Hinglaj Mata Temple

Getting there

• By road

  Hinglaj is 328 km from Karachi, nearly 4 hours by road on the Makran Coastal Highway. The highway has made the historic temple much easier to reach.

On the way

• Take a ritual bath in the Hingol River before you approach the shrine.
• Stop at the Chandragup mud volcano, which Hindus consider holy, on the way to the shrine.
• Follow the Makran Coastal Highway from Karachi for about 328 km.

Why devotees come here

Hinglaj Mata Temple sits in a mountain cavern by the Hingol River, in the middle of Hingol National Park, Balochistan. It is one of the 51 Shakta pithas, and one of only two in Pakistan. The shrine has no sculpted idol; a natural rock formation in the cave represents Devi.

Hinglaj Mata is worshipped as a form of Durga or Devi. The shrine is one of the 51 Shakta pithas in the Shaktism tradition of Hinduism, and one of two in Pakistan. A caste group known as the Brahmakshatriyas venerates Hinglaj Mata as its family deity. Local Muslims, particularly the Zikri Muslims, also hold Hinglaj Mata in reverence and help provide security at the shrine.

Legend says a small part of Sati's upper head fell at Hinglaj. Another legend tells of Devi killing the demon Hingol, who tormented the people. She followed him into the cave that is now the shrine.

There is no sculpted idol. A natural rock formation inside the cave represents Devi. The temple lies in the middle of Hingol National Park, and pilgrims take a ritual bath in the Hingol River before they approach the shrine.

Festivals

• AprilHinglaj pilgrimage

  An annual four-day pilgrimage. It often coincides with Chaitra Navaratri and is the largest Hindu religious gathering in Pakistan.

Tips for your visit

• Plan around the April pilgrimage, when the major ceremony is on the third day.
• Community kitchens run through the festival and feed thousands of people each day.
• Pilgrims often travel in caravans of buses, though in the older tradition they trekked barefoot through the Makran desert.

Questions people ask