GarlandGurule05 at 21:21, 13 October 2024

2024-10-13T21:21:25Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name = Jandial
| native_name =
| alternate_name =
| image = [[File:Jandial Temple reconstitution.jpg|300px]]<br>Reconstitution<br>[[File:A picture Texila by Usman Ghani.jpg|300px]]
| alt =
| caption = The Hellenistic temple with [[Ionic order|Ionic]] columns at Jandial, [[Taxila]].
| map_type = Pakistan Punjab#Pakistan#Asia
| map_alt =
| map_size =
| relief = yes
| coordinates = {{coord|33|45|52.1|N|72|49|43.7|E|display=inline,title}}
| location =
| region =
| type = Temple
| part_of =
| length =
| width =
| area =
| height =
| builder =
| material =
| built = 1st or 2nd century BCE
| abandoned =
| epochs = 
| cultures =
| dependency_of =
| occupants =
| event =
| excavations =
| archaeologists = [[John Marshall (archaeologist)|Sir John Marshall]]
| condition =
| ownership =
| management =
| public_access =
| website = 
| notes =
| designation1 = WHS
| designation1_offname = '''Taxila'''
| designation1_type =
| designation1_criteria = iii, iv
| designation1_date = 1980
| delisted1_date =
| designation1_number =139
| designation1_free1name =
| designation1_free1value =
}}
'''Jandial''' near the city of [[Taxila (modern)|Taxila]] in [[Pakistan]] is the site of an ancient temple well known for its [[Ionic order|Ionic]] columns. The temple is located 630 meters north of the northern gate of [[Sirkap]].<ref>"The Hellenistic Settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria and India" Getzel M. Cohen, Univ of California Press, 2013, p.327 [https://books.google.com/books?id=GtEkDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA327]</ref> The Temple was excavated in 1912–1913 by the [[Archaeological Survey of India]] under [[John Marshall (archaeologist)|John Marshall]]. It has been called the most [[Ancient Greece|Hellenic]] structure yet found on Pakistani soil.<ref>"The Dynastic Arts of the Kushans", John M. Rosenfield, University of California Press, 1 janv. 1967 p.129 [https://books.google.com/books?id=udnBkQhzHH4C&pg=PA129]</ref>

==Temple structure==
The Temple is considered as a semi-[[Classical Greece|Classical]] temple. Its design is essentially that of a [[Greek Temple]], with a [[Cella|naos]], [[pronaos]] and an [[opisthodomos]] at the back.<ref>"The Hellenistic Settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria and India" Getzel M. Cohen, Univ of California Press, 2013, p.327 [https://books.google.com/books?id=GtEkDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA327]</ref> Two Ionic columns at the front are framed by two [[anta (architecture)|anta]] walls as in a Greek [[distyle in antis]] layout. It seems that the temple had an outside wall with windows or doorways, in a layout similar to that of a Greek encircling row of columns ([[peripteros|peripteral]] design).<ref>Rowland, p.492</ref> The dimensions of the Temple were around 45 x 30 meters.

[[File:Jandial Temple Plan.jpg|thumb|left|The Temple in Jandial has the general layout of a [[Greek Temple]].]]
However, inside the Temple, between the naos and the opisthodomos, there is a heavy wall with stairs, which has led some authors to consider that it was designed to support a [[ziggurat]] as in a [[Zoroastrian]] or [[Magian]] temple.<ref>"The Hellenistic Settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria and India" Getzel M. Cohen, Univ of California Press, 2013, p.327 [https://books.google.com/books?id=GtEkDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA327]</ref><ref>"The Grandeur of Gandhara: The Ancient Buddhist Civilization of the Swat, Peshawar, Kabul and Indus Valleys" Rafi U. Samad, Algora Publishing, 2011 p.62 [https://books.google.com/books?id=cJtMBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA62]</ref>

Besides the [[Pataliputra capital]] (3rd century BCE), the Ionic style is a rare occurrence in the [[Indian subcontinent]], and it almost disappeared afterwards, apart from a [[pillar]] in [[Ahin Posh]], which seems to be more [[Indo-Parthian Kingdom|Parthian]] than truly [[Hellenistic]].<ref>"Papers on the Date of Kaniṣka" Arthur Llewellyn Basham, Brill Archive, 1969, p.23 [https://books.google.com/books?id=ks4UAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA23]</ref><ref>Rowland, p.495</ref> It seems to have disappeared with the weakening of direct Greek presence in India, to be exclusively replaced by the numerous instances of [[Corinthian order|Corinthian]] art that can be found in the [[Indo-Corinthian capital]]s of [[Gandhara]].<ref>Rowland, p.496</ref>

==Construction==
[[File:Ionic column and Ionic molded base of anta at Jandial.jpg|thumb|[[Ionic order|Ionic]] column and [[capital (architecture)|capital]] and Ionic molded base of [[anta (architecture)|anta]] at Jandial.]]
[[File:Conjectural restoration of the Jandial Temple 2nd century BCE.jpg|thumb|Conjectural restoration of the Jandial Temple.]]
The Ionic capitals of the Jandial temple seem to be a rather provincial and dry version of the Ionic [[Temple of Artemis]] in [[Ephesus]].<ref>Rowland, p.492</ref> However the design of the bases is quite pure, as are the wall [[molding (decorative)|molding]]s. Also the drums are finely joined with [[dowel]]s. All this suggests work which was done under Greek supervision, or maybe by Greeks directly.<ref>Rowland, p.493</ref>

