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KATAS RAJ TEMPLES KALLAR KAHAR
The Shri Katas Raj Temples (Punjabi, Urdu: شری کٹاس راج مندر) (Sanskrit: कटासराज) also known as Qila Katas (قلعہ کٹاس), is a complex of several Hindu temples connected to one another by walkways. The temple complex surrounds a pond named Katas which is regarded as sacred by Hindus. The complex is in the Potohar Plateau region of Pakistan's Punjab province. The temples are located near the town of 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 occupies an area of two kanals and 15 marlas, with a maximum depth of 20 feet.
The temples play a role in the Hindu epic poem, the Mahābhārata, where the temples are traditionally believed to have been the site where the Pandava brothers spent a significant portion of their exile.[3] It is also traditionally believed by Hindus to be the site where the brothers engaged in a riddle contest with the Yakshas, as described in the Yaksha Prashna. Another tradition states that the Hindu deity Krishna laid the foundation of the temple, and established a hand-made shivling in it.
The temples were visited by India's former deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani in 2005. In 2006, the Pakistani government began restoration works at the temples, with further improvements announced in 2017.
The Katas Raj Temple complex is part of municipal committee Choa Saidanshah. The Katas Raj Temple complex is located near Kallar Kahar, and is located at an altitude of 2,000 feet. It is approximately 100 kilometres away by road from another important Hindu pilgrimage destination - the Tilla Jogian complex. Katas Raj is located near the interchange for the town of Kallar Kahar off the M2 Motorway which links Islamabad to Lahore. The complex is located alongside the road that connects Kallar Kahar to Choa Saidan Shah near the village of Dulmial.
The name of the temple complex is believed to derive from the Sanskrit word kataksha, meaning "tearful eyes." The pond was originally referred to as Viskund, or "poison spring", but was later referred to as Amarkund, Chamaskund, and finally Katakshkund, meaning "Spring of tearful eyes."The pond in Urdu and Persian is referred to as Chashm-e-Alam, meaning "Sorrowful/Tearful Eyes."
