Pakistan - Hingol Cultural Landscape

Hinglaj Mata Mandar is an ancient but living cultural landscape located in Hingol National Park on the Makran coast of the Arabian Sea, approximately 190 km west of Karachi. A famous Hindu religious place, it is situated in a mountain cave on the bank of the Hingol River. This is an ancient holy place that predates the Arab invasion and the advent of Sufism in Sindh and is linked to the Charani tradition of goddess worship. Hinglaj Mata Mandar is a Shakti Peetha, one of many places in the sub- continent where the consecrated ashes of the goddess Shaktior Sati, the female principal of Hinduism are worshipped. Hindus believe that the head of goddess Sati fell in the area of Hinglaj Mata when her body was dismembered by Vishnu and it has remained a revered pilgrimage site for Hindus. Local Muslims also revere the place, calling it Nani Mandar, and serve as custodians of the cave temple.