Buddhist Historic Sites

8th century CE Manthal Rock Buddhist image, Gilgit Baltistan.

8th century AD Manthal Rock Buddhist inscription, Gilgit Baltistan.

Buddhism came to this part of the country in the late 7th century when most of the masses were practicing Bon religion. Before the arrival of Islam, Tibetan Buddhism and Bön (to a lesser extent) were the main religions in Baltistan. Buddhism can be traced back to before the formation of the Tibetan Empire. The region has a number of surviving Buddhist archaeological sites. These include the Manthal Buddha Rock, a rock relief of the Buddha at the edge of the village (near Skardu) and the Sacred Rock of Hunza. Nearby are former sites of Buddhist shelters.
Baltistan had Buddhist majority till the 15th century, before the arrival of Islam in this region. Since then most of the people have converted to Islam and the presence of Buddhism in the region is now limited to the archeological sites. The remaining Buddhists of the region moved east to Ladakh where Buddhism is the majority religion.

Buddha from the Kahu-jo-daro stupa displayed in Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya.

Buddhist Cave city Gondhrani, Balochistan.

The majority of people in Gandhara, present-day Southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, were Buddhist. Gandhara was largely Mahayana Buddhist, but also a stronghold of Vajrayana Buddhism. The Swat Valley, known in antiquity as Uddiyana, was a kingdom tributary to Gandhara. There are many archaeological sites from the Buddhist era in Swat. Buddhist scholar Kumāralabdha of the Taxila was comparable to Aryadeva, Aśvaghoṣa and Nagarjuna.

The Buddhist sage Padmasambhava is said to have been born in a village near the present day town of Chakdara in Lower Dir District, which was then a part of Oddiyana. Padmasambhava is known as Guru Rinpoche in Tibetan and it is he who introduced Vajrayana Buddhism in Tibet.

Buddhism was practiced in the Punjab region, with many Buddhist monastery and stupa sites in the Taxila World Heritage Site locale. It was also practiced in the Sindh regions.

Buddhist sites in Sindh are numerous but ill preserved and are at various stages of deterioration. Sites at Brahmanabad (Mansura Sanghar district, Buddhist stupa at Mohen-jo-Daro, Sirah-ji-Takri near Rohri, Sukkur, Kahu Jo Daro at Mirpur Khas, Nawabshah, Sudheran jo Thul near Hyderabad, Thul Mir Rukan stupa, Thul Hairo Khan Stupa and Bhaleel Shah Thul square stupas (5th-7th century A.D) at Dadu, Kot Bambhan Thul buddhist tower near Tando Muhammad Khan. Many terracota tiles from Kaho jo Daro and Buddha statues are exhibited in Chatrapati Shivaji Museum, Mumbai.

Chinese Buddhist traveler Hiuen Tsang reported many Buddhist temples in coastal regions of Makran, Balochistan. The remains of Buddhist cave city called Godrani Caves can still be seen today.