Mohra Moradu, Taxila: Buddhist Stupa and Monastery

What struck me most about Mohra Moradu was its tranquillity. During our visit, I could hear leaves rustling and water flowing nearby—a peaceful setting for exploring Taxila’s Buddhist heritage.

The surviving complex contains stupas and monastic remains that offer a glimpse into religious life in ancient Gandhara. Together with Jaulian Monastery, it makes a rewarding stop for visitors interested in Buddhist architecture and sculpture.

Mohra Moradu is included in the Taxila UNESCO World Heritage property.

The top portion of the Mohra Murado Buddhist Monastery is still preserved in its original form nearly 2000 years after it was erected over the site.

Even the watering well is still functional.

Stupa means ‘mound’ in Sanskrit. Mohra Murado’s semicircular mound is still intact with elaborately carved stupas of devotees surrounding the main structure.

The shrine of the five saints was also inside the premises. I guess all religious clergy have a thing for prime real-estate.

A prayer Buddha with the cavity to insert your index finger was also there.

The most significant find from the site is the pointy spire that rests over the semicircular mount.

This spire is erected over the dome shaped earthen mount – the anda – which represents the semi-spherical universe.

The first thing that the colonial British archeologists took away from this site was relic of Buddha that was nursed inside a shaft that opens from the top of the stupa’s dome.

The hemisphere has a square box placed on top of it called the harmika. This box once housed the venerated remains of Buddha, but not in the later day stupas. This box is always aligned in a NE – SW axis, relative to the Sun.

The faithful circumambulate in a clockwise direction on a track called the medhi.

On top of the dome, the spire comprises of several segments that that signifies different aspects of the Buddhist religion.

Immediately after the square box is the stem, the yashti, that points towards the heavens.

On top of the stem is the three chhatras (umbrellas) that represent the three pillars of Buddhism; Buddha; Dharma (doctrine); Sangha (community)

To compare this religious complex with the layout of an ancient city, explore Sirkap’s streets, houses and sacred monuments. These sites reveal different aspects of the wider Taxila landscape.

More Buddhist heritage around Taxila

Continue exploring with Dharmarajika Stupa in Taxila, another important Buddhist complex.

For a separate excursion near Khanpur, read about Bhamala Stupa and its archaeological remains.

When Buddhist influence waned, this site was gradually abandoned around the 5^th century.

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