Lord Vishnu’s 1,300-Year-Old temple discovered in Northwest Pakistan’s Swat

New Delhi: A 1,300 years old Hindu temple has been discovered by Pakistani and Italian archaeological experts in Swat district of northwest Pakistan. The discovery was made during an excavation at Barikot Ghundai.

Fazle Khaliq of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Department of Archaeology believes that this is God Vishnu’s temple. It was built by the Hindus 1,300 years ago during the Hindu Shahi period, he said.

The archaeologists during excavation found traces of cantonment and watchtowers near the temple site. The experts also found a water tank near the temple site which they believed used by the Hindus for bathing before worship.

The Hindu Shahis or Kabul Shahis (850–1026 CE) was a Hindu dynasty that ruled the Kabul Valley (eastern Afghanistan), Gandhara (modern-day Pakistan), and present-day northwestern India.

Swat district is home to thousand-year-old archaeology sites and the traces of the Hindu Shahi period have been found for the first time in the area, Fazle Khaliq said

Head of the Italian archaeological mission, Dr Luka said that this the first temple of the Ghandhara civilisation discovered in Swat district.

Northwest Pakistan’s Swat district is actually among the top 20 sites in Pakistan which is home to every kind of tourism like natural beauty, religious tourism, cultural tourism and archaeological sites.

Several worship places of Buddhism are also situated in Swat district.