TAXILA

One of the most important historical sites in the whole of Asia. taxila lies Thirty kilometers north-west of Rawalpindi out along the Grand Trunk Road. Situated startegically on a branch of the Silk Road which linked China to the West, the city flourished both economically and culturally. Taxila reached its greatest heights between the 1st and 5th centuries A.D. Buddhist monuments were erected throughout the Taxila Valley which was changed into a religious heartland .  Undoubtedly badly shaken by the arrival of Huns into the area in the mid-5th century A.D., the city plunged into decline when quarrels among the nobility undermined royal power in the 6th and 7th centuries. The remains of the valley can still be visited today where you can find  Buddhists monasteries and temples still stand today.

SIRKAP

 The city of Sirkap, or "Severed Head", perhaps the second major city of Taxila, is to be found spreading down the Hathial Spur and onto the plains of the Taxila Valley. It is bound by the Tamra rivulet and to the north and south by the Gau rivulet which today has been almost completely obliterated by a modern road and water channel. The present layout of the city was established by the Bactrian Greeks sometime around 180 B.C. and takes the form of a wide and open grid system. In general, the city presents a better planned architecture than Bhir Mound. The city is encompassed by an almighty wall over five kilometers long and up to six meters thick. There may well have been an entrance on all four sides originally, but today the only one evident is the northern wall and it is through here that today's visitors would normally enter the city

TEMPLES

. A number of temples and monasteries can be found here such as Apsidal Temple, Sun Temple, Shrine of the Double Headed Eagle, Kunala Monastery and Ghai Monastery.

Dharmarajika

          Major attraction in this city is the Great Stupa, one of the largest and most impressive throughout Pakistan and is located just two kilometers east of Bhir Mound and Sirkap. The chapels and chambers around the Great Stupa were built at various times from the 1st century B.C. to the post Kushan period. these structure  possibly represent various schools of Buddhism.Other sites of interest include the city of Sirsukh which is believed to belong to the Kushan period. To the north of Sirkap are four temples, all standing on earlier mounds and overlooking the city. They are all in the style of Greek temples. The best to visit is probably the one at Jandial, 1.5 kilometers north of Sirkap. There are several more Buddhist monasteries which are worth a visit too.