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93-567: The temples' pond is said in the Puranas to have been created from the teardrops of Shiva , after he wandered the Earth inconsolable after the death of his wife Sati . The pond occupies an area of two kanals and 15 marlas, with a maximum depth of 20 feet. Serial Kanpur Se Katas Tak was also shot here starring Saba Qamar in 2010 aired on Indus Vision. The temples play a role in the Hindu epic poem,

186-583: A Buddhist stupa near the village of Tope Mankiala, in the Pothohar region of Pakistan 's Punjab province. The stupa was built to commemorate the spot, where according to the Jataka tales , an incarnation of the Buddha called Prince Sattva sacrificed himself to feed seven hungry tiger cubs. Mankiala stupa's relic deposits were discovered by Jean-Baptiste Ventura in 1830. The relics were then removed from

279-560: A Mahapurana, whereas the Padma Purana , Garuda Purana and Kurma Purana consider it an Upapurana. There are discussions on whether the Devi Bhagavata Purana is a Mahapurana. The difference between Upapuranas and Mahapuranas has been explained by Rajendra Hazra: "a Mahapurana is well known, and that what is less well known becomes an Upapurana". Rocher states that the distinction between Mahapurana and Upapurana

372-595: A large part of their exile. The complex is traditionally believed to be the site where the Pandava brothers were challenged by the Yaksha before being able to drink from the pond. Four of the brothers failed and were rendered lifeless by the Yaksha. The fifth brother, Yudhishthira , engaged the Yaksha in a riddle contest and defeated him with his wisdom, thereby bringing his brothers back to life. Some legends also state that

465-427: A myth where the names of the characters are loaded with symbolism and axiological significance. The myth is as follows, The progeny of Dharma by the daughters of Daksha were as follows: by Sraddhá (devotion) he had Kama (desire); by Lakshmí (wealth, prosperity), was born Darpa (pride); by Dhriti (courage), the progeny was Niyama (precept); by Tusht́i (inner comfort), Santosha (contentment); by Pusht́i (opulence),

558-461: A new area for exploitation of hydrocarbon potential (e.g., Meyal Field ). With an estimated production of 5,500 barrels per day, the Ghauri X-1 oil well is expected to be the country’s largest oil-producing well and is likely to start contributing its output to the system by the end of June 2014. Due to low rain fall , extensive deforestation , coal mining , oil and gas exploration, the area

651-456: A pond named Katas which is regarded as sacred by Hindus. The temples' pond is said in the Puranas to have been created from the teardrops of Shiva , after he wandered the Earth inconsolable after the death of his wife Sati . The pond occupies an area of two kanals and 15 marlas, with a maximum depth of 20 feet. The temples play a role in the Hindu epic poem, the Mahābhārata , where

744-703: A process called Upabrimhana . However, some of the 36 major and minor Puranas are more focused handbooks, such as the Skanda Purana, Padma Purana and Bhavishya Purana, which deal primarily with Tirtha Mahatmyas (pilgrimage travel guides). while Vayu Purana and Brahmanda Purana focus more on history, mythology and legends. The colonial-era scholars of Puranas studied them primarily as religious texts, with Vans Kennedy declaring in 1837 that any other use of these documents would be disappointing. John Zephaniah Holwell , who from 1732 onwards spent 30 years in India and

837-493: A religious, bhakti (devotional) context. Here the Puranic literature follows a general pattern. It starts with an introduction, where a future devotee is described as ignorant about the deity, yet curious. The devotee learns about the deity, and this begins their spiritual realization. The text then describes instances of this deity's grace, which begins to persuade and convert the devotee. The devotee, then, shows devotion, which

930-517: A series of cornices with small rows of pillars, crowned by a ribbed dome. The seven temples were built in an architectural style similar to Kashmiri temples, with dentils , fluted pillars, trefoil arches, and rooflines that are pointed. The Ramachandra Mandir is situated to the east of the Hari Singh Haveli and is closed from all sides except for an entrance on the east. The double-storied structure has eight rooms of various dimensions on

1023-601: A single deity. The Puranas have also been classified based on a specific deity, although the texts are mixed and revere all gods and goddesses: Two puranas have "Bhagavata" in their names, the Bhagavata Purana and Devi Bhagavata Purana , which Srivastava says both are called Mahapuranas in Sanskrit literature, where the Vayu Purana , Matsya Purana , and Aditya Upa Purana admit the Devi Bhagavata Purana as

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1116-467: A whole, states Ludo Rocher . He points out that even for the better established and more coherent Puranas such as Bhagavata and Vishnu, the dates proposed by scholars continue to vary widely and endlessly. The date of the production of the written texts does not define the date of origin of the Puranas. They existed in an oral form before being written down. In the 19th century, F. E. Pargiter believed

