Ali Usman Baig

28-03-2018 (Date of Visit)

(All pictures in this article and research work done in writing are Author's property)

THE TEMPLES OF SALT RANGE

The remnant of Malkana temple lies between the historical sites of the Katas Raj and Malot temples. The site can be reached while traveling on Kallar Kahar-Choa Saiden Shah Road and then moving seven kilometers further ahead on the Dalwal link road.

Unfortunately, the history of this site is less documented and almost unknown, Alexander Cunningham 1875: 82-85 the head of archeological survey of India, during his first field tour to the Salt range reported " a number of old Hindu temples in the Salt range which all belong to the Kashmirian style of architecture these he associated with the last dynasty of the Hindu Kings of Gandhara. Referring specifically to temples at the site of Amb, Malot, and Katas. he concluded that these temples of the Salt range may be assigned with much probability to the latter half of the 9th century. But he did not mention anything about the Malkana temple.

Malkana temple's style of construction is not that different than the temples found at other salt range sites (Nandana, Malot, Amb, and Katas). However, the structure does not have any ornamentation like fluted pillars and peculiar trefoil arches, which are normally found in Kashmiran-style temple architecture. So, it means these temples might have been constructed in a later period than other salt range temples.

My theory was further confirmed after reading Stein's remarks when visited this site in 1937 he wrote, "Stein also noted that, two and a half miles north, a little hollow filled with luxuriant vegetation holds the small Hindu Sanctuary of Shivganga by the side of a pool fed by springs. The temple is constructed in the Kashmirian style. But it has been so heavily covered with plasters that none of the original decoration of the walls is now visible."

At this site, two similar temples stand, however, one temple completely falls with time and the other is also in total dilapidated condition and soon turned into debris if proper preservation and rehabilitation work is not carried out. The site of Malkana is very picturesque, hidden in branches of an old banyan tree. a natural water pond that runs through slopes, with mountains in the background. Also near these temples, there is one Hindu samadhi and abandoned residential quarters present, which were constructed before the partition of Hindustan.

Michael W. Meister also wrote about Malakan temples (naming Shiv Ganga temples) in his book, 'Temple of the Indus'.

Only the now ruinous and remade structure at the grove of shiv-Ganga nearby also seems perhaps to have a had a pyramidal roof. Built probably at a time in the tenth century when a strong matrimonial and political link did exist between the Udi-Sahi Kings and Kashmir, the temples at Malot and Shiv-Ganga were constructed in distinctive sandstone by architects who chose to make a rhetorical point by framing Nagra models over the temple’s cardinal niches by the fluted pillars, trefoil arches and attic pediments typical of Kashmiri Shrines.

The local researchers also associate these temples with the Hindu deity Shiv Gunga as before partition a large community of Hindus lives in the suburbs of Malkana.