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{{Short description|Ancient Buddhist stupa and archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name = Dharmarajika Stupa <br>
{{nq|دھرم راجک اسٹوپا}}
| native_name =
| alternate_name =
| image = Dharmarajika stupa & Monastery Taxila.jpg
| alt =
| caption = The Dharmarajika Stupa, [[Taxila (modern)|Taxila]]
| map_type = Pakistan#Gandhara
| map_alt =
| map_size =
| relief = yes
| map_dot_label = Dharmarajika Stupa
| coordinates = {{coord|33.73|72.78|display=inline,title}}
| location = [[Taxila Cantonment]], [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]]
| region =
| type = Monastery
| part_of = Taxila Ruins
| length =
| width =
| area =
| height =
| material =
| built = 3rd century [[BCE]]
| abandoned =
| epochs = 
| dependency_of =
| occupants =
| event =
| excavations =
| archaeologists = [[John Marshall (archaeologist)|Sir John Marshall]]
| condition =
| ownership =
| management =
| public_access =
| website = 
| notes =
| designation1 = WHS
| designation1_offname = '''Taxila'''
| designation1_type =
| designation1_criteria = iii, iv
| designation1_date = 1980
| delisted1_date =
| designation1_number =139
| designation1_free1name =
| designation1_free1value =
}}

The '''Dharmarajika Stupa''' ({{lang-ur|{{nq|دھرم راجک اسٹوپا}}}}), also referred to as the '''Great Stupa of Taxila''', is a [[Buddhist]] [[stupa]] near [[Taxila (modern)|Taxila]], [[Pakistan]]. It was built over the relics of the Buddha by [[Ashoka]] in the 3rd century BCE.<ref name="scarre">{{cite book |last1=Scarre |first1=Geoffrey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=djEKducJvNAC&q=dharmarajika+taxila+relics&pg=PA290 |title=Appropriating the Past: Philosophical Perspectives on the Practice of Archaeology |last2=Coningham |first2=Robin |date=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521196062 |author-link=Geoffrey Scarre |author2-link=Robin Coningham |access-date=22 June 2017}}</ref><ref name="ISBN_9781438109961"/><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Le |first=Huu Phuoc |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9jb364g4BvoC&dq=dharmarajika+3rd+century&pg=PA54 |title=Buddhist Architecture |date=2010 |publisher=Grafikol |isbn=978-0-9844043-0-8 |pages=54 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Fogelin |first=Lars |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yPZzBgAAQBAJ&dq=dharmarajika+3rd+century&pg=PA115 |title=An Archaeological History of Indian Buddhism |date=2015 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-994823-9 |pages=115 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Neelis |first=Jason |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GB-JV2eOr2UC&dq=dharmarajika+3rd+century&pg=PA203 |title=Early Buddhist Transmission and Trade Networks: Mobility and Exchange Within and Beyond the Northwestern Borderlands of South Asia |date=2010-11-19 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-18159-5 |pages=203 |language=en}}</ref> The stupa, along with the large monastic complex that later developed around it, forms part of the [[Ruins of Taxila]] - which were inscribed as a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]] in 1980.<ref>{{cite web|title=Taxila|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/139|publisher=UNESCO|access-date=23 June 2017}}</ref>

==History==
It is believed that the Dharmarajika Stupa was built over the remains of an even older stupa that had been built by the [[Maurya]]n emperor King ''[[Ashoka]]'' in the 3rd century BCE<ref name="gounesco">{{cite web |date=1 September 2016 |title=Dharmarajika: The Great Stupa of Taxila |url=http://www.gounesco.com/dharmarajika-great-stupa-of-taxila/ |access-date=22 June 2017 |website=GoUNESCO |publisher=UNESCO |archive-date=20 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420110627/https://www.gounesco.com/dharmarajika-great-stupa-of-taxila/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="kurt">{{cite book|last1=Behrendt|first1=Kurt A.|title=Handbuch der Orientalistik|date=2004|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004135956}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> The stupa was believed to have been reestablished in the 2nd century CE during the [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]] era in order to house [[relics of the Buddha]], which may have been sourced from earlier monuments.<ref name="scarre" /> Buddhist texts mention that [[frankincense]] was used during religious services at Dharmarajika, while the complex was paved with colourful glass tiles.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FJ8RDAAAQBAJ&q=sassanid+dharmarajika |title=The Silk Road in World History |date=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195338102 |access-date=23 June 2017}}</ref> [[Indo-Greek]] coins found at the site date from the 2nd century BCE, suggesting earliest possible establishment of a religious monument at the site.<ref name="kurt" />

