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In the name of Allah the most gracious and merciful
in the name of Allah the most gracious and merciful
with preserve Kashmir I am your host Fazeel Hashmi
with me is my director and camera man Raja Ammar Aftab Siddiqui
with me is my director and camera man Raja Ammar Aftab Siddiqui
with me is my director and camera man Raja Ammar Aftab Siddiqui
with me is my director and camera man Raja Ammar Aftab Siddiqui
with me is my director and camera man Raja Ammar Aftab Siddiqui
we on the forum of preserve kashmir are going to show you the ignored historic castles wells and other things in our district Kotli
it is observed that people keep visiting the castles but there are some temples in the proper kotli city although reachable by people are often neglected
If the locals of our city don't get to see these places, how would the forigners see them
so for that reason we are making this effort on the preserve kashmir forum to enlighten these things for you
t the moment i am at Jamalpur, Gulhaar. it is a small town.
we were informed that there is a temple here and a family lives nearby the temple
we've just reached here
at the back ammar would show you that at my right you can see the temple between the trees
we would also try to talk to someone and find out the historical importance of the temple which we would share with you
we would go there after a moment and would see the temple for ourselves
this is the town jamalpur. we would give you a view of this town as well
my aunt is also present in the house we are visiting
i will talk to her about this temple because she is the local of this area
we would ask her about the historical reality of the temple
and how was it like when they first came here
''aunty what was it like?''
''there used to be trees ,stairs and a lot of stones which were removed and these structures as far as i think were made a long time before we arrived''
''was this monkey fully intact or''
''Yes, it was''
''was this the entrance?''
''Yes there used to be doors here and bronze pots were hanged above. the people took them.''
''Yes there used to be doors here and bronze pots were hanged above. the people took them.''
''yes the people who thought they could get away with it, they took them away''
''do people come here to visit it''
''oh yes a lot crowd visits this place''
'' how about the Indians, do they come here?''
''yes, they do''
''the Hindus from India do they come here''
''yes they come here and see whats left of the place. A poor Hindu used to live here''
''what was his name''
Shivi (Shiva)
''when did he leave''
''before 47 ''
''did his children come here when the border opened?''
''no, but when our people go to india they ask about whats left of the jamalpur temple ''
''so they didn't come here.''
''No, they didn't. they were of humble beginnings''
yes all of it
''All this area belonged to him?''
''there's always a well a temple''
''yes, but this one doesn't have one. Maybe there was one before we arrived.''
''are there more temples in this area or is this the only one?''
''in this area there's only this one''
'' Did a government official ever visit this temple to see its condition?''
''No.''
''would you please show us about the stone you were talking about?''
''the locals have told us that this stone used to be with the temple. As you can see it has a smooth surface. it is used for washing clothes nowadays''
''the locals have told us that this stone used to be with the temple. As you can see it has a smooth surface. it is used for washing clothes nowadays''
when we entered the temple from this narrow passage, we found an amazing world inside
were expecting the temple to be in a devestated state from the inside.
but we were surprised to see that the plaster on the wall was of such a good quality that it was still intact
other than that we observed three to four light openings and that matereals like paint, cement and red sand were used profoundly on walls
maybe this used to be the place where they placed their idols but still at this day it is in a good condition
when we looked at the temple from the inside we came to know that it is not narrow as it looks from the outside
20 to 25 people can simultaneously sit here and maybe 20 to 25 people used to sit here to pray
despite of being in such a congessted are this beautiful temple is still present in its original condition
and the locals have informed us that the temple is still in a good condition and that they take care of it
in the search of more temples from jamalpur we have reached the inner Kotli city and this place is called muhalla Shahi Jamya Masjid
And we got to this temple after passing through the narrow streets of the inner city
this temple is also located inside a house. it is very beautiful and the people have preserved it
now lets talk to the residents of the house and ask them what information do they have about the temple
so what do you know about this temple?
It belonged to the Sikhs
Who exactly owned this place?
I don't know for sure, some Maharaja
the temple we saw in Jamalpur belonged to a person named Shiva
I don't know about this temple, may be some Sikh
were there some idols here?
No, this place was as it is when we arrived.
i must say you have done a great job in preserving this temple
no nothing else
is there more to this temple?
as you can see we havent demolished it. No this is all of it. My father instructed me not to break it
wasn't it decorated with bronze or something?
no there wasn't
was it as it is?
yes exactly
are there any other temples in the city
theres one down the road
this one right there. they have placed a roof above the temple
who owns the house?
