[Reader-list] Ancient Remains At Multan

[Pawan Durani]

   *Ancient Remains At Multan*
**
*By Sanjay Godbole*

MR. Anant Joshi, from Pune Maharashtra India resides in Sadashiv Peth, (Peth
a residential sector in the city) and is the lawful owner of the temple of
Lord “Narsinha” (a Hindu deity in the form of half human and half lion body
e.g. incarnation of lord Vishnu).
In the March 2004, he successfully obtained a Visa permit from Pakistan and
with a view to visit the original location of the incarnation of Lord
Narsinha, as detailed in Hindu Mythological scriptures & visited Multan in
Pakistan. He photographed some of the ancient remains and ruins of the Hindu
culture. During his stay at Multan, he was presented a book in Urdu named
“Tarikh-e-Multan” written by Munshi Abdul Rehman Khan and published by
“Ulum-Islamia-Chahalak”. Some vital information of the ancient remains and
ruins of the Hindu Culture is detailed on Page No. 480 of this book. The
translation of the related Urdu matter is as follows :-

*Hindu Asar-Bot-E-Multan (Hindu Idols-antiquities of Multan).
*In the history of the city of Multan, during the dilivu-an period , the
deity called “Aditya” played a substantially vital role. That is exactly
why, Multan was, in Arabia addressed as Betul-Juhet, literally means a house
full of Gold. The reason is, as stated by Abdul Qassim an Arab Author,
“Mohammad Bin-Quasim-got 40 Bhars of Gold (l Bhar equals 380 Maunds and 1
maund equals 40 seers or 20 Kilograms approximately) from a house in Multan.
Ester, a contemporary historian, too, has made a statement about Multan that
the name of the deity called Aditya, was also “Multan” and that the deity
was mounted in a Glorious palace. The location was a big market place near
Thatheri Bazar and ivory Bazar. The spot was in the vicinity of the
“Pralhad” Temple. Abu Zahid Safi writes about Multan that many pilgrims,
after undertaking a tedious journey, lasting many months, visited Multan to
obtain glimpses of this deity “Aditya” and brought with them, an incense
called Chandan (Sandlewood) the famous Kamrani Dhoop, which was burnt in
front of the deity. The then, price of this sandle wood incense was 200
Dinars for 1 maund (40 seers or 20 Kgs.) in 886 AD. Ibn-e-Rasta in the year
906 A.D. Writes that in Multan, there is an idol which is 2000 years old. It
is here only, the descendents of “Ibn-e-Manba” dynasty rule the province
(Ibn-e-Manba is a branch of Sama bin Louie) on such occassions when Indian
rulers, waged war and arrived near Multan, the local and native rulers
became alert and kept their Military forces ready for action and showed
their valour on the battle field.
Masudi, in 905 A.D. writes that the Sultan of Islamic rule, had both the
riches and military. The Sultan was having a direct control of one lac
twenty thousand towns in the near vicinity of Multan, spread around on all
four sides. The famous Hindu temple is here only and the suitan gets a
substantial income by the sale of sandle wood, required at the temple for
performing religious rituals. The sandle wood was brought to Multan from far
off places. Whenever, the Hindu rulers waged war on Multan and had a winning
edge, over the Muslims, they (the muslims) threatened that they would
destroy the idol of the God and the Hindu Military would retreat and go
back. The famous city of Kanauj was also under the control of Multan.
Hindus from Sindh province held this idol of Aditya, in a very high esteem
and treated it as an emblem of the Almighty and flocked this place
frequently without fail, to have glimpses of the deity .
After their arrival here, the pilgrims got their heads and beards shaved
off. This deity, primafacie had live anthropoid human features and
therefore, Mohammed Bin Qassim had, with a view to behead the deity, taken
out his sword.
This idol was made of pure gold and was inlaid with precious stones. There
was a dense forest around the temple, where the pilgrims rested under the
trees.
*The temple of Pralhad at Multan.
*This temple is within the precincts of the old fort of Multan. The popular
legend states that this temple was got constructed by Bhakta Pralhad,
himself. Bhakta means devotee. It is title associated with Pralhad. It is
one of the ancient remains of Hindu religious centres, and faces the Shrine
of Hazrat Bahul Haque-Zakeria”.
In side the temple, there was an idol of Lord Vishnu in the incarnated form
of Narasinha (A half human and half lion form) A grand fete was celebrated,
of Narsinha, here in every month of “Jyeshtha”. On that occasion, many fairs
and pilgrimages were held. This fete was of great importance for Hindus.
Hiranyakashyapu (father of Pralhad) wished to punish Pralhad. So he got one
golden pole fabricated. He heated the column from inside and tied Pralhad to
it. But Lord Narasinha favoured Pralhad and got the golden pole transformed
into a column made of soil and cooled it. The Lord killed Hiranyakashyapu
and made Pralhad a king. Multan was earlier known as Kashyappur then. This
name was subsequently changed to Pralhadpur, after Pralhad occupied the
throne.
