Mud-brick walls
Old vaults and passages.
Danny Roper — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Prince Roy from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam — CC BY 2.0 · Prince Roy from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam — CC BY 2.0 · Prince Roy from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam — CC BY 2.0 · Prince Roy from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam — CC BY 2.0
Ajina Tepa is the ruin of a Buddhist monastery from the 7th and 8th centuries in the Vakhsh valley of southern Tajikistan, east of the city of Bokhtar. It was added to UNESCO's World Heritage Tentative List in 1999 and lies about 87 km in a straight line from central Dushanbe. Buddhism is said to have revived in Tokharistan under the Western Turks, and several monasteries rich in works of art rose here, Ajina Tepa among them. The great reclining Buddha now shown in the National Museum of Antiquities in Dushanbe came from this site, along with sculpted heads and other finds. What remains on the ground are walls and vaults of mud brick melting into the grass, and narrow passages between large earthen blocks that trace the monastery and its courtyard. Green fields surround the site, with mountains on the horizon. The site is simple, with few facilities, so bring water and a hat. Do not climb the fragile mud walls. To see its treasures, visit the Museum of Antiquities in Dushanbe before or after.
Old vaults and passages.
A courtyard ringed by earthen blocks.
Home of the reclining Buddha.
East of Bokhtar, Khatlon Region, Tajikistan
In the National Museum of Antiquities in Dushanbe.
Few, so bring water and a hat.