The major Hindu temples in Pakistan are Shri Hinglaj Mata temple (whose annual Hinglaj Yatra is the largest Hindu pilgrimage in Pakistan, which is participated by more than 250,000 pilgrims),[1]Shri Ramdev Pir temple (whose annual Ramdevpir Mela in the temple is the second largest Hindu pilgrimage in Pakistan,[2]Umarkot Shiv Mandir (famous for its annual Shivrathri festival, which is one of the biggest religious festivals in Pakistan,[3] and the Churrio Jabal Durga Mata Temple (famous for Shivrathri celebrations which is attended by 200,000 pilgrims).[4]
Shri Hinglaj Mata temple is located in Hingol National Park. The shrine of the Goddess Hinglaj is located in the desert of Balochistan, Pakistan, about 215 kilometers west of the city of Karachi. The annual Hinglaj Yatra is the largest Hindu pilgrimage in Pakistan, which is participated by more than 250,000 pilgrims.[1][13]
Bareri Mata/Durga Temple and Shrine on Bareri Hill, (no longer in regular use but sometimes visited by pilgrims and tourists. The edicts of Ashoka are inscribed on three large boulders nearby.)[30]
Mari Mata Mandir Rattan Tallow Akbar Road at Saddar
Mata Mandir at Doli Khata
Narsingh Mahadev Mandir at Risala
Naval Mandir at Ranchore Lines is a 200 sq yards pale yellow stone walled temple with polished marble surfaces and clay statues of Santoshi Mata, Kali Mata, Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesha, Hanuman, Guru Nanak and Rama and Nandi where Holi and Diwali are celebrated.[70]
Panchmukhi Hanuman Temple at Soldier Bazar, is 1500 years old and houses a 2.5m tall statue of lord Hanuman. Renovation of the temple commenced in 2012 and it is popular among Maharashtrian, Sindhi and Balochi devotees.[74][75] Half of the temple's 2,609 square feet of land has been encroached upon by Muslims, The temple has won back four of six small plots after the lease was cancelled by a district court and is still fighting to reclaim two remaining plots.[76]
Majisa Batyani and Dado Sawai Singh Rathor Thaan (Dori Than) near moti chowk Amarkot
Threats
A survey carried out by All Pakistan Hindu Rights Movement Pakistan's revealed that out of 428 Hindu temples in Pakistan that existed before Partition, only around 20 survive today and they remain neglected by the Evacuee Trust Property Board which controls those, while the rest had been converted for other uses.[83] Nearly 1000 active and former Hindu temples were attacked in 1992 riots and in other attacks like the 2014 Larkana temple attack, 2019 Ghotki riots, and the 2020 Karak temple attack.[84] Idols in some temples in Pakistan have gone missing and the ponds outside those temples that are considered necessary for a holy dip are drying up due to neglect, which has irked the Supreme Court of Pakistan.[85] However, some of the closed temples have been reopened following the Court rulings,[86] and government intervention.[87]
^Schaflechner, Jürgen (2018). Hinglaj Devi : identity, change, and solidification at a Hindu temple in Pakistan. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN9780190850555. OCLC1008771979.
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