in 2005 and are now in a safe location (photographs not available).
Bibliography: - no data
Src: Tissot (2006)
Input by: tmciolek, Aug 01, 2014

Final data (and their sources)

Last updated: 01 Aug 2014

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.

Location of Tepe Sardar monastery, AF.

General location of the Tepe Sardar monastery, AF.
Lat 33.533333 Long 68.450000
Mapping & images: Falling Rain Genomics (http://www.fallingrain.com), 2010.


Google Map link:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=33.533333+68.450000+(Approx.%20loc.%20of%20the%20Tepe%20Sardar%20monastery,%20AF)&ll=33.533333,68.450000&spn=05.0,05.0&t=k&hl=en


Final data - explanatory notes

1. Monastery's name


2. Monastery's modern country & province

  • Afghanistan:Velayat-e Ghazni

3. Monastery's alternative/historical names


4. Monastery's lat/long coordinates

  • Approx., Lat 33.533333 Long 68.450000 - DoDLRMP and CEMML (2010:#205 Tepe Sardar)

5. Other known nearby Buddhist monasteries

final data ….


6. Modern name of the known nearest city, town, or village


7. The settlement's alternative/historical names


8. The settlement's coordinates


9. Monastery's major Buddhist tradition

  • [missing data]

10. Monastery's Buddhist sub-tradition

  • [missing data]

11. Date-early

  • Sassanian period, 3rd-7th century AD - DoDLRMP and CEMML (2010:#205 Tepe Sardar)

MBM chrono-tag 0233-66p 0267-99p 0300-32p 0333-66p 0367-99p 0400-32p 0433-66p 0467-99p 0500-32p 0533-66p 0567-99p 0600-32p 0633-66p - tmciolek 20 Jul 2014 
0233-66p 0267-99p 0300-32p 0333-66p 0367-99p 0400-32p 0433-66p 0467-99p 0500-32p 0533-66p 0567-99p 0600-32p 0633-66p 0667-99p 0700-32p 0733-66p 0767-99p 0800-32p 0833-66p dated-el


12. Date-intermediate


13. Date-late

 * Turki Shahi, 7th-9th c. - DoDLRMP and CEMML (2010:#205 Tepe Sardar)


14. Details of contacts with other monasteries

  • [missing data]

15. Type of evidence regarding the monastery

  • archaeological, architectural, ceramic, stylistic

16. Additional notes

  • [missing data] (incl. details of the size of the monastic population)….

17. Corrections & addenda to this page were kindly provided by

  • [missing data]

end of page

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License