Mankiala stupa

Mankiala Stupa مانكياله اسٹوپ
Religion
Affiliation	Buddhism
Year consecrated	2rd century CE
Location
Location	Tope Mankiala Punjab Pakistan
State	Punjab
Shown within Pakistan
Geographic coordinates	33°26′53″N 73°14′36″E / 33.44806°N 73.24333°E / 33.44806; 73.24333Coordinates: 33°26′53″N 73°14′36″E / 33.44806°N 73.24333°E / 33.44806; 73.24333

The Mankiala Stupa (Urdu: مانكياله اسٹوپ) is a 2nd-century Buddhist stupa near the village of Tope Mankiala, in Pakistan's Punjab province. The stupa was built by the Kushans and is said to commemorate the spot, where according to the Jataka tales, an incarnation of the Buddha called Prince Sattva sacrificed himself to feed seven hungry tiger cubs.^{[1][dubious – discuss]}

Location[]

Mankiala stupa is located in the village of Tope Mankiala, near the place name of Sagri and 2nd near village of . It is 36 km southeast of Islamabad, and near the city of Rawalpindi. It is visible from the nearby historic Rawat Fort.

Significance[]

Relics from the stupa were excavated during the British colonial era, and are now on display at the British Museum

The stupa was built to commemorate the spot, where according to the Jataka tales, the Golden Light Sutra and popular belief, Prince Sattva, an earlier incarnation of the Buddha, sacrificed some of his body parts or his entire body to feed seven hungry tiger cubs.^[1][2]

History[]

The stupa is said to have been built during the reign of Kanishka between 128 and 151 CE.^[3] An alternate theory suggest that the stupa is one of 84 such buildings, built during the reign of Mauryan emperor Ashoka to house the ashes of the Buddha. It is said that Emperor Kanishka used to visit this stupa often to pay respects to Buddha during his campaigns.^[3]

The stupa was discovered by Mountstuart Elphinstone, the first British emissary to Afghanistan, in 1808 - a detailed account of which is in his memoir 'Kingdom of Caubul' (1815).^[3] The stupa contains an engraving which indicates that the stupa was restored in 1891.

Relics[]

Mankiala stupa's relic deposits were discovered by Jean-Baptiste Ventura in 1830. The relics were then removed from the site during the British Raj, and are now housed in the British Museum.^[4]

Inscription[]

On one of the stones of the stupa there is an inscription which reads as:^[5][6]