==Dating==
The Temple may have been built in the 2nd century BCE under the [[Greeks]] in India ([[Indo-Greeks]]).<ref>"The Grandeur of Gandhara: The Ancient Buddhist Civilization of the Swat, Peshawar, Kabul and Indus Valleys" Rafi U. Samad, Algora Publishing, 2011 p.62 [https://books.google.com/books?id=cJtMBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA62]</ref> The exact alignment of the Temple with [[Sirkap]] leads some authors to think that it may have been built during the main occupation period of the Greek city,<ref>"Papers on the Date of Kaniṣka" Arthur Llewellyn Basham, Brill Archive, 1969, p.23 [https://books.google.com/books?id=ks4UAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA23]</ref> and that it may have been the work of an architect from [[Asia Minor]],<ref>"The Grandeur of Gandhara: The Ancient Buddhist Civilization of the Swat, Peshawar, Kabul and Indus Valleys" Rafi U. Samad, Algora Publishing, 2011 p.62 [https://books.google.com/books?id=cJtMBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA62]</ref> or from [[Greece]] or an architect trained in Greek techniques.<ref>Rowland, p.491</ref>

Alternatively, it may have been built under the [[Indo-Parthian]]s in the 1st century BCE in order to practice the Zoroastrian faith, possibly right after their invasion of Hellenistic lands, using Greek manpower and expertise.<ref>"The Hellenistic Settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria and India" Getzel M. Cohen, Univ of California Press, 2013, p.327 [https://books.google.com/books?id=GtEkDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA327]</ref><ref>Rowland, p.493</ref> Alternatively, it may be the construction of a Greek devotee of Zoroastriasm, at it known that in India the Greeks easily followed other faith, as exemplified by the dedication to [[Garuda]] made by a Greek envoy on the [[Heliodorus pillar]] in [[Besnagar]].<ref>Rowland, p.495</ref>

A coin of the [[Indo-Scythian]] ruler [[Azes I]] was found in the rubbles of the Temple, which may suggest that construction occurred during his reign.<ref>Rowland, 494</ref>

The Jandial Temple may have been the one visited by [[Apollonius of Tyana]] during his visit of the subcontinent in the 1st century CE.<ref>Rowland, p.494</ref>
{{blockquote|"[[Taxila]], they tell us, is about as big as [[Nineveh]], and was fortified fairly well after the manner of Greek cities; and here was the royal residence of the personage who then ruled the empire of [[Porus the Elder|Porus]]. And they saw a Temple, in front of the wall, which was not far short of 100 feet in size, made of stone covered with [[stucco]], and there was constructed within it a shrine, somewhat small as compared with the great size of the Temple which is surrounded with columns, but deserving of notice. For bronze tablets were nailed into each of its walls on which were engraved the exploits of Porus and [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]]."|source="Life of Appolonius of Tyana", [[Philostratus]] 2.16-20<ref>[https://www.livius.org/sources/content/philostratus-life-of-apollonius/philostratus-life-of-apollonius-2.16-20 Philostratus, Life of Apollonius 2.16-20]</ref>}}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Jandial Archaeological Survey of India Report 1912-1913.jpg|Survey of 1912–13. Remnants of additional pillars can be seen in the front.
File:Jandial Column Archaeological Survey of India Report 1912-1913.jpg|Survey of 1912–13. Decorative details are visible on the capital.
Taxila map.jpg|Jandial is located just to the north of [[Sirkap]].
</gallery>

==Jandial D==
On another mound (Mound D),a little to the west of Jandial, foundations of another temple (Jandial D) which may have been built in the 2nd century BCE under the Greeks as well, were excavated in 1863–64.<ref>Sir John Marshall: ''A Guide to Taxila'', p.89. Cambridge 1960</ref> The temple which has a plan very similar to Jandial had a large front porch measuring 58 feet. Between Jandial and Jandial D ran most probably the ancient high-road to Gandhara.<ref>Sir John Marshall: ''A Guide to Taxila'', p.85. Cambridge 1960</ref>

==Sources==
* "Notes on Ionic Architecture in the East" Benjamin Rowland, Jr., American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 489–496 Published by: Archaeological Institute of America <ref>[https://jstor.org/stable/498156 Notes on Ionic Architecture in the East]</ref>

==External links==
*[https://www.google.com/maps/place/Jandial+Temple/@33.7610178,72.8271629,1048m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m12!1m6!3m5!1s0x38dfa46aa5ebff3f:0xd4295cf8d235174c!2sSirkap+Remains!8m2!3d33.7576731!4d72.8293347!3m4!1s0x0:0x3fc9bfe055d6960f!8m2!3d33.7644888!4d72.8288144?hl=en Google Map images of the site]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Gandhara |state=expanded}}
{{Archaeological sites in Taxila |state=expanded}}

[[Category:Taxila Tehsil]]
[[Category:Indo-Parthian kingdom]]

Jandial - Revision history

GarlandGurule05 at 21:21, 13 October 2024