Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit Ajina Teppe
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| Face of Buddha in nirvana (Ninara, Helinski, Finland/Tajikistan Nat'l Museum of Antiquities) |
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| Buddhist mural, Tajikistan, 7-8th cent CE |
Ajina Tepe (Russian Аджина-Тепе, Tajik Аҷинатеппа) is an ancient, ruined Buddhist monastery cluster 12 kilometers east from the city of Bokhtar in Tajikistan (under Ukraine in the Land of the Scythians that became The Stans of Central Asia in the former Soviet Union).
The archeological site is being considered for listing on the World Heritage list of sites that have "outstanding universal value" to the world [1].
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| Head of female, 7-8th century CE |
Buddhism in Tokharistan is said to have enjoyed a revival under the Western Turks (Tokhara Yabghus). Several Buddhist monasteries (viharas and stupa or pagoda reliquaries, which seem to be what tepes are) dated to the 7th-8th centuries display beautiful Buddhist works of art.
Examples of this are Ajina Tepe, Kalai Kafirnigan, Khisht Tepe or Kafyr Kala, around which Turkic nobility and populations followed Theravada (pejorative non-Mahayana or "Hinayana") Buddhism [2].
The site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on Sept. 11, 1999, in the Cultural category. More
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| Central Asian countries like Kyrgyzstan have remnants of ancient Buddhism. |
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| Monumental Buddha reclining into nirvana (Jeff Rozwadowski/Tajikistan Nat'l Museum) |
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