Pakistan: 1,300-Year-Old Vishnu Temple With Water Tank, Cantonment And Watchtowers Discovered In Swat District

A Hindu temple of Sri Vishnu believed to be 1,300 years old has been discovered on a mountain by the archaeologists in northwest Pakistan.

The temple remains are found in Swat district at Barikot Ghundai .

On Thursday (19 November), Fazle Khaliq of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Department of Archaeology said that the temple discovered is of Lord Vishnu and was built during the rule of the Hindu Shahi dynasty, reports NDTV.

During their excavation, the archaeologists also found traces of cantonment and watchtowers, and a water tank near the temple site.

The Hindu Shahi or the Kabul Shahi dynasty ruled the Kabul Valley (eastern Afghanistan), Gandhara (modern-day Pakistan-Afghanistan), and present-day northwestern India till the 11th century CE. The next few centuries saw Muslim invasions and destruction of the temples etc.

Khaliq said that Swat district is home to ancient archaeological sites and the traces of the Hindu Shahi period have been found for the first time in Swat. Dr Luka, the head of the Italian archaeological mission, said this was the first temple of the Ghandhara civilisation that was discovered in the district.