1209-819: Is a plateau in the northern region of Punjab , Pakistan , located between the Indus and Jhelum rivers. Pothohar Plateau is bounded on the east by the Jhelum River , on the west by the Indus River , on the north by the Kala Chitta Range and the Margalla Hills , and on the south by the Salt Range . The southern end of the plateau is bounded by the Thal desert . The 5000 square miles of

1302-464: Is a Shaiva story that features Brahma , Vishnu , Shiva , the three major gods of Hinduism , who get together and debate about who is supreme amongst the three of them and after various incidents of the story, the glory of Shiva is established at the end by the apparition of the Linga which is a form of Shiva as Lingodbhava over Vishnu and Brahma, thus it shows that Vishnu and Brahma are secondary gods in

1395-455: Is a recessed round arch with faint cusps and a rectangular opening to the north. A small fort cum residence was built during the reign of Hari Singh Nalwa , and was built for his use as a fort and residence. The fort itself is located on a small hillock and overlooks the entire temple complex. The fort is rectangular and features four bastions, one in each corner of the fort. The walls are approximately 5 metres tall, and features an entryway in

1488-524: Is ahistorical, since there is little corroborating evidence that either were more or less known, and that "the term Mahapurana occurs rarely in Purana literature, and is probably of late origin." The Upapuranas are eighteen in number, with disagreement as to which canonical titles belong in that list of eighteen. They include among – Only a few have been critically edited. The Ganesha and Mudgala Puranas are devoted to Ganesha . The Skanda Purana

1581-700: Is an abandoned Hindu temple and monastic complex located on the summit of the Tilla Jogian mountain in the Salt Range of Pakistan 's Punjab province. The complex was the most important centre for Hindu jogis in Punjab prior to 1947, and had housed hundreds of ascetics . The site is also important in Sikhism for its association with the founder of the Sikh faith, Guru Nanak . The Khewra Salt Mine in Khewra

1674-438: Is becoming devoid of vegetation. Taxila 's archaeological sites lie near modern Taxila about 35 km (22 mi) northwest of the city of Rawalpindi . The sites were first excavated by John Marshall , who worked at Taxila over a period of twenty years from 1913. The vast archaeological site includes neolithic remains dating to 3360 BCE, and Early Harappan remains dating to 2900–2600 BCE at Sarai Kala . Taxila, however,

1767-643: Is believed to be where the Pandava brothers spent a large portion of their exile. It is also believed by Hindus to be the site where the Pandavas engaged in a riddle contest with the Yakshas , as described in the Yaksha Prashna . The 4th century CE Chinese monk, Faxian , described a temple at Katas Raj in his travelogues. The 7th century CE Chinese traveler Xuanzang visited the area and reported

1860-533: Is called Shiva is but identical with Vishnu. The Skanda Purana has received renewed scholarly interest ever since the late 20th century discovery of a Nepalese Skanda Purana manuscript dated to be from the early 9th century CE. This discovery established that the Skanda Purana existed by the 9th century CE. However, a comparison shows that the 9th century CE document is entirely different from versions of Skanda Purana that have been circulating in South Asia since

1953-511: Is found in the Hathial section, which yielded pottery shards that date from as early as the late 2nd millennium BCE to the 6th century BCE. The Bhir Mound ruins at the site date from the 6th century BCE, and are adjacent to Hathial. The ruins of Sirkap date to the 2nd century BCE, and were built by the region's Greco-Bactrian kings who ruled in the region following Alexander the Great's invasion of

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2046-581: Is highly inconsistent across the Puranas, and each Purana has survived in numerous manuscripts which are themselves inconsistent. The Hindu Maha Puranas are traditionally attributed to Vyasa , but many scholars considered them likely the work of many authors over the centuries; in contrast, most Jaina Puranas can be dated and their authors assigned. There are 18 Mukhya Puranas (Major Puranas) and 18 Upa Puranas (Minor Puranas), with over 400,000 verses. The first versions of various Puranas were likely to have been composed between 3rd and 10th century CE. While

2139-564: Is independent, has changed often over its history, and has little relation to the Vedic age or the Vedic literature. In contrast, Purana literature is evidently intended to serve as a complement to the Vedas, states Vans Kennedy. Some scholars such as Govinda Das suggest that the Puranas claim a link to the Vedas but in name only, not in substance. The link is purely a mechanical one. Scholars such as Viman Chandra Bhattacharya and PV Kane state that

2232-493: Is located at an altitude of 2,000 feet. It is approximately 100 kilometres away by road from another important Hindu pilgrimage destination - the Tilla Jogian complex. Katas Raj is located near the interchange for the town of Kallar Kahar off the M2 Motorway which links Islamabad to Lahore . The complex is located alongside the road that connects Kallar Kahar to Choa Saidan Shah near the village of Dulmial. The name of