Mr Rafique
there is plaster and cement
we are passing throught the streets of the city
before this we went to check out a temple about which we were informed that it is inside a house
we went there, checked it out and talked to the owner of the house
the point to ponder here is that these temples are 60 years old
the second or the third decended generation is living here, thats why the people dont know the exact information about these temples
may the people who migrated here at first were alive today they would have given us better information
but their 3rd or 4rth generation doesnt have the proper information
now we'd go on the bank of the river poonch
the last three temples are on the bank of the river
and i think these 4 or 5 temples are all there are in the kotli city
passing through these narrow streets we have reached this mandir muhalla
there are a lot of temples here there are a lot of memorials of the hindu muslim community which used to live here before formation of Pakistan
other than that there is a water reservoire which in our native language we call ''baawli''
we face difficulties reaching the houses and filming all these but the people have co operated with us and they allowed to enter and film all this
but still we have made an effort to show you all we can about these temples
at the moment we are at this Mandir Muhalla it is known by this temple you can see at the back
If you view the kotli city from sarda then this temple would be visible
the resident muhhammad amir is with me
although he is a teenager and doesn't know much he would tell us all he has heard from his elders
although he is a teenager and doesn't know much he would tell us all he has heard from his elders
we have heard from our elders that other people have resided here and i have been living here since i was born
My elders have told me that when they arrived here the temple was as it is
there were no idols
i have observed that this temple is better preserved than the others
were there any other engravings inside the temple which were removed
no it was as it is
who did it belong to?
no
now that the border is open, has anybody ever came to visit
has anybody ever asked about this temple from the other side of the border
no i dont think so
thank you amir for your time and cooperation.now we are going to see the last temple near the river
this used to be the entrance its blocked now
this might have been used as a temple for worshipping as it is near the river
this is the beautiful view of the temple
in the story of the temples of kotli we have reached our last stop, the last temple
these temples, we started searching for them from jamalpur and now we have reached the bank of the river poonch
seems like there used to be a large population of worshipers in this area
we have also seen a small temple here the arrangements for worshipping are made on a large scale
in that time there used to be a water reservoire and spring here there are about three to four water springs
and there are stairs to get to them
this is a large area seems there used to three to four temples here
this is a large area seems there used to three to four temples here
this is a large area seems there used to three to four temples here
now i have reached the innner side of the big temple which has two parts. a smaller one and a larger one
in this large part we can't see anything at the moment because of the darkness and there isn't any light source
these are the walls made of cement and sand quite strong even after a long time
you can't spot any cracks here
the foundations seem very strong these stones are placed very skillfully that if you press them the plaster wont move
we have shown you the front and the inside now we'd show you the backside
this is a very beautiful plaster and you can see the engravings this has not even been restored or preserved still its in a good condition
ammar if you see up here these are the minarets present in the original state there might be a flag on it otherwise it seems it is as it was in its prime
we faced a little difficulty climbing up here we would show you the minarets now
i am standing on one now you can see its in good condition
as i told you that it has not been preserved its still in good condition
this is the minaret of the small temple and that one is of the larger one
ammar you can see the reservoire and everything down there the people might have used that to prepare for the prayer
you can see ammar that all the temples you've seen so far you might have observed that all of these are made on heights
and the ones we have seen in the city seem in level with the city because with level the city's height has increased other than that the ones outside the city and are preserved are at heights
like this one its on a height almost 10 ft high
we came here from a difficult path now we are returning
here ends our intel and the information we found these 5 or 6 temples in the city
we tried to go inside the temples and see in these temples and show you what they are,their historical values and their present condition
i would also like to thank those residents who live nearby all temples.apart from this one all other temples have became a part of the residential areas
and despite of that people of our city cooperated with us. Preserve Kashmir is our effort to bring a thing like this to you
Our Viewers from everywhere can go to our facebook page (www.facebook.com/preservekashmir) and appreciate us.
We didn't have that kind of resources and information. we may have made a lot of mistakes and we might not have been able to present it in a good manner
but still we have made a small effort in kashmir especially our district kotli where we live, there are many places which you may have seen but wouldn't have gone inside to explore it we will present it on an international scale
how did you think our effort was like, please tell us.
now I Fazeel Hashmi and my director/cameraman Raja Ammar Aftab Siddiqui would take your leave. Allah hafiz