Dating back to the Kushana period, the Buddhist complex at Mohra Moradu was built in the 2nd century and extensively renovated during the 4th and 5th century CE. The remains of Mohra Moradu are situated in a valley at the back of the village of Mohra Moradu, about 1.6 kilometers to the south-east of the city Sirsukh. It was excavated under the supervision of Sir John Marshall by Abdul Qadir in 1914 and 1915 and was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1980.
Inside the glen an oblong terrace was constructed by the Buddhist builders, and side by side on this terrace a stupa and a monastery were erected. Both the main stupa and monastery proved to be remarkably well preserved, standing to a height between 4.5 and 6 meters and still retaining many admirably executed reliefs in stucco on their walls.
The monastery, connected with the stupa, is in the form of a rectangular court. It comprises several spacious chambers on its eastern side. The entrance to the rectangular court is on the north and is approached by a broad flight of steps with a landing at the top leading into a small portico. On the west wall of the portico is an arched niche containing a well-preserved group of figures in high relief, namely the Buddha in the center and four attendant worshippers on either side. Passing from the portico into the interior of the monastery we find ourselves in a spacious court with twenty-seven cells arranged on its four sides. In some of the cells, there are small niches for lamps. In the middle of the court, there is a 2 feet depression with steps descending into it from all four sides. This was a bath (jantaghara), an indispensable adjunct of every Buddhist monastery.
One of the best collections of stucco sculptures at Taxila was discovered from Mohra Moradu. This is a group of Buddha and Bodhisattvas sculptures which have now mostly been shifted to Taxila Museum. The walls of the stupa were decorated with many of these stucco reliefs. Presumably, the whole surface of the structure up to the top of the drum was covered with these figures. Among the many detached heads found around the base of this stupa and now displayed in the museum, several are in an unusually good state of preservation. Over the surface of these sculptures is a fine slip, applied apparently before the final definition was given to the features. The faces of these statues were left white, but the lips, edges of nostrils, folds of eyelids, folds of the neck and earlobes were all painted red. The hair was of a greyish black color. The polychrome, however, has now mostly disappeared.
Another valuable find is a small votive stupa, almost complete in every detail, found inside cell no. 9 on the left side of the monastery, built in the memory of a respected teacher or monk. A replica of this stupa has been erected in Taxila Museum.
