Page 47 - Mann Ki Baat (English)

Kushan Diaper Pebble Walls (Across Grid Layout) being excavated at Zehanpora site

finds are closely related to the as a bridge between the
other Buddhist sites in Kashmir
Indian heartland, Central Asia
such as Harwan and Ushkur.
and the Silk Road. It shifts the
However, radiocarbon analysis
will refine this chronology. local identity from isolation to
The archaeological one of cosmopolitanism and
excavation clearly underscores
philosophy indicating that Ideas,
the archaeological importance
Art and Philosophy flowed freely
of the site and has put Zehanpora
at a critical position within the in the region. The technological
Buddhist cultural geography of
validation with use of modern
Kashmir particularly along the
tools-drone surveys and archival
Baramulla-Jhelum corridor. This
site will confirm and reveal the research (19th Century French
Kashmir’s Buddhist history and Photograph) has instilled a sense
also signify Kashmir as a vibrant
of pride in the local community.
centre of Buddhist learning. The
The Zehanpora stretches the
mounds at Zehanpora which
were dismissed as ordinary memory of Kashmir back to two
mounds have transformed the millennia from the medieval and
landscape into a sacred and
early modern periods and most
historical site.
The architectural style at significantly highlights a period
Zehanpora closely resembles of religious interaction where
Gandharan Art found in present
Buddhism and later Hinduism
day Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The excavation proves that co-existed and influenced one
ancient Kashmir was serving another.

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