‘Ship the white’ on Jain temple and mosque in Pakistan, getting criticism

During the repair of two historic religious buildings in Sindh province of Pakistan, ‘White Wash’ has been done by the Department of Archeology. On which experts say that it is like erasing the identity of those buildings.

On the other hand, the provincial archeology department says that only ancient building materials have been used to repair them.

The Cultural Department and the Department of Archeology shared on Twitter their official photos of the repair of the historic mosque located in Tindo Fazal, 25 km from Hyderabad.

Officials were told that it has been repaired keeping in view the standards of archeology, post-repair and earlier photographs of Pakistan People’s Party President Bilawal Bhutto were also tagged.

These pictures were severely criticized on social media, after which the cultural department and archeology department removed these photos.

These pictures were of the remains of Hingorani mods. According to the Department of Archeology, this was the stronghold of Sayyids in the name of Hingorani Maadi (Haveli). In the year 1775, Afghan Emperor Maddha Khan Pathan attacked and destroyed it at the beginning of Kalhora’s reign.

Two mosques and a mausoleum and a few havelis survived in this attack, at that time Noor Mohammad Kalhro was the ruler of Sindh.

Provincial Culture Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah said that this is a Kalhora reign building, which used lime in architecture. At that time brick, charoli and lime were used. Keeping this in mind, this mosque has been repaired.

“If it is left after the use of bricks and lime (lime stone), then the cracks or spaces that are there can cause the building to weaken. So to make it strong and safe, it is also applied on the outside, This is not white wash at all. “

The provincial minister says that the Twitter handle looks at the staff of the department and after seeing the comments coming on it, the photos were removed and now they will be shared again with complete information.

Where are these historical buildings?

These temples of Jainism, located in the present Veera Wah city and first Pari Nagar, Bhudesar and Nagar Parkar town, about one hundred and twenty five hundred meters away from the Thar District Headquarters Math, are counted among the old temples of this region.

Some temples located at Bhudesar and Vera Wah have been repaired. The largest temple is known as Godi Mandir. A pictorial story is present inside the dome of this temple.

Speaking to the BBC, the Director General of the Department of Archeology, Manzoor Canasar, has done the medicine that there has been no improvement in the repair of Jain temples and this work has been done according to the Department of Archeology and scientific principles.

He said that Sindh Endowment Trust is doing the work of repairing Jain temples in Nagar Parkar and Bhodesar, while in other places it is the responsibility of Sindh government.

He also said that the dome of the Vera Wah temple has been washed white, while the pictorial story on the roof of Gudi temple is present in its original position.

According to the Director General, this temple is owned by the Sindh government and with the endowment fund its permission is being spent in repairing the temples. He said that the engineers of Sindh government have inspected the place and no care was taken in it.

Provincial Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah also wrote on Twitter, “We are investigating. Although the city type is funding the endowment for the preservation of the city and the Jain temple of Bhudesar while the Sindh government is funding the other buildings. “

The provincial minister has not spoken on the Gudi temple.

It should be noted that the Sindh Endowment Fund was set up by the Sindh government in August 2008 to look after the heritage of Sindh, for which 100 crore rupees were given.

Under the fund, the repair work is done with the profits of the investments made in the banks.

The head of the fund is Hameed Akhond, who has been the former secretary of the cultural department. He says that he has done the work of repairing the platform of Jain temple in Bhudesar, in which stone and lime have been used. Whereas the dome and structure of the temple is not theirs and no expert is present in Pakistan to repair it.

“If lime stone is used, it will look white. With the passage of time, its color will change; if coal is mixed with lime then it will not look white, if it does not, it will look white.”

Kalimullah Lashari, former director of the Department of Archeology, says that this area has been a stronghold of Jainism.

“The Jain community had made a lot of business from the pre-Islamic era to the 13th century and when these communities prospered, they built these temples. The existing temples are built in the 12th and 13th centuries.”

Remember that Jainism was founded by a person named Mahavira in about six hundred years BC.

“Identity Deleted” from White Wash

The famous archaeologist and former UNESCO consultant Yasmin Lari says that the basic principle of conservation is to minimize interference and not necessarily change anything and keep those things in real condition.

If a stone is broken, it should remain there. If there is a crack or crack, then more cracks should be prevented.

Yasmin Lari says that if everything has been revamped, then its historical status has been destroyed.

We had to show our upcoming breeds what the architecture of that time was, what kind of expert artisans were, what was the material, now when it will be made new, it will not happen. “

Referring to the pictorial story on the dome of the Gudi temple, he said that what was written was to be kept in the same condition and it has been very much condemned by white washing, it has destroyed its identity.

Social media feedback

After uploading these pictures on social media, the officials removed them, but the discussion on this subject continued by the users later.

A user named Hammad told the cultural minister in his tweet that repairing only means repairing the broken part. Conservation means keeping its color and beauty as before. This white color has ruined the original color and beauty.

Nuzhat S Siddiqui complained in a stinging tone at this step of the government.

Thank you for converting a legacy into a tent.

Even after deleting the tweet from the Sindh government, users bombarded sarcastic tweets.

It was written on the Twitter handle Archer that if ineligible persons sitting in high positions can be described in a picture, then this is it.

Blogger Aaron Riaz wrote that the Sindh government realizes that the tweet back fire related to the repair. Tweet can be deleted, just pay attention to the repair work.