Groundbreaking ceremony of first Hindu Temple held in Islamabad. The plot was allotted by CDA in 2017
Islamabad will get its first Hindu temple in order to provide a house of worship for the local Hindu community residing in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Currently, there is a temple in Saidpur village but it is also maintained for visitors. The village also has a Sikh Gurudwara.
Islamabad was built on the Potohar Plateau in 1960. Katas Raj Temples are located in Potohar which is considered to be a sacred Hindu site and still a major tourist attraction. The region housed a large number of Hindu residents prior to the partition of Pakistan and had many temples. However, many residents left for India in 1947 and the temples eventually closed down.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Krishna Temple took place in Islamabad in Sector H-9. The plot was allotted to the local Hindu Panchayat by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in 2017 on the orders of the National Commission for Human Rights. Certain formalities were met before the official ceremony. The completion of the work will depend on the release of the funds by the government.
The ceremony took place in the presence of the Hindu Panchayat. PTI’s MNA Lal Malhi was also present at the event. He thanked the government for allotment of land for the temple. He also said that there was a need for a crematorium in the area. The problem should be resolved as the temple will house a cremation site as well.
The current government has vowed to reopen many closed temples and other religious shrines in order to revive religious tourism. Every year, thousands of Sikhs from around the globe visit Gurudwara Panja Sahab located in Hassanabdal. The government also recently opened Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, for Sikhs from India without a Visa.