Parihaspura Stupa

India / Jammu and Kashmir / Sumbal /
 ancient ruins, stupa
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BUDDHIST ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE:

www.koausa.org/Monuments/Chapter6.html

Ancient Stupa: On the northeastern corner of the Parihaspora plateau is the stupa of Cankuna, the Central Asian Minister of Lalitaditya. The base of the stupa is square with offsets and a flight of steps on each side. The board surface at the top of the plinth served as circumambulatory passage. The superstructure is lost and some architectural fragments like trefoil arches are lying at the site.

The karewas of Paraspor and Divar are situated at a distance of fourteen miles from Srinagar on the Baramula road. They were chosen by King Lalitaditya (c. A.D. 750) for the erection of a new capital city, and it is certain that, given a sufficient supply of drinking water, the high and dry Plateaus of Parihasapura have every advantage over the low, swampy Srinagar as a building site. Lalitaditya and his ministers seem to have vied with each other in embellishing the new city with magnificent edifices which were intended to be worthy alike of the king's glory and the ministers' affluence. The Plateau is studded with heaps of ruins of which a few have been excavated. Among these the most important are three Buddhist structures, a stupaj a monastery, and a chaitya. Their common features are the enormous size of the blocks of limestone used in their construction, the smoothness of their dressing, and the fineness of their joints. The immense pile at the north-eastern corner of the Plateau is the stupa (Plate LV) of Chankuna, the Turkoman (?) minister of Lalitaditya. Its superstructure has entirely disappeared, leaving behind a huge mass of scorched boulders which completely cover the top of the base. There is a large massive block in the middle of this debris, which has a circular hole in the middle, 5' deep. It is probable that this stone belonged to the hti (finial) of the stupa, and that the hole is the mortice in which was embedded the lower end of the staff of the stone umbrellas which crowned the drum.
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Coordinates:   34°9'34"N   74°39'10"E
This article was last modified 8 years ago