Indian pilgrims reinstalled Hindu deities at Lahore’s Krishna Temple in 2007, marking a significant moment during a thaw in India-Pakistan relations (2003-2008) which also coincided with the restoration of Katas Raj temples and cross-border pilgrimage to Mata Hinglaj amid willingness to move beyond past conflicts for peace
The fraught India–Pakistan ties took an unexpected turn for the better in the noughties, allowing what would have been unthinkable even a decade earlier. In February 2007, a group of Indian pilgrims to Katas Raj temples reinstalled idols of Hindu deities Krishna, Radha, and Hanuman at Lahore’s Krishna Temple for the first time since Pakistan’s creation in 1947. Clad in saffron robes, a priest presided over the reinstallation function of purifying the idols with milk amid Hindu chants.
The temple was packed with devotees, many of whom spilled onto the shrine’s corridor and stairs, for the function as Indian devotional singer Anup Jalota’s bhajan ‘Prabhuji Tum Chandan Hum Pani’ played in the background.
The reinstallation overlapped with the brief India–Pakistan détente from 2003 to 2008. The restoration of the Katas Raj temples remains an important legacy of this thaw. The choice of Hindu nationalist and former Indian deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani for inaugurating the restoration project in 2005 showed a willingness to move beyond his legacy. Advani led the campaign for the construction of a temple dedicated to Lord Ram in place of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in the 1990s. The campaign led to the demolition of the ancient mosque in 1992 and provoked anti-Muslim violence across India.
Hindu nationalists like Advani argued that the mosque was built at the place where Lord Ram is believed to have been born millions of years ago. Advani led what author Ramchandra Guha described as a ‘religious, allusive, militant, masculine and anti-Muslim’ march across India to campaign for the temple construction. The nature of the campaign was reflected in slogans like ‘Mussalman kay do hi sthan—Pakistan ya Qabristan [there are only two places for Muslims—Pakistan or the graveyard]’ raised during the march.
Attacks on Muslims followed the mosque demolition in December 1992. In his book India after Gandhi, Ramachandra Guha writes: ‘Hindu mobs attacked Muslim localities, and—in a manner reminiscent of the grisly Partition massacres—stopped trains to pull out and kill those who were recognizably Muslim.’
The demolition also triggered violence against Hindus in Bangladesh and Pakistan in a throwback to the late 1940s bloodbath that ripped the subcontinent and made the Partition for Pakistan’s creation inevitable. Shrines such as the Katas Raj temples fell into disrepair as the bloodbath forced the virtual flight of Hindus from West Punjab in 1947.
Turning The Page
The first religious service at Katas Raj temples since the Partition in 2006 turned the page a year after Advani visited Pakistan for the inauguration of its conservation project. It held out hope. There appeared a willingness to bury the ghosts of the past. But the typical one-step-forward-two-steps-back routine in India–Pakistan ties followed. The Katas Raj temples have, nevertheless, continued to draw Indian pilgrims despite ups and downs in India–Pakistan ties.
The devotion at Katas Raj is centred around Amar Kund, one of two sacred ponds for the Hindus. A sobbing Lord Shiva’s teardrops are believed to have created the waterbodies at Katas (spring of raining eyes) and Pushkar in what is now the Indian state of Rajasthan as he mourned his consort Sati’s death. Hindu epic Mahabharata’s protagonist Yudhishthir is said to have passed his wisdom test at Katas to bring his four siblings back to life during the four out of their fourteen-year exile there.
Seven temples at Katas—spread over 50 acres—date back to the reign of Hindushahiya kings, who ruled between the seventh and 10th centuries. Sikh general Hari Singh Nalwa’s 19th-century haveli is also located there. So are Buddhist remains dating back to the fifth or sixth century, around the sacred pond. The haveli was declared a protected monument in 192,1 and the temples in 1956.
Shakti Peeth in Pakistan
Mata Hinglaj temple is perhaps Pakistan’s most important Hindu shrine dedicated to the Kshatriya caste’s deity in the remote mountains of Baluchistan. It is one of the 51 Shakti Peeths associated with ‘indescribable spiritual power’ believed to have been created at places where body parts of Shiva’s consort, Sati, had fallen. They are said to have been created after Shiva took her corpse around following her self-immolation in Daksh’s court.
Hinglaj has an important place in Hinduism since Sati’s head is said to have fallen there. It is among the most important syncretic shrines dotting the subcontinent. Muslims revere the shrine too; they call it Nani Pir. Pilgrimage to Hinglaj from India abruptly ended after the Partition, accounts of which date back to the fourth century.
The thaw in India–Pakistan ties facilitated a rare visit of a group of Indian pilgrims to Hinglaj in February 2006. It was the first Indian pilgrimage to Hinglaj since 1947. Advani’s colleague, Jaswant Singh, led the pilgrimage. Hindu nationalist lawmaker Tarun Vijay was among the pilgrims. He could not help but rave about the friendliness of the Muslims, who are at the receiving end of the antagonistic politics his party represents back home, in Hinglaj, towards the Hindus and India.
Baluchistan chief minister Jam Mohammad Yousaf, who had the shrine refurbished between 2002 and 2007, hosted a feast for the pilgrims. Baluchistan minister Jaiprakash Seethlani of Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam party was among those present, along with prominent local Hindus, including bhajan singers, to welcome the pilgrims. Vijay wrote about meeting affluent Pakistani Hindus like doctors, traders, and engineers at the Mata Hinglaj temple.
The Hope
Pakistani Hindus hope Hindu pilgrimage sites in their country flourish like those of the Sikhs, and create more stakes in peace and benefit local Hindus, who could offer religious and other services to pilgrims. A majority of them live in Sindh, which remained largely untouched by the partition violence, while there was a virtual exchange of the population of Punjab, a part of which became Pakistan in 1947. Places such as Mithi have a Hindu majority, and other parts of Sindh have between 49 and 13% Hindus.
The marble and sandalwood Sadhu Bela temple complex on an Indus River island in Sindh’s Sukkur is an enduring example of the region’s syncretic culture. Muslim landlords gifted Hindus the island for the construction of the complex. Craftsmen from Jodhpur (Rajasthan) built the shrine with courtyards and gardens over 200 years ago, reflecting the Taj Mahal’s architectural style.
Tens of thousands of Pakistani Hindus chanting ‘Long live Sadhu Bela’ visit the shrine for rituals and festivals such as Diwali. Hindu pilgrimage sites such as Sadhu Bela remain a potential bridge between India and Pakistan for a peaceful and brighter future built on shared history and spirituality.