2325-584: Is most famous for ruins of several settlements, the earliest dating from around 1000 BCE. It is also known for its collection of Buddhist religious monuments, including the Dharmarajika stupa , the Jaulian monastery, and the Mohra Muradu monastery. The main ruins of Taxila include four major cities, each belonging to a distinct time period, at three different sites. The earliest settlement at Taxila

2418-478: Is rewarded by the deity. The reward is appreciated by the devotee, who, in return, performs further actions to express further devotion. The Puranas, states Flood, document the rise of the theistic traditions such as those based on Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Tridevi and include respective mythology, pilgrimage to holy places, rituals and genealogies. The bulk of these texts, in Flood's view, were established by 500 CE, in

2511-425: Is the largest Purana with 81,000 verses, named after the deity Skanda , the son of Shiva and Uma, and the brother of the deity Ganesha. The mythological part of the text weaves together the stories of Shiva and Vishnu, along with those featuring Parvati, Lakshmi, Rama, Krishna, Sita, Rukmini and other major gods and goddesses in the Hindu pantheon. In Chapter 1.8, it declares, Vishnu is nobody but Shiva, and he who

2604-727: Is the location of major Pakistani oil fields, the first of which were discovered at Khaur in 1915 and Dhuliān in 1935; the Tut field was discovered in 1968, Missa Keswal was discovered in 1992 and exploration continued in the area in the 1990s. The oil fields are connected by pipeline to the Attock Refinery in Rawalpindi. Major reserves of oil and gas has been discovered at Chak Beli Khan near Rawalpindi in Punjab . A major oil reserve has been discovered near Jhelum in Punjab, opening up

2697-451: Is the second largest salt mine in the world. The mine is famous for its production of pink Khewra salt, often marketed as Himalayan salt , and is a major tourist attraction, drawing up to 250,000 visitors a year. Its history dates back to its discovery by Alexander 's troops in 320 BC, but it started trading in the Mughal era . The Manikyala Stupa ( Urdu : مانكياله اسٹوپ ) is

2790-411: The Mahābhārata , where the temples are traditionally believed to have been the site where the Pandava brothers spent a significant portion of their exile. It is also traditionally believed by Hindus to be the site where the brothers engaged in a riddle contest with the Yakshas , as described in the Yaksha Prashna . Another tradition states that the Hindu deity Krishna laid the foundation of

2883-484: The 2010 Pakistan floods . In January 2017, Pakistan's government began installation of shikharas on the temples. In February 2017, 200 pilgrims from India traveled to the temple to participate in the Katas Raj Dham festival. In 2018, Pakistan issued visas to 139 Indian Hindu pilgrims to visit Katas Raj dham. The temples are considered to be the second most sacred site in the historic Punjab region, after

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2976-756: The Mulasamhita , from which the later eighteen Puranas were derived. The term Purana appears in the Vedic texts. For example, Atharva Veda mentions Purana (in the singular) in XI.7.24 and XV.6.10-11: "The Rig and Sama verses, the Chandas, the Purana along with the Yajur formulae, all sprang from the remainder of the sacrificial food, (as also) the gods that resort to heaven. He changed his place and went over to great direction, and Itihasa and Purana, gathas, verses in praise of heroes followed in going over." Similarly,

3069-804: The Potohar plateau , including the nearby Tilla Jogian , and Kafir Kot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The founder of the Sikh faith, Guru Nanak , is believed to have visited the Katas Raj Temples, as the site became a popular destination for ascetics. The Sikh emperor Ranjit Singh also regularly performed pilgrimage to the site. He visited the site for the Vaisakhi festival in 1806, in December 1818, and again in 1824. The complex

3162-780: The Trideva because he expanded and conquered the entire universe and them being secondary gods with lesser powers, so they cannot find his beginning and end at a single place in the universe. This story, state Bonnefoy and Doniger, appears in Vayu Purana 's chapter 1.55, Brahmanda Purana 's chapter 1.26, Shiva Purana 's Rudra Samhita's Sristi Khanda's chapter 15, Skanda Purana 's chapters 1.3, 1.16, 3.1, and other Puranas. The texts are in Sanskrit as well as regional languages, and almost entirely in narrative metric couplets. The texts use ideas, concepts and even names that are symbolic. The words can interpreted literally, and at an axiological level. The Vishnu Purana , for example, recites

3255-584: The University of ancient Taxila is considered to be one of the earliest universities in the world. Because of the extensive preservation efforts and upkeep, Taxila is one of Punjab's popular tourist spots , attracting up to one million tourists every year. During the Mughal Period , the Pothohar was a part of the Subah of Lahore . "The land is beautiful, its scented air is that of spring, and

