There were hundreds of pieces, friezes of figures in relief, fragments of statues and slabs crowded with figures that had encrusted the brick walls of the Buddhist
stupas and viharas of the North Country and now, dug up and labelled, made the pride of the Museum.
While I agree that connecting the notion of the symbolic to notions of ritual and play may indeed be useful, I shall argue that (pace Duran) the more usual senses of symbol and icon can quite plausibly be used of the Buddhist
stupa.
The land illegally transferred is located adjacent to the encroached path to ancient Buddhist
Stupa and monastery Dharmarajika which dates back to 3rd century B.C., and listed as a UNESCO's World Heritage and accredited for being one of the earliest Buddhist monuments and one of the 8 largest Buddhist
stupas in South Asia.
The survey report submitted by the commissioner Rawalpindi, copy available with Dawn, to Lahore High Court (LHC) stated that according to the official land record the private land developer had not only encroached upon the land of the
stupa, which was listed as a Unesco World Heritage, but also installed a gate blocking its path.
The
stupa and monastery was conserved with the financial support of the American Ambassador's Fund in 2012 (Ashraf Khan and Mahmood-ul-Hasan 2008: 302-07).
A report submitted by Commissioner Rawalpindi reveals that according to official land record, Mozzam had encroached upon the land of the Dharmarajika
Stupa. The Commissioner Rawalpindi in his report of June 24 revealed, 'The private person has encroached the land owned by the federal government and has obstructed free access of the public to the
stupa by installing gate.'
'Sirkap was founded by the Bactarian King Demetrius, who conquered the region in the 180s BCE, and was the second city of Taxila and this city was expanded by Gondophares who also built the famous double-headed eagle
Stupa and the Temple of the Sun,' said Abdul Nasir Khan, the curator of Taxila Museum.
The next
stupa engraving is in the Village of Charun, the second major village in Upper Chitral as one enters from Lower Chitral.
While the site of Nagarahara has not been excavated as it is covered with modern settlements, coin finds from the Hadda
stupa deposits suggest that the
stupa cult in this region began at least from the early 2nd century AD and continued in practice to at least the late 5th century AD.
Dato Dr Sumana Siri paid special homage at the shrine of Dharmarajika
Stupa, Taxila, alongwith the Ambassador of Sri Lanka.
"How must this
stupa have appeared in its heyday?" Becker asks herself, remembering the sadness of her first encounter at the denuded site.
The students had taken photos standing on the Kiralagala
Stupa and then posted it on Facebook.