Following the Swat river from Barikot to Udegram, it hard to miss the stupa at Shingardar. Once in deplorable ruin, this 18 meter tall stupa has been restored to its impressive stateliness.
With 8 meter deep foundations one can only imagine the weight of the stone work. To get a better impression of the size of the stupa we had a young boy stand in front of it.
It is interesting to note Greek pilasters, which are the rectangular columns with a capital and base, projecting only slightly from the wall as an ornamental motif in the brick work.
According to local legend the stupa is attributed to a king named Uttarasena. This is also seems to be collaborated by Xuan Zang (Hiuen Tsiang), Buddhist Records of the Western World, Book III, he writes
To the south-west of the town of Mungali 60 or 70 li there is a great river, on the east of which is a stupa 60 feet or so in height; it was built by Shang-kiun (Utta-rasena). Formerly when Tathagata was about to die, he addressed the great congregation and said: "After my Nirvana, Uttarasena-raja, of the country Udyana (U-chang-na), will obtain a share of the relics of my body. When the kings were about to divide the relics equally, Uttarasena-raja arrived after (the others); coming from a frontier country, he was treated with little regard by the others. At this time the Devas published afresh the words of Tathagata as he was about to die. Then obtaining a portion of relics, the king came back to his country, and, to show his great respect, erected this stupa. By the side of it, on the bank of the great river, there is a large rock shaped like an elephant. Formerly Uttarasena-raja brought back to his own land the relics of Buddha on a great white elephant. Arrived at this spot, the elephant suddenly fell down and died, and was changed immediately into stone. By the side of this the stupa is built.
The local legend tells us that the relics were brought to Shingerdar by a white elephant, which petrified and became the Elephant rock, which is just a kilometer away. You may need a bit of fantasy and imagination to recognize that this rock resembles the head and trunk of an elephant.
Livius.org states that the stupa of king Uttarasena was not built in the late fifth century BCE after the Buddha's ascent to Nirvana, but in the sixth century CE.
Identified by Col. Deane and Aurel Stein as the correct stupa it has had its fair share of controversy over whether it is the correct site of the relics that have long since vanished. Regardless it still is and must have been a beautiful imposing place with a beautiful view of the river. One can imagine the monks in their saffron robes meditating in and around the area. There are no meditation cells like the ones in the monastery at Najigram, but there must have been a steady flow of pilgrims to the site due to the relics stored there.
The stupa must have long been abandoned before the Yousafzay moved into the area, but till recently stories circulate of local boys finding scrolls and other parchments in the 1960’s. As with all antiques found in the area, a very big black market exists and sadly most of these treasures are removed with out ever being catalogued.
Swat, the Uddiyana of Sanskrit language meaning ‘the garden’, was a great centre of Hinayana, Mahayana, Vajarayana and Tantrayana Buddhism, subsequently. It was from here that Buddhism spread to Tibet and China and received transformation.
The Hindu-Buddhist traditions mention Swat as the land of esoteric doctrines, a place of magic and philters, sorcery and fairies. It was one of the four important Tantric centres of ancient India. It is said that the masons, carpenters, stonecutters, craftsmen, architects, sculptors and painters of Swat were in great demand in China, who worked in or for the monasteries of Loyang, in China.
One does have to wonder about the rich culture that once lived in this beautiful valley and the religion that they followed, where did they go and what happened to them?