Sir Alexander Bernas” visited Multan and has mentioned that the Prahlada
temple had no roof-top. In the year 1810 A.D., the Hindus collected
contributions and got an acme for the temple. This acme was errected at a
higher level than that of the dome of the tomb of “Hazarat Zakaria”. This
led to rift and disharmony in the two communities. This was one of the first
communal riots in Multan. Hindu as a result of the riots, were compelled to
reduce the height of the acme, so as to bring it lower than the height of
the dome over the tomb. In the year 1848 A.D., the East India companie’s
English forces attacked the Multan Fort. Due to the explosives used in and
from the artillery, the structure of the temple was badly damaged and the
very existence of this ancient structure went into Jeopardy. In the year
1853 A.D. the Temple was conventionally put into non-use and was put out of
vogue. The temple finally was reinstated and restored, by using the funds,
gathered by way of public contributions. The temple was in a fairly good
shape till the year 1992 A.D. This intact temple was destroyed by the
Muslims of Multan as a revenge of the Babri Masjid episode on 6th of Dec.
1992. This day, only stray remains of the walls of the temple exist in a
dilapidated state.
*The Suraj Kund of Multan.
*This Surya-kund temple is situated at a distance of 3 kms from Multan. Here
is a kund (water tank) which is 10 feet deep and 132 feet long. During the
Sikh regime, Shri. Savanmal, got all the four walls, surrounding the tank,
constructed. As the legend from the Hindu scripture goes, Lord Narasinha,
drank water from this Kunda after he relieved Pralhad from the clutches of
Hirankashyapu.
The Sun God (Aditya) Surya Devata (Deity) was worshipped at this temple.
This place was considered as the second important ancient place in Multan.
*The temple of Totalamai.
*Totlamai (Mai means mother) is the third important and sacred spot for
Hindus in Multan and is situated inside of the Haram Darwaza. In olden days
the cities and towns were protected from outside attacks by constructing
surrounding walls from all sides and only a few entry points were provided
which were called Fasil Ka Darvaza.
This temple is called the temple of Totlamai. The deity here is Goddess
“Totla. The Mughal King Aurangzeb had thrown the idole of the deity in a
well here. The Chief priest of the temple at that times was an expert in
Ayurvedic medicines and he treated the son of Aurangzeb and got him cured
completely. The priest, as a reward, requested Aurangzeb for the idol of
Goddess Totlamai and by royal order, the same was returned to him. The deity
was subrogated in the temple. Shri. Savanmal richly contributed for the
restoration work.
*The temple of Goddess Jog Maya.
*This Jogmaya Mandir happens to be the fourth important and sacred religious
place in Multan. It is very near from Multan Railway Station and was
initially in the form of a stone pedestal. During the regime of Deewan
Savanmal (Deewan-Chief Administrator) the temple was errected and Mr. Mulraj
completed this construction work.
As per the Hindu Mythological Scripture in Mulsthana i.e. Multan, when Lord
Narasinha incarnated, many Gods and Goddesses arrived there on the occasion
to felicitate him, and amongst them Goddess Jogmaya was one who decided to
inhabit and remain present at the spot forever. Here the Navaratri festival
was celebrated in the months of Chaitra and Ashwin ( from Hindu calendar
months) every year.
*RAMTEERTH*
This is the fifth important and sacred place in Multan for Hindus. This is
the abode of Lord (God) Ramchandra. There is a Kund (Water tank). Which is
situated near the place. This is situated on the outside of Delhi Darwaza
(Gate) and near Melsi-Duniyapur highway. During the regime of Maharaja
Ranjeet Singh, the Kund and the temple were constructed. The festival is
celebrated here on the full moon night in the month of Bhadrapada.
*Narsinhapuri Mandir
*Since this temple was inside the precincts of Multan Fort, the priests
could not enter the temple, except for the pre-scheduled timings on account
of the restrictions on visiting hours. To remove the cause of this
pre-decamental inconvenience, the priest of the temple, got a new temple
errected near the sabji mandi and subrogated an idol of Narsinha
incarnation. Afterwards, a wealthy devotee of Multan renovated this temple
into an elegant and modern one at a cost of rupees ten thousand.
*The Other old remains at Multan
*Apart from the above, there are a few religiously important remains at
Multan. These include the Samadhi of Savanmal outside the gate of the fort.
Dnyanshala at Delhi gate, a Kund for the use of Pathashala (School), the
Jain temple at Chodisara market and a temple of Lord Shiva.
The Hanuman temple in the Chowk area is also very famous. This temple was
utilized as a safe refuge, for Hindus during communal riots. The other
defence implements and weapons needed during such periods of riots were also
stored over here. These implements were mainly used for retaliatory
purposes. The Dnyanshala, referred to above topped the list of such hide
outs.

Source: Kashmir Sentinel