3348-455: The partition of India , other biradaris including the Khatris , Mohyal Brahmins , and Aroras were also present in large numbers throughout the region. The plateau covers about 7 percent of all the cultivated land of Pakistan and most of it is very fertile, but the region does not have any proper irrigation system, with the agriculture being largely dependent on rainfall. The plateau

3441-533: The second Ice Age , from which remnants of stone and flint tools have been found. The Sivapithecus indicus fossil skull of an extinct ape species was discovered in Potohar plateau. Taxila was the capital city of ancient Gāndhāra , situated on the eastern shore of the Indus River —the pivotal junction of the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia ; it was founded around 1000 BCE. Some ruins at Taxila date to

3534-532: The "original Purana" may date to the time of the final redaction of the Vedas. Wendy Doniger , based on her study of indologists, assigns approximate dates to the various Puranas. She dates Markandeya Purana to c.  250 CE (with one portion dated to c. 550 CE), Matsya Purana to c. 250–500 CE, Vayu Purana to c. 350 CE, Harivamsa and Vishnu Purana to c. 450 CE, Brahmanda Purana to c. 350–950 CE, Vamana Purana to c. 450–900 CE, Kurma Purana to c. 550–850 CE, and Linga Purana to c. 600–1000 CE. Of

3627-570: The Gupta era, though amendments were made later. Along with inconsistencies, common ideas are found throughout the corpus, but it is not possible to trace the lines of influence of one Purana upon another, so the corpus is best viewed as a synchronous whole. An example of similar stories woven across the Puranas, but in different versions, include the Lingodbhava – the apparition of the Linga . The

3720-462: The Pothwar is an appealing and beautiful garden." The Punjab played a major role in the war effort of World War II , and a large proportion of these soldiers came from the Pothohar as well as the Salt Range . Punjabis are the native people of Pothohar, speaking Punjabi in forms of various dialects . Major dialects or varieties spoken in the region include Pothwari , predominantly spoken in

3813-412: The Purana adds that it was abridged by sage Vyasa before being taught to Romaharshana. The Puranas, according to Flood, have traditionally been classified according to three qualities ( guna ) which are inherent in existence, namely the quality of light or purity ( sattva ), passion ( rajas ), and darkness or inertia ( tamas ), with each quality having six puranas focused, but not exclusively, upon

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3906-1149: The Purana texts changed often over time and over distance, and the underlying presumption of them being religious texts is that those changes are "Hinduism expressed by a religious leader or philosopher", or the "expressiveness of Hindu mind", or "society at large", when the texts and passages are literary works and "individual geniuses of their authors". The Jaina Puranas are like Hindu Puranas encyclopedic epics in style, and are considered as anuyogas (expositions), but they are not considered Jain Agamas and do not have scripture or quasi-canonical status in Jainism tradition. They are best described, states John Cort, as post-scripture literary corpus based upon themes found in Jain scriptures. Potohar plateau Europe North America Oceania The Pothohar Plateau ( Punjabi : پوٹھوار پٹھار , romanized:  Pо̄ṭhvār Paṭhār ; Urdu : سطح مرتفع پوٹھوہار , romanized :  Satāh Murtafā Pо̄ṭhōhār ), also known as Pothwar ,

3999-425: The Puranas are a continuation and development of the Vedas. Sudhakar Malaviya and VG Rahurkar state the connection is closer in that the Puranas are companion texts to help understand and interpret the Vedas. K.S. Ramaswami Sastri and Manilal N. Dvivedi reflect the third view which states that Puranas enable us to know the "true import of the ethos, philosophy, and religion of the Vedas". Barbara Holdrege questions

4092-524: The Puranas do not enjoy the authority of a scripture in Hinduism , but are considered as Smritis , they shaped Hinduism more than the Vedas, providing a "culture synthesis" in weaving and integrating the diverse beliefs of a great number of local traditions into the Vedic-Brahmanic fold. While all Puranas praise many gods and goddesses and "their sectarianism is far less clear cut" than assumed,

4185-601: The Shatapatha Brahmana (XI.5.6.8) mentions Itihasapuranam (as one compound word) and recommends that on the 9th day of Pariplava, the hotr priest should narrate some Purana because "the Purana is the Veda, this it is" (XIII.4.3.13). However, states P.V. Kane, it is not certain whether these texts suggested several works or a single work with the term Purana . The late Vedic text Taittiriya Aranyaka (II.10) uses

4278-537: The area. After the menace was reported, the Supreme Court of Pakistan took a suo motu notice and started hearing the case in November. During the course of proceedings, Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar remarked that cement factories were consuming water worth millions of rupees without paying their dues. He stated that taxes should be imposed on the factories and if the government would not do so,

