MANSEHRA: The Hazara University has unearthed a stupa and relics at a Buddhist archaeological site here.

In a news release, the university’s archaeology department said it recently began excavation at the Bado Dheri site in Gandian area and found terracotta potsherds, bones, charcoal, stone pestles and grinding stones.

It also revealed the discovery of a Buddhist stupa and said the structure was ‘highly important in the 21st century because of its unique architecture’.

“Although no inscriptional records and coins have been unearthed to assign a proper period of the stupa, the scientific analysis will help establish its complete structural profile,” it said.

The department said the Bado Dheri archaeological site had great potential to attract cultural and religious tourists from within the country and abroad.

It said the excavation was an attempt to protect the site and its antiques from treasure hunters.

Former chairman of the archaeology department Mohammad Safdar Khan said when he explored the Bado Dheri site for the first time in 2015, it appeared that treasure hunters had already stolen relics from them.

He said eight Buddhist stupas had been found around the world and Bado Dheri one was one of them.

“If excavators find white marble in which precious and holy Buddhist relics are usually wrapped, it will be a big discovery otherwise the antiques found by the archaeology department from the site are common in Pakhali area of Mansehra district,” he said.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2019