Preservation of the Buddhist Monastery of Ajina Tepa, Tajikistan

The southeast wall facing the courtyard with a stupa that was found by investigation

Cooperative work with young Tajik experts

　The Japan Center for International Cooperation in Conservation dispatched the 3^rd mission of the UNESCO/Japan Trust Fund project, Preservation of the Buddhist Monastery of Ajina Tepa, Tajikistan from April 16 to May 9. The purpose of this project is the preservation of a Buddhist monastery made of mud bricks and/or pisé. The Center has been removing sand and weeds that have accumulated since past excavations and conducting archaeological cleaning and soundings since 2006 in order to clarify the position and structure of the walls of the monastery.
　In this mission, we carefully studied the southeast wall facing the courtyard where a stupa is located, and confirmed the entrance that leads to the room where Parinirvana Buddha had been once placed. In addition, as a result of soundings at two points on the edge of the site, we were able to detect the outer wall of the Buddhist monastery and to confirm its original size. Such results provide information valuable for the conservation of Ajina Tepa. All archaeological investigations made at the site were done with young Tajik archaeologists, whose cooperation was of great help. At the same time, we believe that it was meaningful from the point of view of capacity building of local experts.