Thursday, January 11, 2007



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Govt all set to celebrate Hindu festival at Katasraj

* Festival on February 7 likely to be attended by Indian foreign minister

By Hina Farooq

LAHORE: The Punjab government is all set to celebrate the ‘Mahashivratri’ festival, which has not been celebrated at the Katasraj Temples for centuries, on February 7 at the site, and Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee is expected to lead a delegation from India for participation in the event, according to sources.

The sources said that the Punjab government had assigned the task of arranging the festival to the Punjab Archeology Department (PAD).

According to www.festivalsofindia.com, on this day, devotees stay awake throughout the night and offer prayers to Hindu god Shiva. They offer special food made from the fruits of the season, root vegetables and coconut to their lord.

Plans to celebrate the festival are part of a development project for Hindu sites at Katasraj. Pakistan and India agreed on the project during a visit by LK Advani and Shivshankar Menon, the then Indian high commissioner, to Katasraj in June 2005.

It was also agreed that arrangements would be made to allow more Hindu pilgrims to visit Katasraj Temples in the near future. Pakistan Muslim League President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain held a meeting with the Indian high commissioner in Islamabad in September 2005, and decided to jointly work on the development of this historic site to promote tourism. The three-year project for Katarajs Temples, near Kalar Kahar, would be completed by February 2007.

Work is in progress, and some parts of the site have already been developed for the upcoming festival. Changing rooms for men and women are being upgraded, and the temples’ “holy pond” has been conserved. The temple around the site where the festival is to be celebrated has been conserved for worship, while swimming pools for women have also been built.

PAD Director Oriya Jan Maqbool told Daily Times this would be a “grand festival”, for which the Punjab government had allocated Rs 10.8 million. Several Hindus have been formally invited to the celebrations, and negotiations with the Indian government have already been held.

Located on a hill six kilometres from Choa Saidan Shah in Chakwal, Katasraj Temples have historic and religious value for Hindus. The temples have also been mentioned in Mahabharata – one of the three major Sanskrit Hindu epics. According to Hindu beliefs, both Katas and the Paskar (Ajmer) are the eyes of Shiva. It was also here that Alberuni attempted to measure the circumference of the Earth, studied Sanskrit and wrote his renowned famous book “Kitabul Hind”. To this day, Hindu pilgrims regularly visit the site for worship.

According to plans for the development of Katasraj Temples, the Shiva Temple and its surroundings are being restored by keeping in mind the religious sentiments of Hindu pilgrims.

Embankments are being built around the edges of the holy pond. Boarding and lodging facilities for pilgrims would be provided by upgrading an existing building near a new mosque to the left of the Kallar Kahar-Chou Saidan Shah Road. It is has also been proposed that Hari Singh’s haveli be repaired for this purpose.