http://jang.com.pk/thenews/jan2011-weekly/nos-09-01-2011/foo.htm#2
House in a temple
In this second of the two part series, a trip to Nankana brings forth
a surprise — a hidden Hindu temple
By Haroon Khalid
As I sneaked through the heavy cordon of the police officers, with all their metal detectors, and sharper-than-eagle-eyes, and numerous security officials in plain clothes, sitting on a table right in front of the entrance, I entered the second most important gurdwara of Nankana Sahib, Gurdwara Tamboo Sahib. This is a huge complex, with one Gurdwara, two hostels, and a building for langar. After chit-chatting with the pilgrims for a good 15-20 minutes and taking pictures profusely of the various rites and rituals at Gurdwara Saacha Sahib I moved towards my next destination — inside the hostels of the pilgrims.
Safely on the rooftop of one of the hostel, unnoticed; (well to be fair) there were a couple of young Sikh pilgrims who looked at me suspiciously. I got what I had taken all the risk for — a panoramic view of the city. A middle-aged police constable protected the rooftop. He realised that I didn’t belong here. So, within no time, and perhaps enchanted by my charm, he allowed me to enjoy my moment of victory a little while longer —which he had originally threatened to.
In the midst of the city, among freshly painted gurdwaras and abundant houses, I noticed a cone-shaped structure, well-preserved (however not as good as the gurdwaras) protruding from within the houses. I asked the constable, who was a local of the city, if he knew what it was. He told me it’s one of ‘their’ gurdwara, but I knew it wasn’t. It had to be a Hindu temple.
So once again I donned my invisible cloak; dodging, through the treacherous streets of Nankana, the numerous security hurdles (and two more gurdwaras) on the way, I reached the doorstep of the Hindu temple. The wooden door at the entrance was well preserved. Decorated with complex geometric patterns, it was a spectacle of a high aesthetic fulfillment, with a symbol of Om on the upper end of the door. Neighbours gathered to see the clown with a ‘P’ cap, backpack and a larger-than-face goggles. They suggested I knock on the door and request to see the temple from inside.
As I began to knock the door using the attached iron chain, I thought of what I would possibly tell the resident of the house… Was I going to be a pilgrim from India, or even better England, or should I say I am a journalist.
While I was deeply engaged in the exhausting process of role playing, promptly, the door opened, as if it was waiting to be knocked on, and, emerged Professor Amjad in his white cotton shalwar kameez and pleasant smile. “Please come in”, he offered, without waiting for me to give any kind of an explanation.
“Our family moved to Nankana from Gujranwala. We are originally from Amritsar and migrated to Pakistan during the Partition. This temple has been our home since the past 30 years. The main temple is upstairs, please follow me,” Amjad guided me through the narrow staircase that led to the top of the temple. The cone-structure rested on this floor. Opposite this structure was a small dome, under which an idol of Hanuman in orange was sculpted in the wall.
“This is the first intact idol I have seen in a non-functional temple,” I told Amjad trying to suppress my excitement.
“Well we don’t worship here, so I don’t see any point in destroying it,” he retorted.
Then he took me inside the main room. The niche facing the door was adorned with tiles and an intricate wooden framework.
“The statue was gone when we came here,” Amjad sounded apologetic.
He also explained that the previous residents made a few markings on the wall with pen and pencil. The rest of the frescoes in the room, which included floral and geometric patterns, were intact. “Over all these years no preservation of the temple has taken place,” Amjad clarified.
The wooden door of the room was similar in design to the main door. Same motifs were used here. The small corridor that led into the room was decorated with similar frescoes as found inside the room. In addition, it had Om written on the walls with a few other Hindi words. The frescoes on the ceiling of this passageway also showed no signs of aging at all.
Professor Amjad told me that following the destruction of the Babri Mosque rioters gathered outside this temple, demanding its razing. However, his father, who was an influential person of the city, dissuaded them. He told them that this is not a Hindu temple but their residence. (I wonder how come this did not cross the mind of the Maulvi, who lived and ran his madrassah inside the Sitla Mandar of Lahore, which he led in the destruction (Sitla Mandar). The madrassah still functions in the terribly damaged, precariously placed, structure of the temple).
A professor of Physics, Professor Amjad teaches at the Government College of the city. He tells me that he happily shows the temple/residence to the Sikh and Hindu pilgrims coming to gurdwaras. “All of them appreciate my effort of keeping intact the original structure of the temple,” he said.
He further said he needs to preserve the temple — because it is a sacred shrine. Also, he believed, his action would inspire the visitors to look after the rundown mosques in India.