Small stupas that predate the main stupa are found throughout the Dharmarajika site, and surrounded an earlier core stupa in an irregular layout.<ref name=kurt/> It is known that the earlier core stupa contained a pathway for [[pradakshina|circumambulation]] that was made of plaster, and decorated with shell bangles in geometric patterns.<ref name=kurt/> The earlier stupa likely had four gates in axial directions.<ref name=kurt/>

The site came under control of Persian [[Sassanid]] rule, and suffered a period of stagnation.<ref name=kurt/> Large-scale developments took place during the late Kushan and [[Kidarite]] era which added numerous monasteries and stupas to the site.

===Destruction===
[[File:Dharmarajika Stupa plan.jpg|thumb|Plan of the Dharmarajika Stupa.]]
The site was devastated by the [[Hephthalite Empire|White Huns]] in the 5th century CE, and then abandoned.<ref name="ISBN_9781438109961"/> Subsequent rulers, such as the Hun king [[Mihirakula]], persecuted the region's Buddhists.<ref name=kurt/> Under his reign, over a thousand Buddhist monasteries throughout Gandhara are said to have been destroyed.<ref name=kurt/> The White Huns destroyed not only Taxilan sites, but also devastated nearby [[Peshawar]].

===Excavation===
The stupa was excavated by [[John Marshall (archaeologist)|Sir John Marshall]] in 1913. The stupa had been looted several times prior to Marshall's discovery, and was badly damaged.<ref name=Le/> Marshall noted that a large trench, requiring tremendous effort, was built at some point in the past in order to loot the stupa's precious relics.<ref name=scarre/> By 1934, enough of the site had been uncovered that the site's scale could be appreciated.<ref name="ISBN_9781438109961"/> Human skeletons were discovered in the open area immediately south of the stupa, and may be the remains of monks who were killed during the invasion of the [[Hephthalite Empire|White Huns]].

==Layout==

The location of the stupa and its monastic community about one kilometre outside of [[Sirkap]] is in conformity with the Buddha's recommendation that monasteries should be neither "too far" nor "too close" to adjacent towns.<ref name=Le>{{cite book|last1=Le|first1=Huu Phuoc|title=Buddhist Architecture|date=2010|publisher=Grafikol}}</ref> Three distinctive types of masonry in the buildings around the main stupa suggest the contributions of different periods to the building activity.

===Core stupa===
[[File:((By @ibnAzhar))0DharmaRajika Stupa-Taxila-Pakistan (24).JPG|thumb|The passageway between the main stupa and several smaller stupas was used for the practice of ''[[pradakshina]]''.]]
Dharmarajika Stupa is the largest of all stupas in the Taxila region,<ref name="ISBN_9781438109961"/> Surrounding the main mound is a passageway for ''[[pradakshina]]'' — the ancient practice of walking around a holy site.

The stupa's large ''anda'', or hemispherical mound, is damaged − though the [[plinth]] of the mound, known as the ''medhi'', is still largely intact.<ref name=Le/> The ''anda'' mound was made of [[ashlar]] stone.<ref name=Le/> The stupa's ''harmika'', or fence like structure built atop the ''anda'' mound, has been lost.<ref name=Le/>

The stupa's southern gateway was initially considered the most important, though the construction of four smaller stupas (termed G7, G8, S7, Q1) to the west of the stupa indicate that this then likely became the preferred entrance for those performing circambulation.<ref name=kurt/> Later constructions around the "Eastern Avenue" then shifted the preferred route for circambulation to the eastern side of the stupa.<ref name=kurt/>

Before entering the main sacred areas, visitors to the shrine from Sirkap would pass through a large building, now termed building H, that would openly display relics.<ref name=kurt/> Visitors likely venerated the relics at building H before entering the main stupa area.<ref name=kurt/>

