Kargah Buddha ( ur, کارگاہ بدھ; scl, Yʂhani یݜنی) is an

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

site located about outside of

Gilgit Gilgit (; Shina: ; ur, ) is the capital city of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. The city is located in a broad valley near the confluence of the Gilgit River and the Hunza River. It is a major tourist destination in Pakistan, serving as a h ...

, Gilgit−Baltistan,

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. It is a carved image of a large standing

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...

, some high, in the cliff-face in Kargah Nala. The carving, which is in a style also found in

Baltistan Baltistan ( ur, ; bft, སྦལ་ཏི་སྟཱན, script=Tibt), also known as Baltiyul or Little Tibet ( bft, སྦལ་ཏི་ཡུལ་།, script=Tibt), is a mountainous region in the Pakistani-administered territory of Gilg ...

, is estimated to date back to the 7th century. The image is surrounded by the holes for a wooden house structure, which would have sheltered it from inclement weather.

Location and history

Kargah Buddha is located at the junction of two

streams A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

, the Kargah and Shukogah, about west of the city of

. Nearby locales include Barmas, Napur, and the

Rakaposhi Rakaposhi ( ur, ) is a mountain in the Karakoram mountain range of the Gilgit-Baltistan territory of Pakistan. Geography Rakaposhi is a mountain in the Karakoram mountain range in the Gilgit-Baltistan territory of Pakistan, about north of the ...

mountain. From the 3rd century to the 11th century, Gilgit was a prominent centre of early

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

. During this time period, multiple powers vied for control of the region, including the

Tibetan Empire The Tibetan Empire (, ; ) was an empire centered on the Tibetan Plateau, formed as a result of imperial expansion under the Yarlung dynasty heralded by its 33rd king, Songtsen Gampo, in the 7th century. The empire further expanded under the 38 ...

, the Kashmiri Karkota Dynasty, and the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...

and

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

caliphates. Nearby, about upstream, a Buddhist monastery and three

stupa A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In Buddhism, circumamb ...

s containing

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

manuscripts were excavated in 1931. By the 11th century, Gilgit had grown into the autonomous kingdom of

Dardistan The Dardic languages (also Dardu or Pisaca) or Hindu-Kush Indo-Aryan languages, are a group of several Indo-Aryan languages spoken in northern Pakistan, northwestern India and parts of northeastern Afghanistan. The term "Dardic" is stated to b ...

before largely adopting

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

Carving excavation and legends

It is estimated that the

carving Carving is the act of using tools to shape something from a material by scraping away portions of that material. The technique can be applied to any material that is solid enough to hold a form even when pieces have been removed from it, and ...

was completed in the 7th century. It was discovered in 1938–39, following the innovation of supposed

Gilgit manuscripts Gilgit (; Shina: ; ur, ) is the capital city of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. The city is located in a broad valley near the confluence of the Gilgit River and the Hunza River. It is a major tourist destination in Pakistan, serving as a ...

in 1931. According to local legend, the figure is actually a man-eating ''giantess'' or ''witch'' (''yakhshini'' or ''ya-chaani'' or ''yacheni'') who terrorized the local residents and was ultimately pinned to the cliff by a pir (holy man) as punishment.

References

7th-century works 1938 archaeological discoveries Archaeological sites in Gilgit-Baltistan Gautama Buddha in art History of Gilgit-Baltistan Monuments and memorials in Gilgit-Baltistan Buildings and structures in Gilgit-Baltistan Rock reliefs {{GilgitBaltistan-hist-stub