GULDARRA, 4th c. A.D. Buddhist stupa - monastery complex

LOCATION: Kabul Province. In the Musa-i Logar Valley, 22 km southeast of Kabul.

DATE: Early Sasanian, 3rd-4th C. (Architectural, numismatic, stylistic)

DESCRIPTION: A large stupa-monastery complex, probably the best preserved in Afghanistan. The main stupa consists of a dome and two drums resting on high, square platform with a staircase to the southwest, in turn resting on a lower square platform. Construction is of diaper masonry throughout. The high platform and both of drums are decorated in friezes of blind arches and "Indo-Corinthian"pilasters. Behind the stupa is a fortified monastery. It is of mud-brick construction on a stone foundation, and consists of a central courtyard surrounded by cells. To the south of the complex is a small stupa, almost a replica of the larger one, apart from the staircase.
In the 19th century, several gold ornaments, including a gold medallion of Mokadphises, were found in the stupa by Masson. In the DAFA excavations in the monastery many kharoshthi ostraca as well as some sculptures, including several stucco Garuda images.

From Ball, W. Archaeological Gazetteer of Afghanistan, Paris, 1982. p. 113

CONDITION: extensively damaged by local commander in search of plunder.

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