Taxila

Taxila
(Urdu: ٹيکسلا‬‎),

 is a city in Rawalpindi District of the Punjab, Pakistan. Taxila is situated about 32 km (20 mi) north-west of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Near N 125 Khanpur Road 3 km famous Tofkian Orange valley Wakefield Gardens. along the historic Grand Trunk Road, near the important Sikh pilgrimage centre of Hasan Abdal, and the Mughal-era Wah Gardens.

Ancient Taxila was historically referred to as Takshashila in Sanskrit, and Takkasila in Pali. The earliest settlement at Taxila was founded around 1000 BCE at the Hathial site. The Hindu epic poem Mahābhārata is believed to have been first recited at Taxila, by the sage Vaiśampāyana. By some accounts, Taxila was home to one of the earliest, if not the first, universities in the world.

Taxila's ruins are internationally renowned, and function as a series of interrelated sites, including: a mesolithic cave, the remains of 4 ancient cities, and Buddhist monasteries and stupas. The ancient ruins of Taxila were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980.

Taxila was in ancient times known in Pali as Takkasila,^[12] and in Sanskrit as Takshashila (IAST: Takṣaśilā). The city's Sanskrit name means "City of Cut Stone". The city's ancient Sanskrit name alternately means "Rock of Taksha" – in reference to the Ramayana story that states the city was founded by Bharata, younger brother of the central Hindu deity Rama, and named in honour of Bharata's son, Taksha.

The city's modern name, however, is derived from the ancient Greek recording of the ancient city's name, noted in Ptolemy’s Geography. The Greek transcription of Taxila became universally favoured over time, while the Pali and Sanskrit versions fell out of use.

 Taxila is one of northern Pakistan's most important tourist destinations, and is home to the Taxila Museum which holds a large number of artifacts from Taxila's excavations.

In 2017, the Pakistani government announced its intention to develop Taxila into a site for Buddhist religious pilgrimage. As part of the efforts, it announced that an exhibition on the Buddhist heritage of the region would be held in Thailand, and that the Thai government would assist in conservation efforts at the site. Relics from Taxila were also sent to Sri Lanka for the 2017 Vesak holiday as part of an effort to showcase the region's Buddhist heritage. The Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation also announced in 2017 that a tour bus service would be launched between the Taxila Museum and Islamabad.

In addition to the ruins of ancient Taxila, relics of Mughal gardens and vestiges of historical Grand Trunk Road are also found in Taxila. Nicholson's Obelisk, named in honour of Brigadier John Nicholson who died in during the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, is a monument from the British era that welcomes travelers arriving from Rawalpindi/Islamabad.

Museums

Taxila Museum has one of the most significant and comprehensive collections of stone Buddhist sculpture from the first to the seventh centuries in Pakistan (known as Gandharan art.






The core of the collection comes from excavated sites in the Taxila Valley, particularly the excavations of Sir John Marshall. Other objects come from excavated sites elsewhere in Gandhara, from donations such as the Ram Das Collection, or from material confiscated by the police and custom authorities.