Om Namah Shivaya…FOR HE DRANK HALAHALA

The Hindu community throughout Sindh has renovated and decorated its temples with colourful flags, lights and buntings, and religious photos and statues of Shiva in all Shiva temples in Karachi that have been bathed with milk to celebrate one of the biggest Hindu festivals, the Maha Shivratri (the Great Night of Lord Shiva), which would be celebrated on Monday (today).
Most Hindus celebrate Shivratri by fasting for the entire day; in the evening, they make offerings of milk, water, fruits, joss sticks and bel patra (bel tree leaves); and at night, prasad (edible gift) is distributed among the worshippers, and most Hindu families carrying pooja (worship) items rush to the Shiva temples and join the prayers to devote the entire night to chanting ‘Om Namah Shivaya’ (‘I bow to Lord Shiva’) and other holy mantras.
Local Hindus said there are dozens of Shiva temples throughout Sindh, but the central programme would be held in the centuries-old historical Shiva temple located inside a cave in one of the city’s posh areas, Clifton, which is supposed to be the biggest Shiva temple in the province.
According to Ramshi Kolhi of the Pakistan Hindu Sabha, a leading organisation of Pakistani Hindus, more than 300,000 people – not only from the city, but from other parts of the province as well – visit the temple on Shivratri and offer special prayers to Lord Shiva.
The festival is celebrated every year on the night between the 13th and 14th day of the Krishna Paksha (waning moon) in the month of Maagha of the Hindu calendar.
While celebrating the festival, Hindus dedicate one night to the leading Hindu god Shiva, also known as Neelkanth (blue-throated).
Hindus believe that Shiva once consumed the poison Halahala, which was churned up from the world ocean, and his wife Parvati stopped it in his throat with her hands, causing the poison to turn his throat blue.
Hindu mythology states that three gods control the universe – Brahma created it, Vishnu preserves and protects it, and Shiva would ultimately destroy it; however, in addition to being the destroyer, Shiva is also the protector.
The Hindu community is the largest religious minority in Pakistan, as according to the official 1998 census, there are around 2.7 million Hindus in the country, most of whom live in Sindh and celebrate their religious festivals on a massive scale.
“We believe that the Hindu population in Pakistan has grown to around 6 million since the last national census. There were more than 450 Hindu temples in Karachi before the partition of the Indian subcontinent, but now only 60 temples remain, as most of them have been illegally occupied or demolished. Most of these functional 60 temples are being controlled by the so-called upper caste Hindus, which make up only 8 percent of the total Hindu population,” said Kolhi.
The functional temples include the Devi Mandir at Bombay Bazaar; the Hanuman Mandir at Frere Road; the Mata Mandir; the Shri Swami Narayan Mandir at Light House; the Narsingh Mahadev Mandir near Risala Police Station; the Jagannath Akhra Mandir; the Hinglaj Mata Mandir, Sheetala Mata Mandir Bhimpura, Darya Lal Sankat Mochan Mandir and Hanuman Mandir in Doli Khata; the Shri Varun Dev Mandir at Manora; the Panjmukhi Mahraj Hanuman Mandir at Soldier Bazaar; the Rat Nageshwar Mahadev Mandir in Clifton; the Shiv Mandir near Islamia College; the Bhagnari Shiv Mandir near Kakri Ground; and the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir at Native Jetty.