Mankiala

Mankiala is a village in the Rawalpindi District of Punjab, Pakistan, known for the nearby Manikyala Stupa -- a Gandhara-era Buddhist monument commemorating the legend of Buddha sacrificing himself to feed hungry tiger cubs. During the Buddhist era, the settlement may have comprised approximately 2,000 homes interspersed with monasteries and 15 stupas. The stupa was built during the reign of Kushan emperor Kanishka (128-151 CE), though an alternate theory attributes it to Emperor Ashoka's 84 stupas housing Buddha's ashes. The site is protected under Pakistan's 1975 Antiquities Act.