Wednesday, 20 June 2018

An Abandoned Hindu Shiva Temple in Hazro

—All photos and text by author
Date of Visit: -      29-03-2018




Hazro is a town located at north-west of Pakistan in Attock District of the Punjab province Pakistan. According to the Gazetteer of Rawalpindi, Hazro was the scene of the great battle in which, in AD 1008, Sultan Mahmud Ghaznawi defeated the united forces of the Rajas of Hindustan and the Hindus of the Punjab with a slaughter of 20,000 men, it was afterwards fixed upon by some of the Pathan followers of that chieftain to be the site of the colony

The population according to the 1901 census of India was 9,799. According to the Gazetteer of Rawalpindi, Hazro had a significant Hindu population which was "half Pathan, half Hindu".




A small Shiva Temple located in Shahbaz Mohalla Hazro.  The top spire seems to be gold plated. Famous anthropologist Zulifqar Ali Kalharo visited this site; he observed chevron lines on outer surface of conical part. According to him, these lines symbolize life. This mandir was constructed for the shudar community of town.