CJP invited to attend Diwali function at vandalised temple

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) will organise a grand function on Monday to celebrate Diwali at the century-old temple in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which was vandalised and set on fire by a mob last year, a media report said on Sunday.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmad has been invited by the council to attend the festival of lights at the Teri Temple in Karak. PHC patron-in-chief and member of the National Assembly Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani said that the presence of senior officials during the celebration would give a strong message to miscreants that their nefarious designs would be foiled, the report added

To provide facilities to those arriving from Sindh and Balochistan to participate in the annual fair at Teri, the PHC has requested the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) to provide boarding and lodging facilities to around 1,500 pilgrims at Hassanabdal.

The pilgrims have started arriving at Hassanabdal from where they will proceed to the Teri area of Karak on Monday and return the same day. The shrine is associated with a saint, Shri Param Hans Ji Maharaj, in Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the temple was established in 1920.