Kahuta is a veritable treasure trove and a living fossil of Hindu temples and Sikh gurdwaras.

The city is home to temples dating back to the 16th-century reign of Emperor Humayun, with the most recent one built in the early 1900s when Kahuta became a Tehsil Headquarters.

Kahuta was first settled by the Janjua clan of Rajputs, who owned large tracts of land as Jagirs and were gradually joined by other tribes and clans, including Hindu Khatris and Sikhs, mostly during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

The Rajput Muslims of Kahuta traditionally pursued their martial avocation, leaving farming and trade to other communities, particularly Hindu and Sikh traders. The traders’ business acumen received a strong boost under Sikh rule, making Kahuta an important market and communication centre. Hindus and Sikhs controlled most of the commerce, including the lucrative timber trade from Kashmir to Kahuta, which became a major trading hub and staging post for both the Sikh and British administrations.

Due to its strategic location, the town was connected by a metalled road that facilitated commerce, warehousing and logistics, linking Kashmir with Punjab.

Kahuta was a well-laid-out town with around 1,500 Muslims and 2,000 Hindus and Sikhs on the eve of Partition. Nestled amid the offshoots of the lower Himalayas, the semi-hilly town presented an idyllic view with the verdant hills beautifully contrasted with the golden kalashas of Hindu temples and the white minarets of Muslim mosques. The inner city was mostly inhabited by Hindus and Sikhs, who lived in wooden houses with shops on the ground floor and residences above.

The wooden carvings and balconied exteriors overlooking narrow alleys added a quaint charm to the town. Away from the city centre, atop rugged hilltops and ridges, lay the homes of the various tribes, including those of the Janjuas, Ghakkars, Sheikhs and Syeds.

Centuries of shared existence had fostered amity among all religious communities. At dawn and dusk, the city resonated with the chimes and conch shells of temples mingling with the Azaans (Muslim calls to prayer), presenting a syncretic visage of harmony and peace.

After dusk, diyas (earthen lamps) lit up temples, dharamshalas, and mosques, enveloping the town in a glow reminiscent of a thousand fireflies. Mosques and temples coexisted peacefully, each respecting the other’s boundaries. The streams flowing from subterranean springs supplied water to a large ritual bathing pond near the new temple by Banyan Market (Bohar Bazaar). Children from both communities delighted in sliding down the watercourse into the River Ling.

A 90-year-old man named Butt reminisces wistfully about those halcyon days, recalling fragments of his fading memory. He still sits daily on a stone slab across from the old temple where his friend Hari Kishan Lal once ran a small Parshad shop, handing out sweetmeats. Butt recalls the taste and aroma of halwa, which his Hindu friend served him on a banyan leaf, while sprightly young Hindu girls frolicked near the temple, eager for trinkets or snacks.

The temple now stands forlorn, a testament to both institutional neglect and society’s eagerness to encroach upon sacred property. The once-beautiful multi-step bathing pond, an exemplar of ancient architecture, was gradually encroached upon with the connivance of those meant to protect it.

The temple, with its original glazed-tile frescoes and golden kalasha shimmering in the Kahuta sun, remains a reminder of the days of peace and interfaith harmony.

Encircled today by shops in the old Bohar Bazaar, where banyan trees and a community park once stood, the temple is a shadow of its past.

In the interest of religious tourism and interfaith harmony, it is imperative for the government to clear the encroachments and restore the temple to its original form. Such efforts would remind people of a shared heritage where temple bells and Azaan once rang out in unison, symbolising humanity’s spirit.

The forsaken yet resplendent mandirs and dharamshalas of Kahuta stand as muted witnesses to a golden age of communal harmony and as sombre reminders of the horrors of communal hatred. These relics must be freed from encroachers and restored to their pristine form to promote religious tourism and heal old wounds. — (The writer is a Ph.D scholar)

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2025