Fondukistan

AFGHANISTAN, Parwan

These temple ruins are located east of Bamiyan Caves on the south side of the Hindu Kush mountain range. The temple was built during the 6th and 7th centuries. It is possible that this temple was the one identified in Chinese Master Xuanzang’s Great Tang Records on the Western Regions as housing tooth relics from the Buddha, a Pratyekabuddha, and a cakravartin, as well as the robes and alms bowl of Arhat Sanakavasa, the disciple of Ananda.
The temple ruins are situated on a steep hill and only a small area has been excavated so far. It is thought that the temple may have consisted of a large courtyard with a square stupa in the center. The stupa had a two-layer square base, surmounted by an inverted bowl shape body. The walls of the temple were made from adobe bricks. Each wall had three niches containing clay statues of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and aristocratic donors. There were urns containing bones and ashes under the niches, together with clay statues of the donors. The walls of the niches were painted with images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, using mainly red and yellow. The niches were supported by Corinthian-style pilasters and decorated with scroll ornamentation on the archivolts. The main artifacts unearthed at the site include statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and coins from the Persian Sassanid Empire (circa 224–651). These artifacts are in the collections of the Kabul National Museum in Afghanistan and the Guimet Museum of Asian Art in Paris.