Ancient Buddhist temple found in this city of Pakistan, one of the oldest temples in the world [TKB World]

There are many Buddhist temples all over the world. But a recently discovered temple may be one of the oldest Buddhist temples ever discovered. This temple is found in the Swat Valley of northern Pakistan. This area is part of the ancient Gandhara region which was conquered by Alexander.

Archaeologists believe that this temple dates back to the middle of the 2nd century BC. This was the time when Gandhara was ruled by the Indo-Greek kingdom of northern India. This temple was built on top of an earlier Buddhist temple, which dates back to the 3rd century BC.

This means that people must have built the old temple within a few hundred years of the death of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism. Gautama Buddha lived in what is now northern India and Nepal, between 563 BC and 483 BC.

This temple is found in the center of the city Barikote. The excavated remains of the temple are more than 10 feet high. The vestiges also have a platform on top of which is a cylindrical structure, which houses a dome-shaped Buddhist monument, called a stupa.

The temple complex also includes a small stupa, a chamber for monks, a staircase, a memorial pillar, large rooms and a public courtyard.

Archaeologist Luca Maria Olivieri at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and ISMEO excavated the site with collaborators from Pakistan and Italy. They say that radiocarbon dating will reveal the exact time of this place. But the Barikot temple is clearly one of the oldest Buddhist monuments found in the ancient Gandhara region.

Italian archaeologists who had been working in Swat since 1955 began excavations in Barikot in 1984. Researchers say that until a few years ago, excavations took place only in the southwest district and Acropolis of the city of Barikot, not in the city centre. The newly discovered temple is in the center of the city. The team started excavation there in 2019. From the pits made by the robbers, it seemed that there might be some special burial there.

The temple was located along an ancient road leading to the main Buddhist monument of the ancient city. This is a 65 feet wide stupa which was discovered a few years back.