Jandial

Jandial is a temple on the northern outskirts of the city of Taxila in Pakistan . The ruined city of Sirkap lies about 650 m south of it . The temple has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980, along with other archaeological excavations in the Taxila area .

architecture

The temple was built on a 45-foot-high, artificially piled hill in Greco-Ionic style and covers an area of 45 × 30 m. It consists of a cella , a portico and an opisthodom in which several steps have been preserved, which may have belonged to a staircase in a tower with a beacon. The walls were built from rubble stones and were originally plastered, although the plaster is still preserved in some places. In front of the temple, which faces south, the bases of two Ionic columns and two pilasters made of gray sandstone can be seen. It was surrounded by a 50 m long peristyle , the foundations of which are well preserved.

history

The temple was probably built in the 2nd century BC. Built in the 5th century BC and possibly destroyed during a Huns invasion in the 5th century AD . However, it cannot be ruled out that it served cultic purposes until the 6th or 7th century AD and then fell into disrepair. The excavations in the area of the temple took place in 1912-13 and were directed by the British archaeologist John Marshall .

Jandial D.

About 50 m west of the temple on another man-made mound (Mound D) are the foundations of another temple, excavated by Alexander Cunningham in 1863-64 , whose floor plan is very similar to the Jandial, and the walls over 4 to 6 feet thick, 9 × 15 foot interiors and a 58 foot south porch open to the south. The trade route to Gandhara may have passed between the two hills .

Individual evidence

^ Sir John Marshall: A Guide to Taxila , p. 86. Cambridge 1960.
^ Tonny Rosiny: Pakistan , p. 122. Cologne 1987.
↑ Muhammad Ilyas Bhatti: Taxila - an ancient metropolis of Gandhara , p. 101.Wazirabad 2006.
^ Tonny Rosiny: Pakistan , p. 121. Cologne 1987.
^ Sir John Marshall: A Guide to Taxila , p. 87. Cambridge 1960.
^ Information board in English and Urdu at the temple.
↑ Muhammad Ilyas Bhatti: Taxila - an ancient metropolis of Gandhara , p. 63.Wazirabad 2006.
^ Sir John Marshall: A Guide to Taxila , p. 89. Cambridge 1960.
^ Sir John Marshall: A Guide to Taxila , p. 85. Cambridge 1960.