Malot Fort

Pakistan, Pakistan

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Malot Fort is an ancient temple-fortress located in the Salt Range near Kallar Kahar in Chakwal District, Punjab, Pakistan, built in the 10th century CE (around 980 AD) by the Odi / Shahi dynasty and later associated with the Janjua Rajput rulers.

It is constructed from local red sandstone of the Salt Range mountains and is famous for its distinctive architectural style that blends Kashmiri temple traditions with Greek (Gandhara) influences, giving it a unique synthesis admired by scholars and travelers. The site consists of a ruined fort enclosure with twin shrines or temples (often called the Malot or Malkana temples) on a hilltop, some still roofed with domes while others have collapsed, surrounded by remnants of walls and defensive structures that once formed the fortified core of the Janjua kingdom.

Historically, the fort was the center of Janjua power until the early 19th century, and it is mentioned in Babur’s Tuzk-e-Babri as well as in the works of Alberuni and later by British archaeologists and surveyors such as Alexander Cunningham, who recorded it during the Geological Survey of India around 1870. In recent decades, Malot Fort has suffered serious damage from coal mining on the hill where it stands; mining was banned by the Lahore High Court, but the fort remains in a state of ruin and has not yet been fully preserved or restored, despite proposals to relocate its ruins to the nearby Katas Raj Temple complex.