800 year old Jain temple in desperate need of restoration

Описание: (18 Apr 2017) LEADIN
An 800 year old Jain temple in the Tharparkar desert in southern Pakistan is in dire need of restoration.
Parts are damaged almost beyond repair after it was abandoned because locals don't follow the Jain religion.
STORYLINE
As audible as the squeaking of the colony of bats, a lone devotee recites sacred Hindu texts in an abandoned 800-year old Jain temple in the heart of the desert in southern Pakistan.
25-year old Aasan Das, a resident of the adjoining Virahvah village in Nagarparkar, comes to the temple every day.
Like other locals he doesn't follow the Jain religion but likes to pray in the inner sanctum of the temple and read the sacred Hindu text, the Gita.
He prays to the Hindu god Shiva, whose image has been placed in the main alcove which once had statues of Jain gods.
The temple has 24 small rooms that are empty. They housed carvings and statues that were pilfered long ago.
Forgotten and abandoned, the temple has fallen into disrepair. The religious iconography on the ceiling of the inner dome has been eroded by the colony of bats that reside there.
"Bats live here because of lack of electricity", says Das. "There are way too many bats because of the darkness."
There are no followers of the Jain religion in the area but a number of Hindus like Das sometimes come here to pray.
But they end up doing more harm, as can be seen by the doodling and scribbling on the columns and walls.
Reconstruction work has also been done in a haphazard manner, compromising the beauty of the architecture and iconography.
One of the oldest religions of the world, Jainism has similarities with Hinduism and Buddhism. It is about asceticism, or overcoming worldly desires. It also gives the universal message of non-violence.
"In our desert of Tharparkar, history is often blown away by the sand", says local Bhaaru Mal.
"But this temple continues to defy the desert to preserve its history. Even today, its existence – even if damaged – continues to attract people."
The elaborate carvings and artwork are still visible on the inner ceiling as is the outer canopy. It is a testament to the skill and ability of those who constructed the temple.
The provincial government of Sindh is undertaking efforts to preserve, restore and reconstruct historical sites.
Syed Sardar Ali Shah, the Sindh Culture Minister, says work on temples will begin soon. But he also highlighted the challenges of restoring such monuments of antiquity.
"Unfortunately, there isn't any artist or sculptor in Pakistan who can make stone statues. Furthermore, there might be people in India who can work with black or white stone, but there's none in Pakistan. Here, you can get sculptures made of fibreglass or plaster-of-paris or some other material but not stone," he says..
This mysterious, ruined temple adds to the arid landscape of the Tharparkar desert.
But continuous neglect is reducing it to a shadow of its past glory.

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