Tharparkar: The history and culture amid catastrophe

THARPARKAR, Tharparkar, a district spread over 20,000sq kilometres, lies in Pakistan's southern Sindh province.

Almost 2,000 children under the age of five have died in Tharparkar since 2011. But the region paints a picture of beauty and adversity, for beneath the alarming mortality figures are deeper issues hampering human existence in this geographically, culturally and religiously complex district of almost 1.5 million people. Poverty, population growth, lack of clean drinking water, unemployment and high illiteracy rates have seemingly trapped Tharparkar in a state of catastrophe.

Centuries-old temples, uniquely built houses and eye-catching handicraft remain shrouded under the persistent clouds of neglect. And there is the lack of awareness that keeps its history in its purest form, albeit in a constant state of deterioration.