4371-554: The collapse of the empire of Gandhara , Hinduism gained traction in the region under the reign of the Hindu Shahis beginning around the 7th century CE. The Hindu Shahis established Hindu temples at Katas Raj from the mid 7th to 10th centuries, though the British engineer Alexander Cunningham dated the shrines to around 66 BCE. The Hindu Shahi empire also funded construction of several other temples throughout northern Punjab and

4464-825: The colonial era. Several Puranas, such as the Matsya Purana, list "five characteristics" or "five signs" of a Purana. These are called the Pancha Lakshana ( pañcalakṣaṇa ), and are topics covered by a Purana: A few Puranas, such as the most popular Bhagavata Purana, add five more characteristics to expand this list to ten: These five or ten sections weave in biographies, myths, geography, medicine, astronomy, Hindu temples, pilgrimage to distant real places, rites of passage, charity, ethics, duties, rights, dharma, divine intervention in cosmic and human affairs, love stories, festivals, theosophy and philosophy. The Puranas link gods to men, both generally and in

4557-428: The court would take the matter into its hands. In 2017, while hearing the case, Nisar stressed, "This temple is not just a place of cultural significance for the Hindu community, but also a part of our national heritage. We have to protect it." The bench of judges during the hearing of the case also expressed displeasure at the absence or displacing of idols from the temples, demanding to know why there were no statues in

4650-416: The death of his wife Sati . The water in the pond is of high clarity. The water and are believed to wash one of ones own sins, as the pond is associated with Shiva. In 2012, and again in 2017, water levels in the pond were noted to decrease because of water usage at a nearby cement factory, as well as the plantation of water-avid eucalyptus trees, that had lowered the area's water table. After the 2012 episode,

4743-485: The decades following Partition, and suffered neglect. Pakistani Hindus would continue to occasionally visit the site, but were unable to maintain the expansive complex. The pond was polluted with litter, while local villagers would also use the pool for recreation. Indian Hindu pilgrims were forbidden to visit the site in 1956, 1960, and after the Indo-Pakistan war in 1965. Indian pilgrims were not permitted to visit

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4836-421: The editing and expansion of the Puranas did not stop after the Gupta era, and the texts continued to "grow for another five hundred or a thousand years" and these were preserved by priests who maintained Hindu pilgrimage sites and temples. The core of Itihasa-Puranas, states Klaus Klostermaier, may possibly go back to the 7th century BCE or even earlier. It is not possible to set a specific date for any Purana as

4929-401: The existence of a Buddhist stupa dating to the era of the 3rd century BCE Indian emperor, Ashoka the great . The stupa was reported to be 200 feet tall, and surrounded by 10 springs. Simhapura (also Singhapura or Sinhapura) Buddhist kingdom, mentioned and visited by Xuanzang, has been identified with Katas Raj by Alexander Cunningham in his book The Ancient Geography of India . Following

5022-448: The fact that it would be irresponsible and highly misleading to speak of or pretend to describe the religion of the Puranas. The study of Puranas as religious texts remains a controversial subject. Some Indologists, in the colonial tradition of scholarship, treat the Puranic texts as scriptures, or as useful sources of religious contents. Other scholars, such as Ronald Inden, consider this approach "essentialist and antihistorical" because

5115-616: The faculty to procreate; they perpetually operate as causes of the destruction of this world. On the contrary, Daksha and the other Rishis, the elders of mankind, tend perpetually to influence its renovation: whilst the Manus and their sons, the heroes endowed with mighty power, and treading in the path of truth, as constantly contribute to its preservation. The relation of the Puranas with Vedas has been debated by scholars, some holding that there's no relationship, others contending that they are identical. The Puranic literature, stated Max Muller ,

5208-477: The fifth Veda status of Itihasas (the Hindu epics) and Puranas. The Puranas, states V.S. Agrawala, intend to "explicate, interpret, adapt" the metaphysical truths in the Vedas. In the general opinion, states Rocher, "the Puranas cannot be divorced from the Vedas" though scholars provide different interpretations of the link between the two. Scholars have given the Bhagavata Purana as an example of

5301-426: The fifth Veda". The Brhadaranyaka Upanishad also refers to purana as the "fifth Veda". According to Thomas Coburn, Puranas and early extra-puranic texts attest to two traditions regarding their origin, one proclaiming a divine origin as the breath of the great beings, the other as a human sage named Vyasa as the arranger of already existing material into eighteen Puranas. In the early references, states Coburn,

5394-399: The ground floor and a staircase at the south leading to the first floor. The mandir has two jharoka s (balconies) that have been severely damaged. The Hanuman Mandir is on the western extreme of a high rectangular enclosure with entrances on the south and the north. The temple's ceiling is undecorated, and lime-plastered. The Shiva temple is also built on a square platform. Its entrance

