Field guides / Khyber Pakhtunkhwa / Gogdara Rock Carving
Field guide · Heritage
Gogdara Rock Carving
A cliff at Gogdara in Swat carved with some 118 figures, including 71 animals, beside later Buddhist reliefs of Maitreya and Avalokitesvara.
At the foot of a hill at Gogdara, near Udegram in Swat, a rock face is covered with more than a hundred carvings. The Italian scholar Giuseppe Tucci recorded the site in 1955. Some 118 figures are incised or scratched into the cliff, and 71 of them have been identified as animals. On a second rock are four seated Buddhist figures, among them a defaced Maitreya holding a water pot and a pensive Avalokitesvara.
Why go
- ✦Some 118 carved figures on one rock face
- ✦71 animal figures from Swat's prehistoric rock art
- ✦Buddhist reliefs of Maitreya and Avalokitesvara
- ✦Recorded by Giuseppe Tucci in 1955
History
The animal figures belong to Swat's prehistoric rock art, while the seated figures are from the Buddhist centuries, so the rock was worked over a very long span. The register's own date for the site ("2 million years BP – 18,000 BCE") cannot apply to the Buddhist reliefs, and no firm date has been published for the carvings. The site is protected as KPK-70.
How to Reach
Near Udegram, on the Mingora–Barikot road in Swat. Use the map on this page; the carvings are at the foot of the hill a short walk from the road.
Planning tip
Best Time to Visit, March to November; spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons in lower Swat.
Getting there, Near Udegram, on the Mingora–Barikot road in Swat. Use the map on this page; the carvings are at the foot of the hill a short walk from the road.
Allow, About 30 minutes.
What to Do
Nearby
Straight-line distance from Gogdara Rock Carving, within 5 km.
