Artefacts unearthed during renovation work at historic Hanuman temple in Pakistan

Several valuable idols and artefacts have been unearthed during renovation work at a historic Hanuman temple in this Pakistani city, a discovery which experts believe will help in determining the origin of the temple.

Shri Ram Nath Maharaj, the trustee of the Shri Panchmukhi Hanuman Mandir in Karachi's old Soldier Bazaar area, said the artefacts were discovered when renovation work started on the temple few days back.

"What is most surprising is that we didn't have to dig too deep. We only dug two or three feet deep to find them," he said.

The artefacts recovered include eight to nine Hanuman statues, along with the buffalo-like idols, the Ganesha idols, Sherawali Mata idols along with some earthen pots, he said.

Ravi Dawani, secretary general of the All Pakistan Hindu Panchayat confirmed to PTI on Tuesday that several idols and artefacts had been recovered from the temple site.

He said these artefacts would help determine the origin of the temple said to be over 1,500-year-old and has special significance to the Hindu community.

"The temple is of special significance for us and we all believe that Shri Panchmukhi Hanuman Mandir is the only shrine in the world with a naturally-created statue of the part human and part monkey body of god Hanuman," he said.

Dawani said Hindus believed that Lord Rama had visited this temple while in exile.

The temple built in the area after the excavation of a blue-and-white, eight-foot-tall statue of Hanuman.

Diwani said that is was very sad that squatters had spoiled the surroundings and structure of Hindu temples in the city.

He said squatters were also posing a problem for the Shri Panchmukhi Hanuman Mandir and its surroundings.