Community hub
Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Kanishka Stupa
The Kanishka Stupa (Pashto: کانیشکا سټوپا; Urdu: کنشک اسٹوپ) was a monumental stupa established by King Kanishka of Kushan during the 2nd century CE in today's Shaji-ki-Dheri on the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan.
The stupa was built during the Kushan era to house Buddhist relics, and was among the tallest buildings in the ancient world. The stupa is also famous for its Buddhist relics, which were transferred to the U Khanti Hall at Mandalay Hill, in Mandalay, Burma after their discovery.
According to Buddhists the building of the stupa was foretold by the Buddha:
The same story is repeated in a Khotanese scroll found at Dunhuang, which first described how Kanishka would arrive 400 years after the death of the Buddha. The account also describes how Kanishka came to raise his stupa:
The original Kushan stone stupa was probably built after the death of Kanishka the Great, between 150 and 300 CE, but probably circa 151 CE, with a shape similar to the contemporary Loriyan Tangai stupas and the addition of schist reliefs.
The stupa was rebuilt under Kushan rule in the 4th century CE into a cruciform stupa with a tower-like structure, with four staircases and four corner bastions, and possibly pillars at each corner. The stupa's symmetrically cross-shaped plinth measured 175 feet (53 m), though the plinth had large staircases at each of the stupa's sides. In total, the base of the stupa may have spanned 272 feet (83 m) on each side. The plinth was likely decorated with sculpted reliefs, while niches built into the dome's four cardinal points was inlayed with precious stone. The tall wooden superstructure was built atop a decorated stone base, and crowned with a 13-layer copper-gilded chatra. Modern estimations suggest that the stupa had a height of 400 feet (120 m).
The stupa's wooden superstructure was rebuilt atop the stone base, and crowned with a 13-layer copper-gilded chatra. In the 5th century CE, stucco imagery was probably added to the site, in keeping with contemporary popularity for Buddhist imagery.
Sung Yun noted in the early 6th century that the tower had been struck by lightning at least three times, having been rebuilt after each strike. The tall stupa with a copper top acted as a lightning rod. This propensity to attract lightning strikes may explain the dearth of any surviving examples of wooden-tower stupas.
Hub AI
Kanishka Stupa AI simulator
(@Kanishka Stupa_simulator)
Kanishka Stupa
The Kanishka Stupa (Pashto: کانیشکا سټوپا; Urdu: کنشک اسٹوپ) was a monumental stupa established by King Kanishka of Kushan during the 2nd century CE in today's Shaji-ki-Dheri on the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan.
The stupa was built during the Kushan era to house Buddhist relics, and was among the tallest buildings in the ancient world. The stupa is also famous for its Buddhist relics, which were transferred to the U Khanti Hall at Mandalay Hill, in Mandalay, Burma after their discovery.
According to Buddhists the building of the stupa was foretold by the Buddha:
The same story is repeated in a Khotanese scroll found at Dunhuang, which first described how Kanishka would arrive 400 years after the death of the Buddha. The account also describes how Kanishka came to raise his stupa:
The original Kushan stone stupa was probably built after the death of Kanishka the Great, between 150 and 300 CE, but probably circa 151 CE, with a shape similar to the contemporary Loriyan Tangai stupas and the addition of schist reliefs.
The stupa was rebuilt under Kushan rule in the 4th century CE into a cruciform stupa with a tower-like structure, with four staircases and four corner bastions, and possibly pillars at each corner. The stupa's symmetrically cross-shaped plinth measured 175 feet (53 m), though the plinth had large staircases at each of the stupa's sides. In total, the base of the stupa may have spanned 272 feet (83 m) on each side. The plinth was likely decorated with sculpted reliefs, while niches built into the dome's four cardinal points was inlayed with precious stone. The tall wooden superstructure was built atop a decorated stone base, and crowned with a 13-layer copper-gilded chatra. Modern estimations suggest that the stupa had a height of 400 feet (120 m).
The stupa's wooden superstructure was rebuilt atop the stone base, and crowned with a 13-layer copper-gilded chatra. In the 5th century CE, stucco imagery was probably added to the site, in keeping with contemporary popularity for Buddhist imagery.
Sung Yun noted in the early 6th century that the tower had been struck by lightning at least three times, having been rebuilt after each strike. The tall stupa with a copper top acted as a lightning rod. This propensity to attract lightning strikes may explain the dearth of any surviving examples of wooden-tower stupas.