5487-404: The installation of shikharas on the temples, and installed a water filtration system to provide potable water for pilgrims. By May 2017, water levels in the sacred pond were again noted to be falling. In 2016, the temple hit the national limelight after its centuries-old water pond ran dry, attributed to the depletion of groundwater owing to the establishment of four major cement factories in

5580-725: The intricate layers of symbolism depicted within their stories. Composed originally in Sanskrit and in other Indian languages, several of these texts are named after major Hindu gods such as Vishnu , Shiva , Brahma , and Tridevi . The Puranic genre of literature is found in both Hinduism and Jainism . The Puranic literature is encyclopedic, and it includes diverse topics such as cosmogony , cosmology , genealogies of gods, goddesses, kings, queens, heroes, heroines, sages, other gods, other goddesses, folk tales, pilgrimages, temples, medicine, astronomy, grammar, mineralogy, humor, love stories, theology, philosophy, etc. The content

5673-520: The legend mentions the two pools at Katasraj and Nainital . Another version of the Shiva legend involves the death of Shiva's horse Katas instead of that of Sati his consort. The Katasraj temple complex is traditionally believed to date back to the Mahabharata era. Many legends are associated with the temples. The five Pandava brothers, mentioned in the Mahabharata , are said to have stayed here for

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5766-568: The limbs and vertebrae of animals have been found at some nearby sites. Prehistoric axes and knives made of granite, and artifacts like terracotta bangles and pottery have also been unearthed at the Katasraj site. The latter have been found to be similar to those excavated in Harappa , but have not been dated. Hindu tradition holds that the temples date from the era of the Mahabharata , and

5859-726: The links and continuity of the Vedic content, such as its providing an interpretation of the Gayatri mantra. The Puranas, states Kees Bolle , are best seen as "vast, often encyclopedic" works from ancient and medieval India. Some of them, such as the Agni Purana and Matsya Purana, cover all sorts of subjects, dealing with – states Rocher – "anything and everything", from fiction to facts, from practical recipes to abstract philosophy, from geographic Mahatmyas (travel guides) to cosmetics, from festivals to astronomy. Like encyclopedias, they were updated to remain current with their times, by

5952-409: The local cement factory was shut down by government authorities in order to restore water levels. The Katas site houses the Satgraha , a group of seven ancient temples, remains of a Buddhist stupa , five other medieval temples, havelis scattered around a pond considered holy by Hindus. The temples at Katas are mostly constructed on square platforms. The elevation of the sub shrines seems to form

6045-556: The many texts designated 'Puranas' the most important are the Mahāpurāṇa s or the major Puranas. These are said to be eighteen in number, divided into three groups of six, though they are not always counted in the same way. The list of Mahapuranas is mentioned in the Vishnu Purana , part 3, chapter 6, verses 21–24. The number of verses in each Mahapurana is mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana , part 12, chapter 13, verses 4–9. The Shiva Purana asserts that it once consisted of 100,000 verses set out in twelve samhitas (books), however

6138-452: The mention of the term Purana or Puranas in the Vedic texts, there is uncertainty about the contents of them until the composition of the oldest Dharmashastra Apastamba Dharmasutra and Gautama Dharmasutra , which mention Puranas that resemble the extant Puranas. Another early mention of the term 'Itihas-purana' is found in the Chandogya Upanishad (7.1.2), translated by Patrick Olivelle as "the corpus of histories and ancient tales as

6231-413: The narrator of the Mahabharata , is hagiographically credited as the compiler of the Puranas. The ancient tradition suggests that originally there was but one Purana. Vishnu Purana (3.6.15) mentions that Vyasa entrusted his Puranasamhita to his disciple Lomaharshana , who in turn imparted it to his disciples, three of whom compiled their own samhitas. These three, together with Lomaharshana's, comprise

6324-473: The northern and central areas of the plateau, with Dhanni being spoken in the southern areas, Majhi in the eastern and Hindko (specifically Ghebi and Chachhi ) in the western areas. Other Punjabi dialects, as well as other languages, are also spoken in major urban centres like Islamabad and Rawalpindi . The major biradaris of the region (Punjabi: برادری) include Rajputs , Jatts , Awans , Janjuas , Gujjars , Khokhars , and Gakhars . Prior to

6417-418: The plateau range from an average height of 1200 to 1900 feet above the sea level. Sakesar in the Salt Range is the highest mountain of the region and Tilla Jogian is the second highest. The earliest evidence of human habitation in Punjab traces to the Soan valley of the Pothohar, where Soanian culture developed between 774,000 BC and 11,700 BC. This period goes back to the first interglacial period in

