Tirtha Atlas

The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.

3031 sites15 countries4 traditions30 centuries
Ancient · Buddhist · Pakistan

Bhamala Stupa

Haripur District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa · 33.8328°, 72.9758°

Gautama BuddhaUndeterminedCruciform Gandharan stupa
Sacred since
100 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
2nd-5th c. CE
Undetermined

History & significance

One of the best preserved Buddhist sites in the Taxila valley, whose main stupa is the largest surviving cruciform example in the Taxila and Gandhara region, with stairways on all four sides and about nineteen smaller votive stupas around it. Excavations begun by John Marshall in 1929 and resumed in 2017 uncovered a Buddha figure roughly 1,700 years old, described as the oldest known image of the Buddha at the moment of enlightenment.

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Sources

coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-28 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Undetermined