KATAS TEMPLES

The Katas Raj complex is a collection of Hindu temples built between the 6th and 11th centuries. Legend has it that the central pond, surrounded by several temples, a fort and public baths, was formed by the tears shed by the god Shiva at the death of his wife Sati. Every year on the occasion of Mahâ Shivarâtri (the great night dedicated to Lord Shiva), dozens of faithful Hindus go to the temples and purify themselves in the waters of the pond, to which they confer purifying and sacred powers. Long abandoned, the complex has regained some of its freshness after the vast renovation plan launched by the Pakistani government in 2007 and still in progress.