The ancient Hindu temple at the Katas Raj in the Chakwal district of Punjab, has been robbed of all its priceless relics.
The temple had been renovated before BJP leader L K Advani visited Pak in 2005
ISLAMABAD: Owing to the negligence of the Pakistani authorities, the ancient Hindu temple at the Katas Raj in the Chakwal district of Punjab, has been robbed of all its priceless relics, save for a stone carving depicting a god and a goddess, who are sitting, and two female slaves standing on either side.
The Katas Raj temples are located on a hill six km from Choa Saidan Shah of the Chakwal district of Punjab. Katas is mentioned in the Mahabharata, one of the three major ancient Sanskrit epics of India. According to Pundit Javed Akram Kumar, also chief of the Katas Raj Parbandh Committee, the Temples at Katas, near Kalar Kahar, are in a dilapidated condition, require security and renovation. Kumar accused the Punjab Archaeology Department for lack of interest and not providing the temple enough security. He said the temple had been a continuous victim to smugglers of ancient sculptures and the surviving priceless relics are in threat of being stolen too.
“The smugglers are powerful people, equipped with all kinds of modern tools, including stone cutters, diggers and metal detectors. They have already stolen all stone and wooden artefacts from the Katas Raj temple. Now they have their eyes on a Buddhist sculpture at the site, which had signs of an ancient civilisation that lived in the area centuries ago. The Buddhist sculpture has already been chipped from all sides and I will not be surprised if it is plucked out soon," Pandit Kumar added.
Pandit Kumar said that the Katas Raj Temples could have been a major tourist attraction, had the Pakistan government paid attention to its maintenance and secured the Hindu relics there. This is despite the fact, he said, that the Pakistan government had been already signed an agreement with the Indian authorities to restore the Katas temples.
“The temples had been falling into disrepair, and parts of them had been cemented before L K Advani’s 2005 tour to Pakistan. One of the Katas temples had even been converted into a library, though Katas is sacred to Hindus", he added.
According to Kumar, another surviving sculpture at the Katas, which has been defaced and marred by the ravages of time, is part of a wall in the right balcony of Ramachandra Temple, also known as the Temple of Snakes.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}