Ancient Hindu Sheetal Temple Vandalized – Lord Shiva And Elephant God Ganesha Statues Destroyed

Conny Waters - AncientPages.com - Many people are angry and with good reason. The beautiful and historic Hindu Sheetal temple in Karachi has been vandalized. Statues of Lord Shiva and Elephant God Ganesha were torn down and thrown out of the temple.

Many sacred Hindu objects were demolished. This is the third Hindu temple to be desecrated in Pakistan in a span of 20 days.

Credit: Rahat Austin

Ganesha is one of the best known and loved deities in the Hindu pantheon of gods and indeed is the most recognized of the Hindu gods outside of India. Lord Shiva is known as "The Destroyer" within the Trimurti, the Hindu trinity that includes Brahma and Vishnu.

The incident took place on Sunday night. According to India News, a huge mob of Muslims emerged in the Hindu community colony and vandalized the Sheetal Temple in the Lee Market area, accusing the minority community of blasphemy, but the allegations remain unproven at the moment.

Local reporters have said that the situation in the area is tense since the vandalism. The entire area has been cordoned off with Karachi police and Rangers deployed in the area.

Angry, sad and shocked people at the site. Credit: Rahat Austin

“They think that they can force people to respect their religion and to stop them to criticise by beheading and terror. This is not 6th century Sir. You can only get respect if you give respect to others,”  Pakistani activist Rahat Austin wrote on Twitter.

In August this year, a pre-partition Hanuman Mandir in Pakistan’s Lyari district was demolished by a builder. Hanuman is the Hindu monkey god.

“No one was allowed to visit the temple during the lockdown. The builder exploited the situation and demolished our place of worship while we could not visit it, lamented one Harish while demanding that the temple be restored immediately, “ a local resident said.

“The month before, the construction of a new Sri Krishna temple was halted after radical extremists in Islamabad after they razed the boundary wall of the temple to the ground. The hardliners had opposed the construction of the temple claiming that it was contrary to the idea of Pakistan,” OpIndia reports.

After the recent terror attack in Europe, the tension between Christians and Muslims is growing, and many Hindus are equally frustrated, angry, and sad.

Reviving Ahimsa, which is an ancient multidimensional concept strongly emphasizing the importance of non-violence and compassion towards all living beings can be a good idea right now.

There is no excuse for violence against religious people who visit a hole place to pray, and vandalism of sacred sites, no matter religion or country.

Written by Conny Waters - AncientPages.com Staff Writer