Awalpindi is home to several historical temples located in various mohallas and bazaars throughout the city. A notable temple can be found in Ganj Mandi, a well-known marketplace that features several small bazaars and serves as a hub for local businesses.
In the Bismillah Market within Ganj Mandi, there is an old Hindu temple that appears to have been built in the first or second quarter of the 20th century. Unfortunately, this temple is now in a state of disrepair. I first visited it in 2003 and later returned in 2009, 2014, 2015, and most recently in February 2025.
During my second visit in 2009, I noticed that a pickle maker had set up operations within the temple complex. The temple used to have multiple rooms for pilgrims, but today it has been reduced to only one or two rooms. In 2009, the main sanctuary had been converted into a store, with utensils used for pickle making placed in the main room. At that time, the inner sanctum, known as the garbhagriha, had been painted. However, when I returned in 2014, 2015, and February 2025, the temple was found closed.
The interior of the temple is square, with walls adorned by triple recessed arches. Each layer creates visual depth and is crowned with amalaka designs. These triple recessed arches featuring amalaka-shaped motifs reflect the temple’s interior decoration style and indicate that stucco was a preferred medium for creating amalaka motifs. Such decoration is typical of most pre-partition temples, not only in Rawalpindi but also in other villages and towns of Pothohar.
Similarly refined triple recessed arches with amalaka motifs can also be seen in the Mohra Bhattan temple in Rawalpindi’s Kallar Syedan tehsil. On the eastern wall of the Ganj Mandi temple, there are two true arches with openings and a third false arch. Above these three arches is a beautifully painted frieze adorned with floral decorations that runs around the room’s perimeter. Just above this frieze are squinches and a series of false arches created to transform the square room into an octagon, allowing for the placement of an octagonal shikhara. The spandrels of the false or blind arches are also painted.
The temple’s interior features a variety of floral vases and designs. In the transition zone, numerous painted vases can be found. During my 2009 visit, I also noticed several donor plaques on the floor, many clearly aged. Some plaques I had seen in 2003 had lost their luster, dulled, and were partially obscured by layers of sludge. One plaque that caught my eye was written in Devanagari script bearing the name Madho Das Ji—a quiet reminder of a devotee’s lasting contribution still holding up through the wear of time.
This temple, associated either with the Udasi or Nath yogis, was one of the magnificent buildings of its time but has now lost much of its original beauty. The square structure is surmounted by an octagonal shikhara. The base platform on which the octagonal shikhara rests is square, featuring four niches depicting Hindu deities. Likewise, the octagonal shikhara has eight niches, each with paintings of Hindu deities except one that represents Guru Nanak with Bhai Bala and Bhai Mardana.
It is unusual to see a painting of Guru Nanak with his companions Bhai Bala and Bhai Mardana inside a Hindu temple in Rawalpindi city, as most Hindu temples are decorated exclusively with Hindu deities and mythologies from sacred scriptures. However, a temple outside Rawalpindi city, located in Gulyana village in Gujar Khan, also depicts Guru Nanak with Bhai Mardana.
Depictions of Guru Nanak are commonly found in Sikh monuments, and the theme of Baba Guru Nanak with his two companions was recurrent in Pothohari havelis and samadhis of Sikh nobles and ascetics. Sikhs used this motif in both religious and secular contexts—ranging from samadhis in Kot Fateh Khan in Attock district to the Khem Singh Bedi haveli in Kallar Syedan town.
However, Udasis also depict both Hindu deities and Sikh Gurus in their temple paintings. The Ganj Mandi temple appears to be associated either with the Naths or Udasis and was probably constructed to honor the Devi. There was a historical presence of Udasi ascetics in the Rawalpindi district. One of the leading Udasi ascetics, Baba Mohans Das, had his samadhi located in Karnali village near Sukho in Gujar Khan tehsil—whose remains can still be seen today.
The Udasis trace their spiritual lineage back to Baba Sri Chand, the elder son of Baba Guru Nanak (1469–1539). Like the Nath yogis, Udasis were celibate and used to establish a dhuni (campfire), practicing austerities in caves or remote secluded places away from village populations. Many caves in Pothohar served as sites where both Nath and Udasi ascetics practiced tapas (austerities) and were celebrated for their practice of hatha yoga.
Some caves at Katas Raj were used by both Nath yogis and Udasi ascetics. Tila Jogian, the most famous Nath monastery in Jhelum district, also attracted ascetics from other religions, including Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism.
The first niche on the square base of the octagonal shikhara in the Ganj Mandi temple depicts a standing Shiva. Unfortunately, these paintings have faded significantly due to extreme weather exposure. The second niche shows standing Vishnu with his consort Lakshmi, also in poor condition.
The third niche represents Ganapati, who has four arms, each holding an object. The fourth niche depicts Anantashayana Vishnu—reclining on the multi-headed serpent Shesha (Ananta) amidst the cosmic ocean, with his consort, the Goddess Lakshmi, seated at his feet. Four-headed Brahma is shown sitting on a lotus springing from Vishnu’s navel. This depiction, a recurring motif in Pothohar temples, is also badly weathered.
All eight niches on the octagonal shikhara contain paintings of Hindu deities and the Sikh Guru Baba Guru Nanak, but unfortunately, these have deteriorated over time. One niche shows Guru Nanak with Bhai Bala and Bhai Mardana, though this painting is badly weathered. Another features Vishnu; one depicts Durga, which now appears dull. One niche contains a painting of Baba Sri Chand, also badly weathered.
The temple’s finial (kalasa) remains intact. Miniature shikharas created from plaster decorate the facade of the octagonal shikhara. Once associated with either the Udasi or Nath yogis, this temple was a magnificent building of its time but has since lost much of its original beauty.
Standing on the roof of the temple complex, one can see the shikhara of another Hindu temple located nearby in Chaudhry Bazaar, also in the Ganj Mandi area. Both temples have lost their beauty and urgently need preservation efforts before they become mere memories of history.
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