Ancient Buddha – Buddhist History & Archaeological Sites

Zurmal was the first buddhist monument discovered in the territory of central asia. Zurmala is 12-m high Buddhist stupa, found in north-east of ruins of ancient termez.stupa is a cylindrical tower with a diameter of 14.5m . it was built of mud brick .outside, stupa is painted in bright red. It was built kushan era, about 2nd century BC ,when Buddhism was spread all over central Asian region. ancient termez is located 10 km to the west of modern city.Buddhist stupa reduced almost to a shapeless mound of clay, which was hardly identified as a Buddhist ritual structure.  Zurmala had an important religious significance for the people of that region  Exactions at zurmala showed that initially the stupa rested on a podiumlined with white stone slabs.the total height of building is over 16 m .the upper part of tower had a chamber to store Buddhist scripturea, statues or buddha relics. The Buddhist tower was one of the first such discoveries on the territory of centr...

The establishment of ancient  nalanda as an undisputed seat of learning was a historical consequences of its context. Ancient magadha was characterized by an intellectual ferment unlike any know to humanity. Historical sources indicat that the university had a long and illustrations life which lasted almost continually for 800 years from the fifth to twelfth century CE. It was a completely residential university believed to have 2000 teachers and 10000 students.Nalanda was initially a prosperous village by a major trade route that ran through the nearby city of rajagriha which was then the capital of magadha. Nalanda was an ancient Mahavira, a large number of Buddhist monetary in this Mahavira. Nalanda is located in bihar, bihar Sharif it was an important learning center in ancient time. Nalanda flourished under the patronage of Gupta empire in 5th and 6th century.  At its peak the school attracts scholars and students from near and far, with some travelling from t...

SARNATH where the lord Buddha first taught about DHARMA and sangh came in existence. Sarnath is a place located 10 km north-east of varansi near confluence of ganga and varuna river in uttar Pradesh in india.the massive stupa located in sarnath is dhamek stupa 13 km away from varansi. Dhamek stupa is said to mark the spot where the Buddha gave the first sermon to his first five bhamins discipline after attaining enlightenment"revelling his eightfold path leading to NIRVANA.                          dhamek stuap In its current shape the stupa is a soild cylinder bricks and stones height about 43.6 meter and it diameter about 28 m.the wall is covered with curved figure of humans and birdsand inscription in brahmi script. The dhamek stupa was built in 500 CE.to replace an earlier structure commissioned by the ashoka the great in 249 BCE.chinese buddhist monk Xuanzang visited sarnath in 640 BCE , he recorded ...

Thotlakonda buddhist stupa : The telugu name thotlakonda derived from the presence of a number of rock- cut cisterns hewn into the bedrock of the hillock.thotlakonda was influence of ancient kalinga,the important source of Buddhism to srilanka .It is located in Visakhapatnam district of andhra Pradesh. Many archaeologists and historians have been shocked by sudden collapse of restored 2200 year old Buddhist stupa at a monastery in India.some part of This monument is half collapsed due to heavy rain. Originally it is about 16 km from the bustling city of Visakhapatnam in andhra Pradesh. This monastery was identified in 1970 by aerial survey. This stupa is about 420 feet above the sea level. When the monument was first built it was done painstakingly slowly to allow each layer of brick to set harden. Thotlakonda came into existence along with nearby sites in Visakhapatnam like bavikonda and pavurallakonda. thotlakonda might have more than 100 bhikkhus.  Thotlakonda's pe...