Type: Monument - Temple
Province: Punjab
District: Jhelum
Period: Historic
Relative Chronology: 7th - early 11th Century CE
Description: Beghanwala is the name of a small village situated at a distance of about 18 km from Harapur Railway station. About a furlong north of this village on the top of a hill stood in ancient times a Hindu fort, of which only two semi-circular bastions have survived. The fort is locally known as Nandana. All the buildings in the interior of the fort have been devastated except two temple - one large and a smaller one at a little distance to the north-east of it. Both the temples were dedicated to Brahmanical deities and are like them, built in semi-Kashmirian style of architecture. In the absence of any documentary evidence, it is impossible to determine their date of construction, but according to their architectural specimens they are similar to the Kashmiri temples of 9th century CE. The larger temple was a three-storeyed building and access to the upper storey was gained by a spiral stair-case built in the thickness of the walls. The temple faces west, but the wall on this side has for the most part fallen down. The remaining walls, which are standing to a considerable height are relived in each storey with corbel led niches which must originally have held images of subsidiary deities. The smaller temple must also have been an imposing structure. Now however only the basement and its southern wall have survived.
Latitude: 32.779282139
Longitude: 73.937838028
Ownership: Government of Punjab
Legal Status: Protected by The Antiquity Act 1975 (As amended in 1992)
Title of Publication: Archaeological Sites and Historical Monuments Protected Under the Antiquities Act, 1975
Published In: Federal Department of Archaeology & Museums, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad
Year of Publication: 1987
Bibliography/Reference: Khan, Ahmad Nabi