6510-525: The progeny was Lobha (cupidity, greed); by Medhá (wisdom, experience), Sruta (sacred tradition); by Kriyá (hard work, labour), the progeny were Dańd́a, Naya, and Vinaya (justice, politics, and education); by Buddhi (intellect), Bodha (understanding); by Lajjá (shame, humility), Vinaya (good behaviour); by Vapu (body, strength), Vyavasaya (perseverance). Shanti (peace) gave birth to Kshama (forgiveness); Siddhi (excellence) to Sukha (enjoyment); and Kírtti (glorious speech) gave birth to Yasha (reputation). These were

6603-402: The reciters of the Vedas, and the bardic poetry recited by Sutas that was handed down in Kshatriya circles". The original Puranas comes from the priestly roots while the later genealogies have the warrior and epic roots. These texts were collected for the "second time between the fourth and sixth centuries CE under the rule of the Gupta kings and queens", a period of Hindu renaissance. However,

6696-524: The region in 326 BCE. The third and most recent settlement is that of Sirsukh , which was built by rulers of the Kushan empire, who ruled from nearby Purushapura (modern Peshawar ). Rohtas Fort is a 16th-century fortress located near the city of Jhelum in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The fort is one of the largest and most formidable in the subcontinent . Rohtas Fort was never taken by force, and it has remained remarkably intact. The fortress

6789-712: The religious practices included in them are considered Vaidika (congruent with Vedic literature). The Puranic literature wove with the Bhakti movement in India, and both Dvaita and Advaita scholars have commented on the underlying Vedantic themes in the Maha Puranas . Douglas Harper states that the etymological origins of Puranas are from Sanskrit Puranah , literally "ancient, former," from pura "formerly, before," cognate with Greek paros "before," pro "before," Avestan paro "before," Old English fore, from Proto-Indo-European *pre- , from *per- ." Vyasa ,

6882-441: The site again until 1984. India's former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani visited the temples in 2005, and expressed displeasure at the site's dilapidated state. In 2005 Pakistan proposed to restore the temple complex, while in 2006 the restoration project began in order to clean the sacred pond, paint and restore some temples, and installation of informational blue boards around the temple complex. 300 Indian Hindus visited

6975-587: The site for the Shivratri festival in 2006, which for a short time became an annual tradition for some Indian pilgrims, though Indians stopped coming after the 2008 Mumbai attacks . 2,000 Pakistani Hindus resumed the tradition of celebrating Shivratri at the temple in 2010, and another 2,000 in 2011 with visitors coming from as far as Karachi . A wedding for Hindu couples was arranged during that year's Shivratri festival for couples from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province whose families had lost much of their property in

7068-471: The sons of Dharma ; one of whom, Kama (love, emotional fulfillment) had baby Hersha (joy) by his wife Nandi (delight). The wife of Adharma (vice, wrong, evil) was Hinsá (violence), on whom he begot a son Anrita (falsehood), and a daughter Nikriti (immorality): they intermarried, and had two sons, Bhaya (fear) and Naraka (hell); and twins to them, two daughters, Máyá (deceit) and Vedaná (torture), who became their wives. The son of Bhaya (fear) and Máyá (deceit)

7161-414: The temple at Jwalamukhi in modern Himachal Pradesh . The temples derive their holiness from the legend that following the death of his wife Sati, the Hindu god Shiva wandered inconsolably, while some of his tears collected in two ponds, one of which is the pond around which the Katas Raj Temples are set, while the other is at Pushkar , near the famous Sufi pilgrimage center of Ajmer . Another version of

7254-532: The temple complex is believed to derive from the Sanskrit word kataksha , meaning "tearful eyes." The pond was originally referred to as Viskund , or "poison spring", but was later referred to as Amarkund, Chamaskund, and finally Katakshkund, meaning "Spring of tearful eyes." The pond in Urdu and Persian is referred to as Chashm-e-Alam , meaning "Sorrowful/Tearful Eyes." The Salt Ranges have archaeological remains still hidden underground. A number of bones of

7347-466: The temple complex. Murtis (idols) of Hindu gods were placed in the seven temples, at a cost of Rs. 51.06 million. A three-member archaeological team visited India , Sri Lanka and Nepal to collect murtis of various Hindu gods. As of 2012, the temple pond was drying up as ground water had been diverted for industrial purposes, though the local cement factory was temporarily shut down to restore water levels. In January 2017, Pakistani authorities began

7440-478: The temple, and established a hand-made shivling in it. The temples were visited by India's former deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani in 2005. In 2006, the Pakistani government began restoration works at the temples, with further improvements announced in 2017. The Katas Raj Temple complex is part of municipal committee Choa Saidanshah . The Katas Raj Temple complex is located near Kallar Kahar , and

7533-512: The temples are traditionally believed to have been the site where the Pandava brothers spent a significant portion of their exile. Rawat Fort is an early 16th century fort in the Pothohar plateau of Pakistan , near the city of Rawalpindi in the province of Punjab . The fort was built to defend the Pothohar plateau from the forces of the Pashtun king Sher Shah Suri . Tilla Jogian

