Butkara No 1 is also called Butkara, or the local name of Gulkada (gool -ka-da). This site has yielded one of Swat's richest harvests of artefacts, all now in museums. The enormous central stupa was probably begun by Ashoka in the 3rd century BC; by the 10th century it had been rebuilt five times, each new version enclosing the last.
Surrounding it were over 200 little stupas built by wealthy pilgrims. To get here, find the first road just north of the Swat Museum, off Saidu Sharif Rd, and walk east along it for 900m. Then walk 250m north on a footpath across fields to a boundary fence in a grove of trees.
