Buddhistic cloister of Ajina-Tepa

Ajina Tepe is one of Central Asia's most significant Buddhist monastic ruins, constructed in the 7th and 8th centuries in the Vakhsh Valley of present-day Tajikistan. The site follows the layout of a classic sarighārāma — two symmetrical courtyards of mud-brick structures, one devoted to monastic life and one to temple worship. Soviet archaeologists excavating the site in the 1960s and 1970s unearthed a reclining Buddha figure over eight meters in length, now displayed in the National Museum in Dushanbe and treated as a national icon. The monastery's location on a branch of the Silk Road demonstrates how far Buddhist culture had penetrated Central Asia before the arrival of Islam in the region. As of 2025, Ajina Tepe has been officially inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the Cultural Heritage Sites of Ancient Khuttal.