Collana ACT-FIELD SCHOOL PROJECT Reports and Memoirs, Special Volume

Buddhist Architecture in the Swat Valley, Pakistan. Stupas, Viharas, a Dwelling Unit
Domenico Faccenna, Piero Spagnesi

(BraDypUS Communicating Cultural Heritage, Bologna 2015)

The volume reports an accurate survey of the sacred Buddhist Gandharan architecture in the Swat Valley, carryed out by one of the main experts in the past culture of that territory, Domenico Faccenna, in association with Piero Spagnesi.

The work presents typological classification (stupas, viharas, columns, minor complementary structures) and accurate description of the monuments, and the various complexes to which they belong (sacred areas, monasteries, groups of dwelling units for monks, water supply and defence systems). The analysis is intended to touch upon numerous aspects: construction techniques, materials, measures, plasters, proportions, pictorial decorations and gilding, taking into consideration the architecture as a whole, in its spaces, volumes and relative design themes.

Buddhist Architecture in the Swat Valley, Pakistan. Stupas, Viharas, a Dwelling Unit, by Domenico Faccenna and Piero Spagnesi, with the collaboration of Luca M. Olivieri and foreword by Marco Mancini and Adriano Rossi. ACT-FIELD SCHOOL PROJECT Reports and Memoirs (series), special volume. 

2nd digital edition, originally published in 2014 in Pakistan (Sang e-Meel). The content remains unvaried.


Table of Contents

  • Foreword, Marco Mancini and Adriano Rossi

  • The legacy of Domenico Faccenna. A note, Luca Maria Olivieri

  • Graphic Symbols and Terminology

  • Introduction

  • A. Stupas

    • A1. Stupa of Gharasa (Dangram)

    • A2. Stupa of Jurjurai

    • A3. Stupa of Loebanr 

    • A4. The Stupas of Arapkhanchina (Shararai)

    • A5. The Great Stupa (GSt) of Butkara I 135 The Site 135

    • A6. Stupa of Saidu Sharif I 137 The Site 137

    • A7. Stupa of Shnaisha

    • A8. Stupa of Shankardar 

    • A9. Stupa of Amluk Dara

    • A10. The Stupas of Abbasahebchina (Najigram)

    • A11. Stupa of Tokar Dara (Najigram)

    • A12. The Stupas of Barikot

    • A13. Stupa of Top Dara (Haibatgram, Thana)

    • A14. Stupa of Gumbatuna

  • B. Viharas

    • B1. Vihara of Abbasahebchina

    • B2. Vihara of Gumbat

    • B3. Vihara of Kanjar Kote

    • B4. Vihara of Gumbatuna

  • C. Dwelling unit

    • C1. Dwelling Unit of Abbasahebchina

  • Conclusions

  • References