Taxila is one of six world heritage sites in Pakistan and is a site spread over 30 kilometres with archaeological sites from the Stone Age through to medieval times. There are Buddhist and Jain temples to view as well as later Islamic madrassas and it is shows how the different religions and cultures mingled in this area.
Taxila and the 2010 floods
Taxila is situated thirty kilometres away from Islamabad and Rawalpindi and approached on the Grand Trunk Road. To see the entire site will take at least one day as the different sites are in 18 or 20 locations. Unfortunately some of the sites were badly damaged in the monsoon floods of 2010, and Pakistan has requested assistance from UNESCO to restore the stucco statues and other artifacts.
Taxila has a history of sculpting
Taxila gets its name from the sound of stonemasons tac- tacing when making their replicas of the mainly Buddhist statues, grave stones and household items such as pestle and mortars, dhorris as they are called. Sil means stone in Urdu. Some of the statues are sold as originals on the world market but the artists who make them do not receive much money for their efforts. The profits go into the pockets of the middlemen. Taxila has a centuries long tradition of stone crafting as can be seen in the statues at the site.
Taxila’s Museum
There is a small museum near the modern town of Taxila which is bursting at the seams with artifacts from the surrounding sites. I was particularly struck by the Buddhist statues and the jewellery, some of which was from the time of Alexander the Great, and very reminiscent of ancient Cycladic art. You need time in the museum, which closes at 4 pm, so it is best to spend a day at the outdoor site and then return to the museum the following day.
The Jaulian University
On a mountain overlooking Taxila is the Jaulian Buddhist university which is one of the oldest in the world. Today Taxila has an education “city” or campus which houses a number of colleges, so it is clearly attempting to emulate its history of education.
A place to relax
There is a stream that runs through the valley in which the World Heritage site is situated and this must have been much larger when Taxila was a thriving, cosmopolitan region. If you take a picnic with you for your day out, then the banks of the stream make a pleasant resting place. In fact this is recommended as there are few places to eat in the area.
Taxila was in top 5 tourist destinations in Pakistan
Writing in “The Guardian” newspaper (UK) in 2006, Antonia Windsor rated Taxila as one of the top five places to see in Pakistan and unfortunately since then the local people have been content to rest on their laurels and very little has been done to protect this heritage site from locals who visit the sites after rain to see if they can find some treasure. Many local people will show you coloured beads and coins that they have found in the past and still visit the sites illegally looking for gold and silver.
Greek Links with Pakistan
If you are interested in ancient Greek cities and have visited sites such as Ephesus in Turkey, you may be surprised to see how similar the sites are in Taxila. It would seem that the Greek influence is still in Pakistan today too, especially in some of the remote valley areas in North West Pakistan in the Swat Valley, where the people are said to be descendants of soldiers from Alexander the Great’s army.
Foreign tourists have to pay to visit each separate site and the museum; they also have to pay a lot more than Pakistani nationals to view the excavations. However it is still cheap compared to Western standards and well worth the money if you love ancient history.
Lynne Evans - I have a BA(hons) in English and American Lit, and a MEd in TEFL and multicultural education.I have been a consultant in the fields of ...
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