Photo: Department of Archaeology & Museums, Government of PakistanField guides / Khyber Pakhtunkhwa / Rawalpindi / Pipplan Stupa and Monastery, Taxila
Field guide · Heritage
Rawalpindi
Rawalpindi District · Punjab, Pakistan
Pipplan Stupa and Monastery, Taxila
A well-preserved Buddhist monastery and stupa court on the Jaulian road at Taxila, with a little three-tiered stupa still standing in its cell.
Pipplan lies on the Jaulian road at Taxila, below the Piplan hills and between the better-known monasteries of Jaulian and Mohra Moradu. It is smaller than they are but built to the same plan: a court of monks' cells, once two storeys high around an open quadrangle with a rain-water tank at its centre; a hall of assembly, kitchen and refectory; and a court of stupas to the east. Its treasure is a small stupa standing almost complete in a corner cell, a little under 2.5 metres tall, rising in three diminishing tiers to a dome. When Sir John Marshall excavated it he found Ionic pilasters on its lowest tier, a seated Buddha in meditation on the second, and traces of gold, red and black paint.
Why go
- ✦A small stupa still standing almost complete in its cell
- ✦A monastery built to the same plan as Jaulian and Mohra Moradu
- ✦Excavated by Sir John Marshall
Visiting today
Pipplan is protected under the Antiquities Act, 1975, and is one of the quieter stops on the Taxila Buddhist circuit, an easy add-on to Jaulian.
Planning tip
Best Time to Visit, October to April, when the Taxila valley is cool; combine it with Jaulian and Mohra Moradu in a morning.
Getting there, On Jaulian Stupa Road at Taxila, a few minutes from the Jaulian and Mohra Moradu monasteries.
What to Do
Nearby
Straight-line distance from Pipplan Stupa and Monastery, Taxila, within 5 km.
