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Ancient Buddhist Mural Found in Uzbekistan Sheds Light on Early Buddhist Diaspora

By Anne Wisman | | Buddhistdoor Global



Part of the Buddhist mural discovered at Kara Tepe, photo by Rissho

University Uzbekistan Academic Research Group. From asahi.com

Experts say that a strikingly vivid colored mural found in southern Uzbekistan, dated to the second or third century CE, provides an interesting glimpse into the spread and the development of early Buddhism along the ancient Silk Road. The mural was discovered in 2016 in a stone room located two meters underground next to a pagoda, during an archeological dig by a team of local researchers from the Uzbek Academy of Sciences and researchers from Rissho University—one of Japan’s oldest universities located in Tokyo, originally founded in 1580 as a learning center for young monks of the Nichiren School of Mahayana Buddhism—at the Kara Tepe archeological site in a suburb of Termez. Images of the mural have recently been released to the public with consent of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences Fine Arts Institute.



Part of the Buddhist mural discovered at Kara Tepe, photo by Rissho

University Uzbekistan Academic Research Group. From asahi.com

The wall painting, which measures one meter in width and one meter in length, features a number of figures in bright hues of red and blue. According to Haruki Yasuda, art history professor of art history at Rissho University’s Faculty of Buddhist Studies, the mural might have been part of a larger work that once depicted the life of the Buddha. The city of Termez, also the hottest point in Uzbekistan, is located close to the border of Afghanistan and to the Bamiyan valley in Afghanistan, the site where the Bamiyan Buddha statues stood before they were destroyed by Taliban forces in 2001. It was once located on a crossroads of civilizations on the Silk Road, much like the archeological site of Dunhuang in Gansu Province, China, known for its murals.



Part of the Buddhist mural discovered at Kara Tepe, photo by Rissho

University Uzbekistan Academic Research Group. From asahi.com

In addition to the Buddhist mural (the first one of its kind to be found at the Kara Tepe site), other important finds have been made at the site, including Greek- and Roman-style figures and a statue of the head of a Garuda, a large legendary bird in India. The dates of these artifacts are also thought to range between the second and third centuries CE. According to Akira Miyaji, professor emeritus of Nagoya University and expert on Buddhist art in Central Asia, the diversity of the art styles present at the site are reflected in the mural, which combines techniques both Eastern- and Western-style paintings, making it a significant find that exemplifies the cross-cultural influences in early Buddhist art.



Part of the Buddhist mural discovered at Kara Tepe, photo by Rissho University

Uzbekistan Academic Research Group. From asahi.com