Digital Images of a 2000-Year-Old Monastery

CyArk and the Lahore University of Management Science teamed up in 2015 to digitally record Jaulian, a 2000-year-old Buddhist Center and monastery in Pakistan. The project to help protect important buildings by creating a Technology Center was funded by a grant from USAID.

In 2015, students from the Lahore University of Management Sciences scanned the main Buddhist shrine and its surroundings using laser scanners. They sent the data over to CyArk, a not-for-profit digital archive group. The data was then processed and stored. 

The students of LUMS used a Leica laser scanner to document every last detail of the outside of the Buddhist shrine.

The scans are created into a map of the territory that can be used as a reference point to see if there is any natural deterioration of the shrine. This process helps preserve the architecture, details, and inscriptions of the Jaulian Buddhist complex. 

The data adds another layer of protection in the effort to preserve one of this 2000-year-old monastery from any potential future damage.