Written by: Muhammad Asif Nawaz
Posted on: June 04, 2025 | 
| 中文
Gandharan art
Roughly two and a half millennia ago, Prince Siddharta Gautama was born in Lumbini, present day Nepal. Renouncing his royal life and setting out on the path to seek enlightenment, he became the Buddha, “the awakened one.” The teachings of the man who meditated beneath the Bodhi tree continue to have their influence the world over. It’s not just Asia where his followers abound, philosophy of Buddhism has attracted the attention from people the world over, imitating and following the Buddha in his path to liberation from suffering.
Depiction of Buddha beneath the Bodhi tree
Whether Siddharta Gautama ever journeyed to the region that is now Pakistan is a matter of scholarly debate, with most opinions leaning towards the negative. The direct influence of Buddhism has also waned in Pakistan: as per various sources there are fewer than 2000 registered Buddhist voters in Pakistan, a minuscule speck in a country with a huge population. Of these, most are reported to reside in the provinces of Sindh and Punjab. However, while the Buddha might not have come to Pakistan himself, his legacy did, and took over the region for a considerable amount of time. Possibly, no region of Pakistan is as dabbed with historical relics of a religion as the Northern Pakistan is with Buddhist heritage. The writer Kamila Shamsie aptly titled the prevalence of Buddha in the region as “a god in every stone.” Stupas, Buddha iconography, Buddhist scripts and monasteries are aplenty in Pakistan, particularly in northern Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Buddha head at Taxila Museum
In some ways, Pakistan can be considered a crucial crucible for Buddhism, as its largest school, the Mahayana Buddhism, is believed by many to have flourished, if not originated, here. Buddhism arrival in Pakistan dates back to the reign of Asoka, the great (268 BCE to 232 BCE). Following the Third Buddhist Council in Pataliputra, Asoka sent missionaries to various places in India to propagate Buddhism. The Gandhara region, encompassing the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir and parts of Afghanistan, became the core of Buddhism. Strategically situated along the ancient Silk Route, Gandhara’s disposition as the pothole of cultural exchange intertwined with its legacy of Buddhism, establishing great cultural and educational centers like Takshashila (Taxila) and Purushupura (Peshawar).
Gandhara region
Even while Buddhism in Pakistan today is more of a romance of history, the deeply entrenched reminders of its historical presence in the region are a marvel for those interested in history and heritage. In this series, we will discover the various Buddhist sites in Pakistan - spanning all the way from Charsadda to Skardu, dappling the account with historical snippets and insights into the consciousness of these places. The Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation has chalked out a Buddhist Heritage Trail in Pakistan, which comprises at least thirty-three sites. The Buddha’s eight-fold path may have been an internal journey, but chalking our course to discover Buddhism in the region is no less than an act of culmination.
Taxila Museum
For the traveler journeying northwards, the first prominent Buddhist place in the region has to be Taxila, seated right at the edge of the Potohar plateau. Taxila is important not only for the museum but also for its various ancient settlements, each carrying a vestige of the Buddha’s legacy. Taxila was a renowned center of learning in antiquity, the university established here had Buddhist philosophy and scriptures as its fundamental components. The magnum opus Aag Ka Darya (River of Fire) by Qurat-ul-Ain Haider, deals extensively with a Buddhist monk on way to Taxila for the purpose of learning in its first era.
Ancient university of Taxila
The most convenient place to visit in Taxila is clearly the Taxila Museum. As one of Pakistan’s most esteemed museums, it features a remarkable collection of Gandhara Art. The museum, is a portal to the wider historical sites, and showcases numerous Buddha and Bodhisattva sculptures. The museum also displays the relic caskets, said to have contained the sacred remains of Buddha. The actual relics remain a point of debate, and are often disputed with regards to their authenticity. Approximately 7,000 artefacts are exhibited at the Taxila Museum, and another 30,000 are preserved in the reserve collection. The museum, established in 1918, also displays inscriptions, beads, jewelry, coins, tools, pottery, utensils and various architectural and household objects from the Gandhara civilization. The core of the museum’s collection comes directly from the excavations done in the region, and it is widely claimed that there is still a lot to be explored, waiting below the ground in the Taxila region.
Inside Taxila Museum
While monks and lay practitioners flocked to the ancient Taxila to study and debate Buddhist doctrines, another crucial aspect of the region is that it was here that the Gandhara school of art flourished. The Greco-Buddhist art form was born here, blending Hellenistic and Buddhist influences, and producing the first anthropomorphic depictions of the Buddha. In the earlier Buddha art, the Buddha was not represented in human form, but was rather depicted by a sign, such as a footprint or an empty seat. The images of Buddha from the Gandhara civilization played an instrumental role in popularizing Buddha’s teaching in Asia. This, coupled with the fact that centers of Gandhara civilization like Taxila were seated along vital trade routes, helped in the dissemination of Buddhist teachings to new lands.
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