Temples and monasteries in Termez, Uzbekistan
Karatepa - Termez, Uzbekistan
 Karatepa |
 Karatepa |
Karatepa is one of the most famous sights in Termez. It is one of the most often attended sights during Uzbekistan tours. This is a Buddhist place of worship built on three hills situated in the north-west part of Old Termez. It includes a number of temples and monasteries that appeared in the beginning of the 2nd century A.D. It is a great historical monument you should visit during your Uzbekistan tour. The architecture of Karatepa is a combination of caves cut in quaternary sandstone, and surface buildings made of pahsa and unbaked brick. Interiors of the shrines were decorated with topical and ornamental paintings on stucco plaster and sculptures made of loess and clay. If you go to the Uzbekistan tour you’ll know much more about this manufacturing. And you’ll know about architectural decor of this place during Uzbekistan tour too. In this decor marble-like limestone and carved stucco were widely used.
Visitors traveling around Uzbekistan can actually know that the Karatepa center achieved the peak of flourishing in the 2nd-3rd centuries. And in 4th-5th centuries a considerable part of the shrines stopped functioning. However, it is highly probable that some shrines, or at least their surface parts continued to exist as Buddhist places of worship till the 6th century. It is unknown whether some Buddhist Monasteries were destroyed by the Arabs. However, Arabs wanted to eradicate other religions on this territory, so they levied special dues on non-Moslim cult. This probably put an end to the function of Buddhist monuments in Termez and its surrounding area. Most likely, the monks living in the Buddhist monasteries of Termez moved to the region of Kashmir, where at that time the dynasty of the Karkots ruled and who were active supporters of Buddhism.
During your Uzbekistan tour,you’ll be told that VIII- IX centuries the majority of Tokharstan's population adopted the new religion that was brought by the Arabs. One of the causes of that non-Moslims had to pay huge taxes on territories. In the 9th-12th centuries hermits called “sufi” settled in semi-destroyed caves.
Walls of Karatepa caves still carry numerous graffiti drawings and visitor’s inscriptions (Bactrian, Middle Persian, Brahmi, Soghdian, Syrian, and Arabic) and it’ll be very interesting to look at them on Uzbekistan tour. Besides, it probably will be interesting to know during Uzbekistan tour that both made when the Buddhist center was functioning and in the period of its decline when caves were still accessible.
