A team of researchers has identified the extensive ruins of an 8th-century Gurjara-Pratihara era Buddhist monastery and temple in the Mewat region of Haryana. This discovery challenges previous assumptions about the distribution of Buddhist centers in North India during the early medieval period, highlighting a pocket of active monastic life far from the traditional centers of Magadha.
The site features several intact terracotta relief panels depicting Jataka tales and scenes from the life of the Buddha. Excavations are continuing to determine the full extent of the complex, which appears to have been a major center for learning and manuscript transcription for several centuries before it was abandoned. The find underscores the pluralistic religious landscape of the Pratihara Empire.