MULTAN: The rehabilitation of historic Prahaldpuri temple, the beginning place of the festival of colours -- Holi -- could not begin even after the passage of four years the announcement of the rehabilitation plan by then Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) chairman Siddiqul Farooq.

The temple was demolished in 1992 by a mob after the Babari Mosque was demolished in Ayodhya, India. the civil work would be started in the month of July.

According to sources, the initiative was taken on the request of then Hindu parliamentarians who offered their development funds for the reconstruction of their holy place and Rs50 million were initially allocated for this purpose.

Located on the north of the shrine of Hazrat Bahauddin Zakariya, the temple was built by Prahlad Bhagat Bhagat who was a sovereign of Kashapura (its present name is Multan) on 1550 BC.

Researcher Mehboob Tabish says that Prahlad was born in Treta Yuga which is second out of four yugas (the ages of mankind) and is lasted 3,600 divine years or 1.29 human years.

He said that Prahlad constructed a temple at the place where he was put on fire and placed the deity of Lord Narasimha there.

He said that it is stated that the roof and the columns supporting the temple building were made of pure gold. There were spacious avenues beneath the temple and a conical pillar was built that was equal to the altitude of the dome of Hazrat Bahauddin Zakariya’s shrine.

He said that a fair was celebrated in the temple every year by Hindus in Jeth — the third month of Hindu calendar. In 1860, the spire of the temple was elevated apparently to make the building more attractive. This incited Muslims because the spire exceeded in altitude the dome and that led to the first Hindu-Muslim clash.

Indian lawyer Dr Jagdesh Batra told this correspondent on phone that Baba Naryan Das Batra, who was the head priest of the temple at the time of Patrician, saw a dream in which he was asked that ‘you are leaving while saving your life but who will take care of the deity?’

“While putting his life in danger, head priest went to the temple and brought the deity with him which was shifted to India through a plane and was installed in a temple at Haridwar at Narasimhadham Road,” he said.

ETPB Deputy Administrator Mazhar Bokhari said that the reconstruction of temple could not take place as the funds were not provided for the purpose.

He said that so far no scheme to reconstruct the historical temple is being considered.

Published in Dawn, April 2nd, 2019