×
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Pakistani author traces her country's Hindu past

Passing By
Last Updated 27 January 2015, 16:45 IST

History itself is worth worshipping,” says Reema Abbasi whose book “Historic Temples in Pakistan: A Call to Conscience” records in pictures the history of Pakistan’s Hindu temples. “There is hardly a religious aspect to my book. The focus is on different cultures of the sub-continent which exhibit pluralistic values in their true sense,” Abbasi said. 

The Karachi-based author travelled through all the provinces of Pakistan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan to document the existing temples of the country along with its landscapes and local populations. The book however according to Abbasi is a ‘journey more than documentation’. It features more than 40 shrines, temples and holy places, located across Pakistan.

Also incorporated are details of celebration of Hindu festivals, and nearly 400 photographs by Madiha Aijaz. “It took more than two years of travelling but the journey was nevertheless a delight,” Abbasi tells Metrolife. The last destination of the author was Mansera in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Among her favourites is a 1500-year old temple called the Panchmukhi Hanuman Mandir in Karachi. “The temple is small but really beautiful. The place is considered of having great healing power. People from all walks of life and faiths go there on Saturdays,” Abbasi said during an interview with Metrolife. Among others which she enjoyed covering was Baluchistan’s Hinglaj Mata Mandir. According to a local legend, Sati’s head fell at the spot, where the temple is built, when Vishnu whirled his chakra at her corpse. “All of the shrines in Pakistan are very powerful and rich,” Abbasi, recently in the city, said.

“The book is more of a celebration that makes the subcontinent so rich,” she added. The book also profiles the keepers of the temples, who according the author, exemplify hope. “The way with which we were received by the local communities was such a surprise. They were more excited than me and even told me that how important is it for the world to know about this Pakistan which rarely finds space in public discourses,” Abbasi said.

“Karachi has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately but a lot of that news is hype. There is Kali ki gali in Karachi and the number of people that visit it is huge,” she added about her own hometown.
The author also spoke at length about the religious persecution that minorities are facing in different countries of Pakistan. “Unfortunately minorities in the subcontinent have always faced the brunt of persecutions, be it in Pakistan, India or Sri Lanka. In fact the mere existence of the word ‘minorities’ shows the failure of a country to unify its people,” said Abbasi.

Discussing further on the situation in Pakistan, the author added, “What we are seeing in Pakistan is not religious apartheid but sectarianism. There is a group which has no respect for dissent and they are the ones attacking everyone who does not follow their interpretation of religion. But what is important is the fact that Muslims are the worst hit in Pakistan. If one sees the pattern of religious attacks, it becomes clear that no temples were attacked but instead mosques were,” the author said.

She, however, was hopeful of a better future. “General Raheel Sharif has emerged as a hero in the aftermath of Peshawar attacks. The responsibility for a sound society, however, lies on the civil societies of the country. The same rule applies for all countries,” Abbasi concluded.

ADVERTISEMENT
(Published 27 January 2015, 16:45 IST)

Follow us on

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT