Mandirs in Pakistanਪਾਕਿਸਤਾਨ ਦੇ ਮੰਦਰ

Pakistan's Hindu mandirs stand at two far ends of the country, and they could hardly be more different. In the Salt Range of Punjab, the Katas Raj Temples gather around a still pond that tradition says formed from the tears of Shiva. On the Makran coast of Balochistan, the cave shrine of Hinglaj Mata burns inside a river gorge, drawing the largest Hindu pilgrimage in Pakistan every spring. This country guide brings Jugti's mandirs in Pakistan together, explains the community they serve, and links each shrine's full entry. It will grow as more of Pakistan's temples are verified and covered.

What are the famous mandirs in Pakistan?

The famous mandirs in Pakistan, among those covered by Jugti so far, are the Katas Raj Temples in Chakwal, Punjab, and Hinglaj Mata Temple in Lasbela, Balochistan. Katas Raj is an ancient built complex of twelve temples around a sacred pond, counted the second most sacred site in the historic Punjab region. Hinglaj Mata is a natural cave shrine with no built temple and no carved idol at its heart, counted among the 51 Shakta pithas. Between them they show the two faces of Hindu worship in Pakistan: the old temple architecture of the northern plains and hills, and the desert pilgrimage of the western coast.

Katas Raj: the pond of Shiva's tears in Punjab

The Katas Raj Temples stand near Choa Saidanshah in Chakwal district, at about 2,000 feet in the Salt Range. Raised under the Hindu Shahis from around the mid 7th to the 10th century, the complex holds the Satgraha group of seven ancient temples, five later medieval temples, a Buddhist stupa's remains and the haveli of Hari Singh Nalwa, around a pond devotees believe formed from Shiva's tears for Sati. Hindu tradition places the Pandavas here in exile, and the site's great festival is Maha Shivaratri. Restoration began in 2006 after decades of neglect, and a 2018 Supreme Court ruling protected the pond's water from nearby cement factories. Jugti's region guide to mandirs in Pakistani Punjab tells the Punjab side of this story in full.

Hinglaj Mata: the cave goddess of Balochistan

The Hinglaj Mata Temple is a cave temple in Lasbela district, Balochistan, inside Hingol National Park on the west bank of the Hingol River, about 250 kilometres northwest of Karachi. Devotees count it among the 51 Shakta pithas, where a part of the goddess Sati's upper head is believed to have fallen, and the goddess is worshipped as a stone smeared with sindoor. Local Muslims call the shrine Nani Mandir, the maternal grandmother's temple, and help guard it. Its four day pilgrimage in April, the Hinglaj Yatra, is described as the largest Hindu pilgrimage in Pakistan, with a reported figure of 300,000 pilgrims in the spring pilgrimage, most travelling the Makran Coastal Highway that has replaced the old desert trek on foot.

How many Hindus live in Pakistan?

Pakistan's 2023 census counted 5,216,034 Hindus, about 2.17 percent of the population, making Hinduism the country's second largest religion. Most Pakistani Hindus live in Sindh, with 249,716 in Punjab and 59,107 in Balochistan, the two provinces this guide covers. Before Partition in 1947, Hindus formed a far larger share of the population in the lands that became Pakistan, and the great shrines were crowded pilgrimage centres. The temples that remain, and the pilgrimages that have revived around Katas Raj and Hinglaj in recent decades, are the living thread between that older world and today's community.

Planning a pilgrimage in Pakistan

The two shrines suit two different journeys. Katas Raj is a day trip from Islamabad or Lahore by the M2 motorway, fullest at Maha Shivaratri, when Pakistani pilgrims gather and groups from India sometimes join on special visas, as 154 pilgrims did in 2025. Hinglaj asks more of the traveller: a drive of about 328 kilometres and nearly four hours from Karachi along the Makran Coastal Highway, with the fullest and hardest days in April during the yatra, when volunteers run community kitchens and camps for the crowds. Both entries in this guide carry the practical and historical detail a pilgrim or a curious reader needs, and both sit alongside Jugti's mandirs in India collection across the border.

All Mandirs in Pakistan

• Katas Raj Temples - Chakwal, Punjab: the ancient Shiva complex around the sacred pond of tears, second most sacred site of the historic Punjab region
• Hinglaj Mata Temple - Lasbela, Balochistan: the cave Shakti Peeth on the Hingol River, called Nani Mandir, home to Pakistan's largest Hindu pilgrimage