Taxila Off The Beaten Path

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The Jandial temple, set up on an artificial mound, resembles closely with temples of Greece. Its Ionic columns and pilasters are composed of massive blocks of sandstone. It comprised a square sanctuary, a meeting hall, and a courtyard.

Built in the Scythio-Parthian period, it is probably the temple described by Philostratus in his Life of Apollonius of Tyana. Jandial temple is not considered Buddhist, and may have been used by Zoroastrian worship.

The temple is surrounded on 3 sides with farms, and is easily accessible from the road.

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A monastery built on top of a hill, gives a scenic view of Taxila. A steep climb up several steps takes you to this place, where several statues are in place to view. The monastery houses a small university of that time where monks lived and learned their trade, and have perhaps the most impressive, decorative and evocative remains visible today. Most of the important relics from this site have been shifted to the museum.

There is an enclosure that houses several reliefs some well preserved, but majority scavengered/plundered.

There are also several sellers at the small shop below of fake statues and reliefs (will write about them in shopping tip).

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Situated about 2km north of the Museum, it was one of the largest city of ancient Taxila. Remains of Sirkap shows a well developed city, with lanes and houses along with various stupas strategically built every few blocks. Two prominent stupas remaining are the Double Headed Eagle and Jain temple dating back to 1st century AD. The double headed eagle represents 3 civilization that must have adorned this area: Greek, Hindu, and Buddhism. All represented in the motif.

You need a lot of imagination to see what the city was probably like, with double story houses and shops all around. A lot of Greek influence is observable here.

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The earliest and largest Buddhist complex, stands on the banks of Dharma rivulet, it was built to enshrine the redistributed holy relics of the Buddha by King Asoka. The site was excavated in 1912-16 by Sir John Marshall.

Situated about 2 km east of the museum (on your left), a path over two streams, now a proper staircase, takes you up towards this monastery. The Stupa and monastery dates from Asoka’s time in the mid-third century BC. There were series of small Stupas build around by wealthy devotees, and a series of chapels.

The ruins shows that this was a great religious site, with various tall human and animal stuccos (only feet and other small remains are now visible) at various spots around. The site is situated in a very serene surrounding overlooking the Taxila hills.

Located south of the museum, and also visible from the main road, this is the oldest and first site excavated by Sir John Marshall. The site dates back from 6th – 2nd century BC. There is little to see as the excavation has pointed out that the settlement was a clutter of unplanned alleys and streets.

On my recent trip, sadly the area around was becoming a cricket ground.