KARACHI, PAKISTAN, February 20, 2012 (News Track India): The management of one of the oldest Hindu temples in Karachi, 1,500-year-old Shri Panchmukhi Hanuman Mandir, is adamant that it will complete the long-pending renovation work, despite encroachments on the temple’s plot, intimidation and threats by land grabbers as well as a lack of funds.
“The temple was supposed to be renovated within two years. But a shortage of funds and the cases we have been fighting for the ownership of our land have slowed down the process. Yet we won’t give up,” The Express Tribune quoted Shri Ram Nath Maharaj, the temple’s caretaker, as saying. The temple will get a facelift with the blocks of old stones that are being moulded into new ones.
The temple holds special significance for Hindus as it is the only shrine in the world, which has a ‘natural statue’ of Hanuman that is swayambhu, or not man-made, Maharaj added. The eight-foot blue and white statue was discovered at the site of the temple long ago. The room in which the statue is kept will not be touched during the renovation.