Kallar Temple (Sassi da Kallara): Brick Hindu Shahi Temple

Sassi da Kallara, also called the Kallar Temple, is a small Hindu temple of fired brick on a ridge in Talagang tehsil, about 4 km south-west of Shah Mohammad Wali village and roughly 51 km from Talagang town. It was built by the Hindu Shahi rulers sometime between the late 8th and the 10th century, and it stands out because almost every other temple in the Salt Range is built of stone. The shrine survives, but its dome has been replaced in cement and the hillside under it is eroding. Getting there means crossing rough ground and a seasonal stream, so it suits determined heritage travellers rather than casual visitors.

This guide covers what the temple is, why its brickwork matters, what condition it is in, how to approach it, and where it fits on a Salt Range temple trail.

Talagang was a tehsil of Chakwal district for most of its history, and older sources place the temple in Chakwal. Punjab declared Talagang a district of its own in October 2022.

When was the Kallar Temple built?

Scholars agree it is a Hindu Shahi temple but disagree on the century. The architectural historian Michael W. Meister dates it to the late 8th century; M. A. Dhaky placed it in the 10th. A coin attributed to the Shahi ruler Vakka Deva, of the mid to late 8th century, was found at the site, which supports the earlier date. The Department of Archaeology's record gives a broad range from the 7th to the early 11th century.

The Hindu Shahis ruled the country between the Kabul valley and the Salt Range before the Ghaznavid conquests, and the temples at Katas Raj, Malot, Amb and Nandana belong to the same building tradition. Meister calls that tradition "Gandhara-Nagara": North Indian temple forms carried out with details learned from older Gandharan architecture.

The origin of the name Sassi da Kallara is not recorded in the sources we found. A 2024 article in The News on Sunday also calls it the Al-Rara Mandir.

Why is the brickwork unusual?

The other Salt Range temples are built of limestone or the local porous stone. Kallar is built of fired brick, large bricks about 5 cm thick with simple incised designs. Using brick did not mean a plainer building. The outer walls step in and out, and the decoration includes saw-tooth and checkerboard bands, stepped motifs and pilasters with vase-and-foliage capitals.

What to look for:

• The plan. A square sanctum with thick walls, set on a high plinth. The Department of Archaeology gives the overall size as about 6.8 by 5 metres and 7.1 metres high, with an inner chamber about 2.2 metres square and 4.4 metres high.
• The front. A trefoil arch with a chandrasala, the horseshoe-shaped window motif common in Hindu Shahi temples. The temple faces east.
• The tower. The original spire (shikhara) was divided into five vertical bands.
• Inside. The square chamber was roofed with a corbelled dome. Squinches and wooden beams set diagonally across the corners made the change from square to circle, with triangular patterns just below where the dome began.

There was once an entrance porch, which has gone.

What condition is it in?

Fragile. The original dome collapsed and was replaced with a cement one. The Department of Archaeology's record describes the temple as dilapidated, mainly because the sandstone hill it stands on is wearing away beneath it. The 2024 piece in The News on Sunday called for urgent restoration.

The records also disagree on its legal status. Wikipedia lists it as a protected antiquity under the federal Department of Archaeology, while the department's own 1987 record describes it as privately owned and not protected. We could not confirm which is current, and there is no caretaker or ticket that we know of.

Before 1947, according to the same 2024 article, the temple was looked after by a community of Hindu yogis, and the 1904 Jhelum district gazetteer recorded the remains of mud and sandstone houses around it. Nothing of that settlement is obvious today.

How do you reach Sassi da Kallara?

The temple stands on a high ridge above a seasonal stream, called the Leti or Kas Leti. To reach it you have to cross the stream and rough ground. Practical points:

1. Get to Talagang, which is about 30 km from the M-2 motorway.
2. Head for Shah Mohammad Wali, the nearest village; the temple is about 4 km south-west of it and roughly 51 km from Talagang in all. Ask in Talagang for directions, as the condition of the small roads is not published.
3. Ask locally for "Sassi da Kallara" and, ideally, find someone from the village to guide you over the last stretch.

Do not attempt the stream crossing after heavy rain or in the monsoon, when the nullahs of this area can rise quickly. Go in a high-clearance car if you can, carry water and food, and wear proper boots. October to March is the comfortable season.

Where does it fit on a Salt Range temple trail?

Kallar is the outlier of the Salt Range temples, both in its brick and in its position well to the west of the main cluster. A realistic plan is to treat it as a separate excursion and see the better-known temples on other days:

• Katas Raj, the largest complex, by the M-2 near Choa Saidan Shah; see our Katas Raj guide.
• Malot, the Kashmiri-style stone temple near Kallar Kahar; see our Malot Fort guide.
• Amb Sharif, the tall temples in Soon Valley; see our Amb Sharif guide.
• Nandana, the hill fort and temple near Baghanwala; see our Nandana Fort guide.

Our guide to Hindu temples in Punjab sets them side by side, and our experiences page has more heritage ideas.

Is it worth the effort?

For people interested in early temple architecture, yes. It is the one brick temple of the Salt Range group, and seeing it after Katas Raj or Amb makes the difference in material and technique obvious.

For anyone else, probably not. The approach is rough, the building is small and partly rebuilt in cement, and there are no facilities at all. If you want one Hindu Shahi temple on an easy day out, go to Katas Raj or Malot instead.

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