Kala-i Kafirnigan | |
Location | Tajikistan |
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Coordinates | 37°53′51″N 68°15′46″E / 37.897429°N 68.262701°E |
Type | Buddhist cloister |
Kalai Kafirnigan, also Kala-i Kafirnigan was a Buddhist temple in the region of Tokharistan (Classical Bactria), dated to the 7th-8th century CE. Buddhism in Tokharistan is said to have enjoyed a revival under the Western Turks (known as Tokhara Yabghus in Tokharistan). Several monasteries of Tokharistan dated to the 7th-8th centuries display beautiful Buddhist works of art, such as Kalai Kafirnigan, Ajina Tepe, Khisht Tepe or Kafyr Kala, around which Turkic nobility and populations followed Hinayana Buddhism.[1]