Editing Sirkap (section)

==Religious buildings==
[[Buddhist]] [[stupa]]s with strong [[Hellenistic]] decorative elements can be found throughout the Sirkap site (Stupa of the two eagles [https://web.archive.org/web/20061021053629/http://www.web.virginia.edu/asianarc/public/taxila/eagle02.jpg] indicating a close interaction of religious cultures. A Greek religious temple of the [[Ionic order]] is also visible at the nearby site of [[Jandial]] ({{convert|650|m|sp=us}} from Sirkap), but there is a possibility that it may have been dedicated to a [[Zoroastrian]] cult. A temple of Buddhist goddess [[Hariti]] with hellenistic decoration was also found.

The site of Sirkap bears witness to the city-building activity of the [[Indo-Greeks]] during their occupation of the Indian territory for close to two centuries, as well as their integration of other faiths, especially Buddhism.

===Round stupa===
One round Stupa is present at Sirkap. It is one of the oldest Stupas in the Indian-Subcontinent. It is assumed that this Stupa was uprooted and thrown to its present location by a strong earthquake in the 1st century AD. When the new city was built later, the Stupa was kept by building a protecting wall around it.
[[File:SirkapRoundStupa.JPG|thumb| The round Stupa at Sirkap.]]

===Apsidal Temple===
The building that is known as the Apsidal Temple is the largest sanctuary of Sirkap, measuring about {{convert|70|by|40|m|sp=us}} (by contrast: the Parthenon in Athens is {{convert|70|by|31|m|sp=us}}). The Apsidal Temple consists of a square nave with several rooms, used by the Buddhist monks, and a circular room, which gives the building its apsidal shape. After the earthquake that destroyed the city in c. 30 AD, the Buddhist shrine was built in a spacious courtyard. The round part was probably in use for a small stupa, but no traces of it remain. Some carvings were probably done by an artist from Greece.
[[File:Round room of Apsidal Temple.jpg|thumb| The round room of the Apsidal Temple.]]

===Double-Headed Eagle Stupa===
A special Stupa at Sirkap is the so-called 'Double-Headed Eagle Stupa'. The pilasters here are of a Greek design, "Corinthian columns". In the middle arch, a Greek temple is shown; in the outer, a shrine of a Hindu design can be seen. On top of these sanctuaries, a [[Double-headed eagle]] is seated from which the name of the Stupa has been derived. This motif is rather odd, to say the least, as it is originally [[Babylonia|Babylonian]]. It seems to have spread to [[Scythia]], and introduced in the [[Punjab]] by the [[Saka]] rulers.

===Dharmarajika Stupa===
The nearby [[Dharmarajika Stupa]], is a large [[stupa]] that dates from the 2nd century CE.<ref name=gounesco>{{cite web|title=Dharmarajika: The Great Stupa of Taxila|url=http://www.gounesco.com/dharmarajika-great-stupa-of-taxila/|website=GoUNESCO|publisher=UNESCO|access-date=22 June 2017|date=1 September 2016|archive-date=20 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420110627/https://www.gounesco.com/dharmarajika-great-stupa-of-taxila/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The stupa was built to house relics of the [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]],<ref name=scarre>{{cite book|last1=Scarre|first1=Geoffrey|last2=Coningham|first2=Robin|title=Appropriating the Past: Philosophical Perspectives on the Practice of Archaeology|date=2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521196062|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=djEKducJvNAC&q=dharmarajika+taxila+relics&pg=PA290|access-date=22 June 2017}}</ref> while several monastic buildings were built around the stupa.