The History Of Kargah Buddha (Yshani) Gilgit

Carved over a hard cliff, the ‘Yatchini’ of the Kargah Buddha has a lot to say about man-devouring evil. At first glance, the carving seems like a naked female figure. However, upon a closer look, the Yatchini has broad and squarish face with distended ears, a flat nose and a broad mouth. With his right hand raised, he stares back at you in a fearless pose.

A series of holes create a boundary around the Yatchini. These pinholes are believed to be holding ogress in place. The 13 holes are fixed on all four sides of the ogress. Later the saint declared that she would not bother them as long as the saint was alive and if they buried the saint at the foothills of the rock, she would never be freed. The saint was said to have been buried right below the Buddha statue.

According to local tradition, Yatchini means a female demon or djinn for evil spirits.

Kargha Buddha is a famous heritage site situated a few kilometers from Gilgit city. The rock carving beside the Kargah Nala just west of Gilgit along the road to Punial is the most popular short outing resort from the Gilgit city. Kargha Buddha was carved in the 7th century. The local legend about the Buddha tells of a man-devouring ogress, called Yatshini who lived at Kargha.

Every year thousands of Buddhists from Korea, Japan and other countries visit the Buddhist site for a viewing of the statue of Yatchini.

According to famous Japanese scholar Dr Haruko Tsuchiya, “This is a chambs style figure. The only other figure of the same style is found in Mulbelandakh. The sort of figure is known as Buddhaisatta vs Maitreya, which has nothing to do with Gandhara Art.”

A former British political agent DLR Lorimer stationed at Gilgit from 1920AD to 1924AD also collected and published this Yachani tale in his book, Gilgit, Chitral and Yasin.