Taxila, the Ancient City of Pakistan

The city where every stone tells you a story.

I have visited Taxilla almost five times, but still I feel that the tour is incomplete, urging to visit again, and to lose myself in that ancient city.

Taxila is located at 30 km north of Islamabad, it takes around 30 to 45 minutes to drive from Islamabad depending which route you are traveling.

Three roads lead to texilla:

-Srinagar highway to Motorway

-Margalla Avenue ( Shahrah E Iran)

-Grand trunk road (N5)

This city is UNESCO world heritage site.

It is the ancient capital of Ghandhara Kingdom.

It is one of the most vital archaeological treasures of Asia carrying the mix culture of
persians, greeks, and Buddhists.

Taxila is nestled at the foot hills of Margalla mountains.

It is rich of extensive serial complex of prehistoric settlements, ancient cities and Buddhist monasteries.

This city was calculated/ planned at the crossroads of silk road, means it was coveted by successive empires.

Like

• Achaemenid & Alexander
• Mauryan Dynasty
• Indo- Greeks, Scythians & Parthians
• Kushan Empire

The Taxila valley contains 4 distinct ancient sites.

• Saraikala
• Bhir Mound
• Sirkap
• Sirsukh

The sites which are worth visiting are:

• Dharmajika Stupa
• Julian Buddhist monastery
• Mohra Moradu
• Jandial complex
• Bhamala Stupa
• Giri Fort

Taxila museum was established to preserves the regions rich Greco Buddhist heritage.

The museum construction began under British rule in 1918 and was officially opened to public in 1928.

When I visited texilla in 2019, it was every artifact and statue was placed in the shelves and racks, museum was completely complete!

But when I visited in 2023, I found most of the shelves were empty and large statues of Buddha were missing.

I asked the caretaker, as per his saying these items were called for an exhibition in some other country ( name is not mentioned due to conflict). Sadly, till dated they did not return.

Even recently when I visited , seeing the situation as still the same.

The famous handicraft in Taxila is stone crafting ( carved black stone of area into decorative items and kitchen utensils).

Crafting replicas of ancient Gandhara artifacts.

Tourists buy these as a souvenir.

Clay structured show pieces are also very famous I also bought one.

Whenever it is possible I love travelling to Taxila. I never say no if someone asks me to accompany them.

Travel as long as you are healthy and have the budget 😉.

[//]:# (!worldmappin 33.74368 lat 72.81080 long Taxila (ٹیکسلا) d3scr)