KALAT (Balochistan), Pakistan: The three-day festival of Goddess Kali Mata continues for the second day today (Wednesday) at the historical Kali Mata temple in Kalat, Balochistan province.
Hindus are celebrating the annual festival which brings together the community not just from different parts of the province but also from various places in Pakistan.
Hindu devotees come together to the festival to pray and sing hymns to the greatness of the Goddess Kali. The vendors have set up food stalls and are distributing free food. Many have also set up stalls selling religious items and articles of faith.
Balochistan’s Kalat, an erstwhile kingdom under the British rule, houses a considerable number of people from the Hindu faith. The province still has a large number of Hindu temples with the minority community living in the region for centuries.
According to the local people, the Kali festival is celebrated only at two locations in Asia – in Pakistan’s Kalat and in Kolkata, India.
Local media quoted a local Hindu, Mana Mall, as saying that the main purpose of the festival is to bind and unite the people with love, peace, and brotherhood. He was satisfied over Hindu-Muslim relations in Pakistan.
Mall said: “Pakistan is our country and we have all type of religious freedom here. We are much happy to participate in the annual historic festival.”
Kalat Kali Mandir is a Hindu temple located in Shahi Bazaar Kalat , #Pakistan in #Balochistan province.
It was built 1500 years ago. The temple has the second biggest Kali Mata Statue in Asia!
It is also believed by some Hindus that Goddess Kali spent her life in Kalat! pic.twitter.com/SCodffjgp6
— Vision History (@VisionHistory) July 9, 2021
The temple has supposedly the second-largest Goddess Kali statue in Asia and that is why the Kalat temple attracts Hindu pilgrims from India as well.
The festival began with traditional and religious fervor on Tuesday. A festival in peaceful atmosphere reflects religious harmony and tourism potential in the area. Such religious festivals are a reflection of Balochistan much more than just extremism and deprivation.
Such festivals also reflect the improving law and order situation in the province with hundreds and thousands of people joining from across the globe. This celebration also displays cultural diversity and tourism potential of the area.
Hundreds of Hindu Yatris from Makran coast, Kalat, Southern Punjab, Interior Sindh and different countries across the globe make it to the temple to perform their rituals. The Hindu community also organizes special prayers for the prosperity of Pakistan.
Mana Mall, a local leader of the Hindu community, said that other countries of the world should learn lessons from Pakistan where there is no discrimination on the basis of religion and where minorities are enjoying all facilities which are being availed by their Muslim brothers.
