Katas Raj Temples

Complex of several Hindu temples in Punjab, Pakistan

The Shri Katas Raj Temples (Punjabi, ) (Sanskrit: कटासराज), also known as Qila Katas (قلعہ کٹاس), is a complex of several Hindu temples connected to one another by walkways. The complex is located in the Potohar Plateau region of Pakistan's Punjab province. The temples are located in municipal committee Choa Saidanshah, and are near the M2 Motorway. The temples' pond is said in the Puranas to have been created from the teardrops of Shiva, after he wandered the Earth inconsolable after the death of his wife Sati. The pond in Urdu and Persian is referred to as Chashm e Alam,

Hindu tradition holds that the temples date from the era of the Mahabharata, and is believed to be where the Pandava brothers spent a large portion of their exile. Following the collapse of the empire of Gandhara, Hinduism gained traction in the region under the reign of the Hindu Shahis beginning around the 7th century CE. The Sikh emperor Ranjit Singh also regularly performed pilgrimage to the site. He visited the site for the Vaisakhi festival in 1806, in December 1818,

The complex was a popular pilgrimage site for Hindus prior to the 1947 Partition of British India, with large numbers visiting for Shivratri.

The temples fell into disrepair over the decades following Partition, and suffered neglect. Pakistani Hindus would continue to occasionally visit the site, but were unable to maintain the expansive complex. and expressed displeasure at the site's dilapidated state. In February 2017, 200 pilgrims from India traveled to the temple to participate in the Katas Raj Dham festival. In 2018, Pakistan issued visas to 139 Indian Hindu pilgrims to visit Katas Raj dham.

The temples are considered to be the second most sacred site in the historic Punjab region, after the temple at Jwalamukhi in modern Himachal Pradesh. The temples derive their holiness from the legend that following the death of his wife Sati, the Hindu god Shiva wandered inconsolably, while some of his tears collected in two ponds, one of which is the pond around which the Katas Raj Temples are set, After the 2012 episode, the local cement factory was shut down by government authorities in order to restore water levels. The temples at Katas are mostly constructed on square platforms. The elevation of the sub shrines seems to form a series of cornices with small rows of pillars, crowned by a ribbed dome. The seven temples were built in an architectural style similar to Kashmiri temples,

The fort is rectangular and features four bastions, one in each corner of the fort. The walls are approximately 5 metres tall, and features an entryway in the western wall of the fort. The central portion of the fort features a small courtyard, around which an arched veranda is found. The interior rooms were not decorated. at a cost of Rs. 51.06 million. A three member archaeological team visited India, Sri Lanka and Nepal to collect murtis of various Hindu gods. though the local cement factory was temporarily shut down to restore water levels. and installed a water filtration system to provide potable water for pilgrims. By May 2017, water levels in the sacred pond were again noted to be falling. The bench of judges during the hearing of the case also expressed displeasure at the absence or displacing of idols from the temples, demanding to know why there were no statues in the temples of Shiri Ram and Hanuman. The bench was told that a former chairman of Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) earned millions of rupees from corruption [during his tenure] and then ran away [from Pakistan]. In May 2018, the top court announced its verdict on the case by ruling that the cement factories would have to source water from elsewhere immediately, and in the meantime, pay the Government of Punjab, Pakistan for the water they draw. It told Bestway and DG Khan cement factories to fulfill their water needs from any other alluvial source such as river Jhelum.