Showing 1-6 of 6 results
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Butkara No 1
Butkara No 1 is also called Butkara, or the local name of Gulkada ( gool -ka-da). This site has yielded one of Swat's richest harvests of artefacts, all now in museums. The enormous central stupa was probably begun by Ashoka in the 3rd century BC; by the 10th century it had been rebuilt five times, each new version enclosing the last.
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Butkara No 3
Further along the Jambil Valley is Butkara No 3, a partly reconstructed courtyard of enclosed stupas. To get here, continue 500m past the turn-off to Butkara No 1 until you reach a culvert. Then climb five minutes up a gully to the right. It can be difficult to find, but there's a village on the way and someone from there can probably show you.
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Jambil Valley Archaeological Sites
At Panr (pronounced 'pahn') on the other (east) side of Jambil Khwar are a stupa and monastery from the 1st to 5th centuries AD. You'll find a path and bridge about 1.5km beyond Butkara No 3, or you can head 3km out along Haji Baba Rd from Mingora Bazaar. Further out at Loebanr, on the west side, are an Aryan graveyard from the 2nd to 1st millennia BC and a 3rd to 4th century AD stupa.
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Saidu Baba
This is the honorific nickname of the colourful shrine to the Akhund of Swat, behind the Saidu Sharif police station and near the old Wali's residence.
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Saidu Stupa
The remains of the impressive Saidu Stupa and monastery are just up a track from the paved road behind Central Hospital.
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Swat Museum
Partly funded by the Japanese, the excellent Swat Museum in Saidu Sharif should be on anyone's itinerary if they have an interest in Buddhist Swat. Gandharan-style statuettes and friezes depict the lives of the Buddha along with seals, tiny reliquaries and other treasures, mostly from Butkara No 1 and Udegram. In other rooms are pre-Buddhist artefacts, and an ethnographic gallery with traditional carved Swati furniture, jewellery and some wonderful embroideries.
Showing 1-6 of 6 results
