Overview
The modern town of Taxila is 35 km from Islamabad. Most of the archaeological sites of Taxila (600 BC to 500 AD) are located around Taxila Museum. For over one thousand years, Taxila remained famous as a centre of learning Gandhara art of sculpture, architecture, education and Buddhism in the days of Buddhist glory.There are over 50 archaeological sites scattered in a radius of 30 km around Taxila. Some of the most important sites are: Dhamarajika Stupa and Monastery (300 BC – 200 AD), Bhir Mound (600-200 BC), Sirkap (200 BC – 600 AD), Jandial Temple and Jaulian Monastery (200 – 600 AD).
SAWAT MUSEUM
The Lush-green valley of Swat District—with its rushing torrents, icy-cold lakes, fruit-laden orchards and flower-decked slopes—is ideal for holiday-makers intent on relaxation. It also has a rich historical past: “Udayana” (the “Garden”) of the ancient Hindu epics; “the land of enthralling beauty”, where Alexander of Macedonia fought and won some of his major battles before crossing over to the plains of Pakistan, and “the valley of the hanging chains” described by the famous Chinese pilgrim-chroniclers, Faxian and Xuanzang in the fifth and seventh centuries. Swat was once a cradle for major strands of Buddhism, where 1,400 monasteries flourished: Little Vehicle, Great Vehicle and the Esoteric sects. It was the home of the famous Gandhara School of Sculpture which was an expression of Graeco-Roman form in the local Buddhist tradition.However, the ruins of great Buddhist stupas, monasteries and statues are found all over Swa.
TAKH BAHI
Takht-i-Bahi is a great source of information on Buddhism and the way of life people here used to follow. The village is built on the ruins of the ancient town, the foundation walls of which are still in a tolerably good formation. As a proof that it was in the past occupied by the Buddhists and Hindu races, coins of those periods are still found at the site. the monks constructed it for their convenience.
GANDHARA.
The majority of people in Gandhara, present day Southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, were Buddhist. Gandhara was largely Mahayana Buddhist, but also a stronghold of Vajrayana Buddhism. The Swat Valley, known in antiquity as Uddiyana, was a kingdom tributary to Gandhara. There are many archaeological sites from the Buddhist era in Swat.
KARTARPUR (Guru Nanak)
Guru Nanak was born 1469 in Nankana Sahib near Lahore and spent the later part of his life at Kartarpur in the Narowal district, where his remains are buried and also kept in a Samadhi. These two religious sites are the most sacred to Sikhs all over the world. Gurdawara Janam Asthan and Gurdawara Kartarpur to Sikhs are what Makkah and Madina are to Muslims!
Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the historic Kartarpur Corridor on Saturday 9 November 2019, for the followers of Guru Nanak, allowing them to visit the revered Sikh Guru’s final resting place .
The three-kilometre corridor provides visa-free access to Sikh pilgrims, allowing them to travel to Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, where Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, spent the final years of his life.
The prime minister welcomed the Sikh community to Kartapur at the start of his address. “First of all, I congratulate the Sikh community on the 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak and welcome you all.”
