Mann Ki Baat: Old Photograph in France Sheds Light on 2,000-Year-Old Buddhist Past of Kashmir | Kashmir Life

SRINAGAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that the discovery of an old, blurry photograph of three Buddhist stupas preserved in a museum archive in France has helped reveal Kashmir’s glorious past, dating back nearly two thousand years.

Speaking during his monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat, the Prime Minister said recent archaeological findings in Jammu and Kashmir had brought to light large, human-made structures that reflect the region’s rich cultural and historical heritage. He said the developments would fill people with pride about Kashmir’s civilisational legacy.

Referring to Baramulla’s Zehanpora area, Modi said that for years local residents had noticed tall mounds in the landscape but were unaware of their significance. These mounds were considered ordinary until an archaeologist closely observed the site and found that the formations appeared unusual.

The Prime Minister said this observation led to a detailed scientific study of the area. Drones were deployed to capture aerial images, and the land was systematically mapped. As the research progressed, it became clear that the mounds were not natural formations but the remains of a large, human-made structure.

He said a further breakthrough came when, thousands of kilometres away from Kashmir, an old photograph was discovered in the archives of a museum in France. The photograph, though unclear, showed three Buddhist stupas in Baramulla. According to Modi, this visual evidence helped connect the archaeological findings in Zehanpora to Kashmir’s ancient Buddhist past, pushing the historical timeline back nearly two millennia.

The Prime Minister said the Buddhist complex at Zehanpora stands as a reminder of Kashmir’s rich and diverse identity. Archaeologists believe the site to be part of an ancient Buddhist centre dating to the Kushan dynasty, between the first and third centuries CE, a period when Buddhism flourished across the region.

Excavations at Zehanpora are said to have added a new dimension to the understanding of Kashmir’s past, linking the site to the wider network of Buddhist centres visited by travellers and scholars, including Chinese monks such as Xuanzang, who documented similar sites like Ushkur, also known as Hushkapur.

The Prime Minister said such discoveries underline the depth of Kashmir’s historical heritage and the importance of preserving and studying these sites to better understand the region’s role in the cultural and spiritual history of the subcontinent.