===Peripheral stupas===
[[File:Stucco Sculpture of Buddha and Remnant Feet of one of the largest Stucco Buddha in Taxila, Dharmarajika Stupa.JPG|thumb|Chambers containing religious imagery were built along the "Northern Avenue".]]
The stupa was surrounded by a circle of smaller stupas which were built approximately 200 years after the main stupa's construction,<ref name="ISBN_9781438109961"/> and were likely constructed together as part of a project funded by a single patron.<ref name=kurt/>

Additional stupas were built further along the northern portion of the site by various patrons, and date from the [[Indo-Scythian]] period.<ref name="ISBN_9781438109961"/> These stupas form a "Northern Avenue," that had several small shrines with devotional images, rendering the Northern Avenue a processional corridor.<ref name=kurt/> Devotional images were likely relegated to the periphery of the complex due to religious conservatives, who were hesitant to fully embrace the new practice of using imagery in religious practice.<ref name=kurt/>

Unlike constructions at [[Sanchi]], stupas around the Dharmarajika Stupa were built by individual donors, rather than as part of a communal effort.<ref name=insoll>{{cite book|last1=Insoll|first1=Timothy | author-link = Timothy Insoll |title=Archaeology and World Religion|date=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134597987|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FTqCAgAAQBAJ&q=dharmarajika+taxila+relics&pg=PA82|access-date=23 June 2017}}</ref>

===Monasteries===
[[File:Dharmarajika stupa and monastery j by Usman Ghani.jpg|thumb|Ruins of several monasteries are located around the main stupa.]]
Early monastic cells near the stupa were built as a row of rooms, with a [[verandah]],<ref name=insoll/> The verandah style was later dropped in favour of monastic living quarters surrounding [[Quadrangle (architecture)|quadrangle]]s that were built immediately north, northeast, and east of the stupa approximately 300 years after the stupa's construction.<ref name="ISBN_9781438109961"/>

The northern monastery consisted of two courtyards that were each built around a large stupa.<ref name=kurt/> The smaller eastern courtyard is believed to have housed 13 monks.<ref name="ISBN_9781438109961"/>

Monastery G, located immediately west of the stupa has at least 50 monastic cells, a stupa, and was likely multistoried.<ref name=kurt/> Monastery M in the extreme northwest section of the site, and contained its own stupa in a small courtyard.<ref name=kurt/> Monastery M is connected to a long residential monastery,<ref name=kurt/> oriented in a roughly north-south direction. At the southern edge of this monastery are the remains of two stupas, now termed E1 and E2.<ref name=kurt/> E1 was built in a pre-existing cell, while E2 was a more elaborated stupa that contained a small passageway for circambulation.<ref name=kurt/> Neither stupa was likely open to the public.<ref name=kurt/>

==Relics==
===Bone fragments of the Buddha===
[[File:Dharmarajika statuette.jpg|thumb|130px|Statuette from the Dharmarajika site, now displayed at the [[Guimet Museum]] in [[Paris]].]]
The site is famous for its bone relics – thought to be those of the Buddha,<ref>{{cite book|last1=M. S. Moray|title=History of Buddhism in Gujarāt|date=1985|publisher=Saraswati Pustak Bhandar|page=46|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=foYEAAAAYAAJ&q=+dharmarajika}}</ref> Much of the stupa's precious relics had been looted by the time it was discovered by Sir John Marshall.<ref name=scarre/> A silver casket containing a silver inscription was recovered from the stupa's chapel after discovery,<ref name=scarre/> The inscription is written in the ancient [[Kharosthi]] script that was once common throughout Gandhara,<ref name="ISBN_9781438109961"/> The inscription states that ''Urusaka'' of ''Noacha'' placed bone relics of the Buddha in his chapel at Dharmarajika in 78 CE.<ref name="ISBN_9781438109961"/>

