Abstract: This paper presents ongoing research on the Buddhist site of Tapa Sardar (Ghazni, Afghanistan), excavated by the Italian Archaeological Mission during the 1960s and 1970s. Through a process of graphic anastylosis and a re-examination of the archaeological documentation—including excavation reports, photographs, drawings, and stratigraphic data—the study aims to reconstruct the original appearance of selected cultic structures and to explore their artistic and religious significance. The focus is on a series of clay thrones dating to the Late Period of the site, which originally supported large sacred images and were arranged along the circumambulatory path surrounding the Main Stupa. Although the fragmentary state of preservation makes the identification of the principal figures uncertain, the most plausible hypothesis is that they represented transcendent Buddhas associated with the different directions of space. Numerous fragments of standing Buddhas, displaying a variety of mudrās and monastic robe arrangements, appear to have functioned as attendant figures. The evidence points to a complex Mahāyāna-inspired iconographic program that also included bodhisattvas, some of whom may be identified as Maitreya. A key interpretative question remains open: the standing Buddhas may represent the Manushi Buddhas, understood as earthly manifestations of the transcendent Buddhas. If confirmed, this interpretation would constitute a rare, perhaps unique, example in the Buddhist art of Central Asia in which the Manushi Buddhas accompany the transcendent Buddhas as their manifestations in the earthly realm.
eartHeritage – PRIN 2022JL5HLY
