Owais Mughal
In the past we have shared with you some photos of Manora Island under the title views of Manora. Today we will go on an exclusive tour of Shri Varun Dev mandir located at the Manora beach.
(Above photo is the view of the mandir facing Arabian Sea.)
The mandir is unfortunately in a bad condition of disrepair and salty-rusty sea breeze is eating away into the structure fast. When I visited the mandir on Jan 7, 2007, it appeared deserted. There were unfortunate signs of human vandalism also where it looked like people took away with them any item salvagable. The structure still appeared grand and from left over tile work and decorations it showed its glorious past.
(2) Here is a memorial tablet in Sindhi on one of the mandir gates.
Our avid reader Khair Soomro saheb helped me in translating this tablet. It reads:
“dedication from sons in the sacred memory of Seth Harchand Mal Dayal Das of Bhriya”
or in other words: “An offering from sons in the loving memory of their father Seth Harchand Mal Dayal Das of Bhriya”. (Bhriya is a town near Khairpur Sindh.)
(3) View of the mandir from West side
(4) This tablet tells us about the sponsors of colorful tile work in two languages.
Top script is Sindhi.
(5) The tile work of mandir floor
(6) Following is the tile work on mandir’s exterior wall
(7) Looking at the mandir from east
(8) The outer gate of the mandir
I asked my good friend Sridhar to translate the devnagri script for us and here was his reply:
“The top line has the character ‘Om’. It is just an auspicious syllable that is there in most prayers and is also present in most places of worship. The second line has the name of the temple (and presumably the chief deity worshipped there). It says ‘Shri Varun Dev Mandir’. The name also looks like ‘Shri Arun Dev Mandir’ (the ancient way of writing ‘A’ in Arun could well be imagined in that character, which is not that clear. But I think, on balance that it is Varun Dev and not Arun. According to Hindu mythology Varuna is the God of the oceans. There is no worship of Varuna that I have come across personally in India, though I would not be completely surprised at the existence of this temple in Karachi because of the enormous diversity in the Hinduism practiced in different parts of the subcontinent. Also, people who have livelihoods related to the ocean, for instance, fishermen, might worship Varuna. If this temple is on the beach in Karachi this could well be an explanation - it might have been built by fishermen who worshipped Varuna.”
(9) View from the outer most gate of the mandir compound
I have a sincere hope that Government of Pakistan takes care of these places of worship. If nothing else then atleast the structure should be saved from the people who take away tiles and anything salvagable for petty profits. Many people visit the mandir as it is the largest and most prominent attraction at Manora beach. A little bit of official or non-official help will go a long way in preserving our heritage.
i seen this photo of temple i cant believe such a beautiful tamle in pakistan pakistan govt. ust protect these historical places
i am very surprised that still beautyfull tamples are standing in pakistan i am personally thankfull of those muslim and hindu friends of pakistan because of them historical memories are safe
This is a wonderful extension in our heritage knowledge. I appreciate this endeavour.
In fact, I came across this site accidentally searching Indian Mandirs. At present I am at Guildford, UK, but basically belong to Hyderabad, Sindh. I can feel how exquisitely the effort has been put on the presentation and background work of this temple. This enthusiasm reflects a civilized tendency that is generally absent in us (Sindhis). I appreciate the work of articulation, architectural description, historical discussion and artistic merit in this overall labour. May this be reflected in other areas of our art.
HI I AM RAKESH DIALANI FROM INDIA. I am SINDHI AND MY GRAND PARENTS belonged to Ranipur, Gambat, Rohri area which is in Pakistan
vijay says:
Iam also from karachi pakistan.I was also going manora and i see this but the mandir was closed nobody can worship there.
I hope Pakistan govt. takes notice and reopen mandir for prayers.
A beautiful view of the temple here
Assalam-o-alaikum.
First of all, many thanks for sharing beautiful pictures of Shri Varun Dev’s Mandir at Manora Island. I also visited that Mandir in year 2004 and took lots of photographs but I could not get such beautiful pictures.
It seems that Karachi’s city government has recently did something to preserve that temple because it was of course in miserable condition in year 2004.
By the way, I am not agreed with Mr. Pervaiz Munir Alvi. It isn’t true that an Islamic government will prefer to demolish such non-muslim buildings. He should not forget that the most beautiful temples were built in the Sub-Continent during the period of Muslim Rulers.
It is true that Sultan Mehmood Ghaznavi destroyed lots of Hindu temples in Somnaat but there was a reason behind that. But rest of other Mughal, Ghauri, Aibak and Khilji Rulers constructed the best temples in Sub-continent.
Regards,
Farhan