The festival of Janmashtami is being celebrated with great pomp in India and many other countries. Janmashtami is being celebrated in Krishna temples all over the world. But, do you know what is the situation in the neighboring country Pakistan and how Janmashtami is celebrated there? In such a situation, the question is whether there are Krishna temples in Pakistan or not and how is Krishna Janma celebrated there?
Is Janmashtami celebrated in Pakistan?
First of all, let us tell you that Hindus living in the neighboring country Pakistan celebrate Krishna Janmashtami with great pomp. Just like in India, here too people go to Krishna temples at night. Pakistan, which is often in the news for attacks on Hindu temples and the decreasing number of temples, has many Krishna temples where Janmashtami is celebrated.
Every year, pictures of Janmashtami celebrations come out from Amarkot in Pakistan. Actually, this is the area where more than 52 percent of the population is Hindu. Like India, Hindu temples are decorated here and people visit the temple. Also, on Janmashtami, you can see children wearing Lord Krishna’s dress and people worship with rituals. Hindus celebrate every festival with pomp in Amarkot, but in some areas of Pakistan, Hindus also face difficulty in celebrating any festival.
Let us tell you that earlier there were reports of attacks on Hindus celebrating Janmashtami. In the year 2021, there were reports of an attack on a temple in Khipro, Sindh in Pakistan. By the way, attacks on Hindu temples are quite common in Pakistan.
How many Krishna temples are there?
News of vandalism in temples in Pakistan is common. According to many reports, the number of Hindu temples in Pakistan has reduced considerably. Many temples have been demolished and some have been converted into other buildings. It is said that there were more than 300 Hindu temples in Pakistan at the time of independence in 1947 and now their number has reduced to less than 50.
According to a report by Pakistani media house Dawn, earlier there were many Hindu temples in Norowal area of Pakistan, but in the year 2023 this number became zero. Now the Hindus here have a lot of difficulty in performing worship, religious rituals, marriage etc., whereas more than 1000 Hindus live in this area. If we talk about Krishna temples, then there are Krishna temples in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Karachi etc. in Pakistan. Also, according to some reports, the Krishna temple of Abbottabad, the temple of Haripur has been demolished.
There is a controversy over the Krishna temple in Islamabad
At the same time, a Krishna temple is also being built in Islamabad, but there is a lot of controversy about it. In the year 2020, the Hindu community was given permission to build the boundary wall and crematorium of the proposed Krishna temple in Islamabad. This temple is being built in Sector H-9-2 of Islamabad. However, the temple has also been in a lot of controversy regarding fatwa etc.
ISKCON also has temples
ISKCON also has many temples in Pakistan, which are in Karachi, Larkana, Sindh, Hyderabad. Now ISKCON is expanding in Bahawalpur, Pandab, Mirwah, Quetta, Balochistan too.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)