7626-495: The temples of Shiri Ram and Hanuman. The bench was told that a former chairman of Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) earned millions of rupees from corruption [during his tenure] and then ran away [from Pakistan]. In May 2018, the top court announced its verdict on the case by ruling that the cement factories would have to source water from elsewhere immediately, and in the meantime, pay the Government of Punjab, Pakistan for

7719-548: The term Purana occurs in singular unlike the later era which refers to a plural form presumably because they had assumed their "multifarious form". According to the Indologists J. A. B. van Buitenen and Cornelia Dimmitt, the Puranas that have survived into the modern era are ancient but represent "an amalgam of two somewhat different but never entirely different separate oral literatures: the Brahmin tradition stemming from

7812-465: The term in the plural. Therefore, states Kane, that in the later Vedic period at least, the Puranas referred to three or more texts, and that they were studied and recited. In numerous passages the Mahabharata mentions ' Purana ' in both singular and plural forms. Moreover, it is not unlikely that, where the singular ' Puranam ' was employed in the texts, a class of works was meant. Further, despite

7905-750: The time of the Achaemenid Persian Empire , followed successively by the Maurya Empire , the Indo-Greek Kingdom , the Indo-Scythians , and the Kushan Empire . Owing to its strategic location, Taxila has changed hands many times over the centuries, with many polities vying for its control. When the great ancient trade routes connecting these regions ceased to be important, the city sank into insignificance and

7998-542: The very first Shiva Ling (Shiv-Ling) was in Katas. Some old manuscripts also consider Katas as the Janam Bhoomi (birthplace) of Hindu incarnation Rama , as well as that of Ayodhya ; but this has become quite controversial. The oral tradition by local Hindus never mentioned it as being Rama's birthplace or celebrated in annual rituals. The pond in the complex is believed by Hindus to be filled with Shiva 's tears after

8091-480: The water they draw. It told Bestway and DG Khan cement factories to fulfill their water needs from any other alluvial source such as river Jhelum . Purana Divisions Sama vedic Yajur vedic Atharva vedic Vaishnava puranas Shaiva puranas Shakta puranas Puranas (Ancients), are a vast genre of Hindu literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends and other traditional lore. The Puranas are known for

8184-510: The western wall of the fort. The central portion of the fort features a small courtyard, around which an arched veranda is found. The interior rooms were not decorated. For decades the temple complex was in bad state. The holy pond was littered with garbage, while the murals inside the temples disappeared due to the ravages of time and the neglect of the authorities. The temples were visited by India's former deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani in 2005, and in 2006 Pakistan proposed to restore

8277-562: Was a popular pilgrimage site for Hindus prior to the 1947 Partition of British India , with large numbers visiting for Shivratri . Following Partition, the local Hindu community left the region for India. The Indian pilgrims continued to visit the temple for the Shivratri festival until the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 , after which Indian pilgrims were barred from visiting again until 1984. The temples fell into disrepair over

8370-518: Was built by Raja Todar Mal on the orders of Sher Shah Suri . The fort is known for its large defensive walls and several monumental gateways. Rohtas Fort was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997, as an "exceptional example of the Muslim military architecture of Central and South Asia." The Katas Raj Temples also known as Qila Katas, is a complex of several Hindu temples connected to one another by walkways. The temple complex surrounds

8463-665: Was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1767, described the Puranas as "18 books of divine words". British officials and researchers such as Holwell, states Urs App, were orientalist scholars who introduced a distorted picture of Indian literature and Puranas as "sacred scriptures of India" in 1767. Holwell, states Urs App, "presented it as the opinion of knowledgeable Indians; But it is abundantly clear that no knowledgeable Indian would ever have said anything remotely similar". Modern scholarship doubts this 19th-century premise. Ludo Rocher, for example, states, I want to stress

8556-470: Was finally destroyed in the 5th century by the invading Hunas . In the 15th century, Pothohar became part of Malik Jasrat 's kingdom who had conquered most of Punjab from the Delhi Sultanate. In mid-19th century British India , ancient Taxila's ruins were rediscovered by British archaeologist Alexander Cunningham . In 1980, UNESCO designated Taxila as a World Heritage Site . By some accounts,

8649-406: Was the destroyer of living creatures, or Mrityu (death); and Dukha (pain) was the offspring of Naraka (hell) and Vedaná (torture). The children of Mrityu were Vyádhi (disease), Jará (decay), Soka (sorrow), Trishńa (greediness), and Krodha (wrath). These are all called the inflictors of misery, and are characterised as the progeny of Vice (Adharma). They are all without wives, without posterity, without

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