In 2016, 2 bone relics from the Dharmarajika Stupa were sent to [[Sri Lanka]] for one month. The relics were displayed at important shrines in [[Polonnaruwa]], [[Colombo]], [[Kandy]], and [[Anuradhapura]], and attracted 9.3 million visitors.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sacred Buddha relics returns to Pakistan after month long exposition in Sri Lanka|url=http://www.colombopage.com/archive_16B/Jun27_1467037360CH.php|access-date=23 June 2017|agency=Colombo Page|date=27 June 2016|archive-date=26 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200126165715/http://www.colombopage.com/archive_16B/Jun27_1467037360CH.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Reliquary vessels===
18 reliquary vessels were also recovered from smaller stupas surrounding the Dharmarajika Stupa that yielded a wide array of relics, including one that encased a cylindrical piece of gold.<ref name="ISBN_9781438109961"/> Other reliquaries yielded gold jewelry and precious jewels,<ref name="ISBN_9781438109961"/> while others contained items from distant locations such as [[lapis lazuli]] from [[Afghanistan]], pearls, and shells − reflecting the large trade networks operating from Taxila.<ref name="ISBN_9781438109961"/> Several coins of the Indo-Greek king [[Zoilos II]] were found under the foundation of such a 1st-century BCE stupa.<ref>Marshall, "Excavations at Taxila", "The only minor antiquities of interest found in this building were twenty-five debased silver coins of the Greek king Zoilus II, which were brought to light beneath the foundations of the earliest chapel", p248</ref>

==Etymology==
The name Dharmarajika comes from Dharmaraja, a name given to Buddha who was the true Dharma Raja (Lord of Law), according to Marshall. It is also believed that ‘Dharmarajika’ is derived from the word ‘Dharmaraja’, a title used by Mauryan emperor Ashoka. The stupa is also popularly known as ''Chir Tope'', or "Scarred hill".

==Access==
The Dharmarajika Stupa lies about 3 kilometers east of the [[Taxila Museum]], along the PMO Colony Road, northeast of [[Taxila Cantonment]]. The stupa was located near the ancient city of [[Sirkap]], which also forms part of the [[Ruins of Taxila]].

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Dharmarajika_stupa_and_monastery_c_by_Usman_Ghani.jpg
File:Dharmarajika_stupa_and_monastery_g_by_Usman_Ghani.jpg
File:Dharmarajika stupa and monastery d by Usman Ghani.jpg
File:Dharmarajika stupa and monastery i by Usman Ghani.jpg
File:((By @ibnAzhar))0DharmaRajika Stupa-Taxila-Pakistan (74).JPG
File:Let's see Taxila 053.jpg
Image:Taxila1.jpg
File:ZoilosIICoin.JPG|Coins of the [[Indo-Greek]] ruler [[Zoilos II]] were found under a peripheral stupa.
File:Dharmarajika Stupa sculptures.jpg|Sculptures from the Dharmarajika Stupa
Taxila map.jpg|The Dharmarajika Stupa is located to the southeast of [[Sirkap]].
Dharmarajika Stupa Indo-Corinthian pillaster.jpg|[[Indo-Corinthian]] pillars.
Dharmarajika Stupa stucco heads.jpg|[[Stucco]] heads.
</gallery>

==See also==
{{commonscat|Dharmarajika stupa and monastery}}
* [[Bhir Mound]]
* [[Jaulian]]
* [[Sirkap]]
* [[Sirsukh]]
* [[Mohra Muradu]]
* [[Taxila (modern)|Taxila]]
* [[Mankiala stupa]] -commemorates the spot, where according to the [[Jataka tales]], an incarnation of the [[Buddha]] sacrificed himself to feed seven hungry tiger cubs

==Notes==
<references>
<ref name="ISBN_9781438109961">{{cite book|last1=Higham|first1=Charles | author-link = Charles Higham (archaeologist) |title=Encyclopedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations|date=2014|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=9781438109961}}</ref>
</references>

==References==
*"Taxila" Sir John Marshall
{{Gandhara |state=expanded}}
{{Archaeological sites in Taxila |state=expanded}}

{{Cultural heritage sites in Punjab, Pakistan }}

[[Category:Stupas in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Buddhist monasteries in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Punjab, Pakistan]]
[[Category:Buddhist sites in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Maurya Empire]]
[[Category:Mauryan art]]
[[Category:2nd-century Buddhism]]
[[Category:2nd-century religious buildings and structures]]

Dharmarajika - Revision history

Bharatwiki Socrates at 02:46, 26 November 2023