Kafir Kot Hindu Temples- Pakistan

Address

Kafir Kot Hindu Temples- Dera Ismail Khan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Diety

Hindu Deity

Introduction

Bilot fort temples/ Kafir Kot (11th century CE) are ancient ruins of Hindu temples located in Dera Ismail Khan District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, near the cities of Mianwali and Kundian, in Punjab, Pakistan. Kafir Kot consists of the ruins of 8 temples, and the ruins of a large fort protecting the site. The temple deity is unknown. KafirKot is often referred to as “Northern KafirKot,” with the “Southern KafirKot” located in the city of Bilot, 35 kilometres to the south.

Puranic Significance

There are supposed to be 8 Temples Complexes built by the Hindu Shahi Rulers till the time the Dynasty fell in the 11th Century.That being said the Temple complexes especially the ones are quite big and prominent and ringed by fortifications. It is a point noting that in the Ghaznavid invasions and later invasions from the West these Temples somehow managed to survive. Their main features are an outer defensive wall, consisting of rough blocks of stone, some of great size, and various groups of buildings resembling small Hindu temples and more or less carved. These are built of a curiously honey-combed drab-coloured stone not to be found in the adjacent hills, which is said to have been brought by river all the way from Khushalgarh. The area of the forts is considerable and they could have held a fairly large garrison. The only legends attached to them relate that they were occupied by the last of the Hindu Rajas, Til and Bil; but all traces of rulers and ruled are now lost.”