The Manikyala Stupa ( ur, ) is a Buddhist

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, circum ...

near the village of Tope Mankiala, in

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 ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

province. The stupa was built to commemorate the spot, where according to the Jataka tales, an incarnation of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a 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 born in L ...

called

Prince Sattva Prince Sattva was one of the previous incarnations of Gautama Buddha, according to a jataka story. Ascetic life The son of King Maharatha, he became an ascetic and gained a few disciples. Dilemma On his walk with his closest disciple, he comes ...

sacrificed himself to feed seven hungry tiger cubs.

Location

Mankiala stupa is located in the village of Tope Mankiala, near the place named Sagri and 2nd near the village of Sahib Dhamyal. It is 36 km southeast of

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

, and near the city of

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan ...

. It is visible from the nearby historic Rawat Fort.

Significance

The stupa was built to commemorate the spot, where according to the Jataka tales, the

Golden Light Sutra The Golden Light Sutra or ( sa, IAST: Suvarṇaprabhāsottamasūtrendrarājaḥ), also known by the Old Uygur title Altun Yaruq, is a Buddhist text of the Mahayana branch of Buddhism. In Sanskrit, the full title is ''The Sovereign King of Sut ...

and popular belief,

, an earlier incarnation of the

, sacrificed some of his body parts to feed seven hungry tiger cubs.

History

The stupa is said to have been built during the reign of Kanishka between 128 and 151 CE. An alternate theory suggest that the stupa is one of 84 such buildings, built during the reign of Mauryan emperor Ashoka to house the ashes of the Buddha. It is said that

Emperor Kanishka Kanishka I (Sanskrit: कनिष्क, '; Greco-Bactrian: Κανηϸκε ''Kanēške''; Kharosthi: 𐨐𐨞𐨁𐨮𐨿𐨐 '; Brahmi: '), or Kanishka, was an emperor of the Kushan dynasty, under whose reign (c. 127–150 CE) the empire re ...

used to visit this stupa often to pay respects to

during his campaigns. The stupa was discovered by Mountstuart Elphinstone, the first British emissary to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

, in 1808 - a detailed account of which is in his memoir 'Kingdom of Caubul' (1815). The stupa contains an engraving which indicates that the stupa was restored in 1891.

Relics

Mankiala stupa's relic deposits were discovered by Jean-Baptiste Ventura in 1830. The relics were then removed from the site during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

, and are now housed in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

Inscription

On one of the stones of the stupa there is an inscription which reads as:

Conservation

The stupa has not been restored since 1891, and remains largely abandoned. The stupa features a large defect in its mound, which was created by plunderers.

Access

Mankiala's stupa is located near the ''Mankiala'' Road in the village of Tope Mankiala. Towards the west, the ''Mankiala'' Road intersects the N-5 National Highway, which provides access to

and

. The site can also be accessed by the

Mankiala railway station Mankiala Railway Station (Urdu and pa, ) is located in Mankiala village, Rawalpindi district of Punjab province of the Pakistan. See also * List of railway stations in Pakistan * Pakistan Railways Pakistan Railways ( ur, ) is the nationa ...

in the nearby village of Mankiala, which is served by the Karachi–Peshawar Railway Line.

Gallery

Restored half view and section of the Manikyala Stupa.jpg, Restored half view and section of the Manikyala Stupa File:KITLV 87969 - Unknown - Manikyala stupa at Rawalpindi in British India - 1897.tif, The stupa in 1897 File:Capital detail - Buddhist stupa Mankiala, Rawalpindi.jpg, Buddhist stupa Mankiala File:Manikyala relics II.jpg, Manikyala relics File:Manikyala relics I.jpg, Manikyala relics File:Manikyala inscriptions.jpg, Manikyala Kharoshthi inscriptions

References

Stupas in Pakistan Buddhist sites in Pakistan Archaeological sites in Punjab, Pakistan {{Buddhism-stub