Last Updated on: 26th February 2026, 11:46 pm
Located in the Salt Range of Punjab, roughly midway between Lahore and Islamabad (but slightly closer to the capital), Katas Raj is Pakistan’s most important Hindu pilgrimage site. For a country that’s 96% Muslim, visiting Katas Raj, an active Hindu temple complex, feels like an anomaly. Yet the site has been considered sacred for millennia.
The temple complex is attributed to the Hindu Shahis who, based out of Kabul, ruled the region from around 615-950 AD. But it was also a prominent Buddhist center centuries prior.
In more recent times, the site came to wider attention when Alexander Cunningham, Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), surveyed it in 1872. Today, it remains a rare window into Pakistan’s pre-Islamic heritage, and Katas Raj continues to draw Hindu pilgrims from India through special pilgrimage visas.
Getting to Katas Raj is tricky, as no public transport goes there. Be sure to check the end of the article for info on the best way to reach the temple complex with a private driver.
Visiting Katas Raj
Katas Raj is technically free to enter. You will, however, be required to go with a guide if you want to enter any of the temples. (Also, be sure to bring your passport!)
And unless you’re clear about negotiating at the very beginning, this is one of those situations where you’ll be forced to name your own price for the guide at the end.
It’s not long after the entrance that you’ll reach Katas Raj’s main pool – a body of water steeped in myth and legend.
According to one legend, this pool was formed by the tears of Shiva, who was mourning the death of his wife, Sati. Two pools, in fact, formed as a result, with the other being at Pushkar.
This is also believed to have been the location of an important scene from the Mahabharata epic.
The Mahabharata is the world’s longest epic, and it contains numerous stories within stories. And a particularly significant section known as the Yaksha Prashna is believed by some Hindus to have taken place right here.
The main protagonists of the epic are the five Pandava brothers who’d been exiled to the forest for twelve years. At one point, one of the brothers, Nakula, seeks out a lake so he can fetch water for the brothers to drink.
Upon arrival, nothing is there but a crane, who threatens Nakula with death unless he can answer his questions. But, feeling incredibly thirsty, Nakula ignores him and drinks the water anyway. He then collapses and dies.
Then his twin, Sahadeva, comes to find him. He too ignores the crane, drinks the water, and dies. The same then happens with Arjuna and Bhima.
Finally, the eldest, Yudhishthira, goes to the lake to find out what’s going on. And it’s Yudhishthira who accepts the crane’s challenge. The crane, it turns out, was really a yaksha (nature spirit) in disguise.
What ensues is a question and answer session involving roughly 125 questions. They go into subject matter such as knowledge, morality, and various spiritual matters.
Finally, Yudhishtira answers all of the yaksha’s questions satisfactorily. The yaksha then tells Yushishtira that he can choose one brother to revive. He chooses Nakula, his half-brother, in order to allow his stepmother, Madri, to have a living son.
Impressed by Yudhishthira’s choice, the yaksha reveals that he was not even just a yaksha, but Yama, the Lord of Death, himself. (While too complicated to get into here, Yama was actually Yudhishthira’s biological father!)
As a reward, all of the Pandava brothers get restored to life.
After admiring the views of the water, my guide took me inside some of the temples. Not all of the structures are active, though a couple still are, such as a small Shiva temple.
The temple features a Shiva lingam in its center, while pictures of Shiva – and even Krishna – adorn the walls. Having been to countless temples across India, it wasn’t too out of the ordinary. But it still felt surreal to visit an active Shiva temple in Pakistan. (No priests were present, however.)
Katas Raj has long been an important pilgrimage site for Hindus, especially for Shiva devotees during the Maha Shivaratri festival. But things became a lot more complicated following the Partition in 1947.
Though Hindus made up roughly 15-20% of what’s now Pakistan before the Partition, since becoming an independent country, that number is now down to 3-4%, as most Hindus fled to the other side.
So the Hindus that do visit Katas Raj are mostly those residing in India. But since the countries aren’t on the best of terms, to say the least, they can’t just cross over as regular tourists. Fortunately, both Hindus and Sikhs in India can apply for special pilgrimage visas.
Inside the Shiva temple, I noticed a donation box for the Pakistan Hindu Mandir Management Committee (PHMMC), an organization formed as recently as 2021.
Before then, there was no centralized authority for overseeing Hindu temples in Pakistan.
Pakistan’s constitution allows religious freedom on paper. But at the same time, the country is officially recognized as an Islamic republic. This is in contrast to India being a secular nation.
And around the time of the Partition, a lot of Indian Muslims who weren’t living in Punjab simply stayed put. That’s why India’s Muslim population remains large, and mosques are quite commonplace throughout the country.
Next, we headed up a staricase to reach a higher level of the Katas Raj temple complex. Interesting, Katas Raj also has an association with Sikhism, which is demonstrated by this section.
It’s believed that Guru Nanak, Sikhism’s founder, came here in the early 16th century. And centuries later, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh Empire, visited multiple times.
And one of his commanders, Hari Singh Nalwa, even built a fortified mansion here in the 19th century. Supposedly, there was also a Sikh gurudwara here as well, though it’s not clear exactly which building served that purpose.
During the Sikh Empire era, Sikhs helped maintain the Hindu temples that were already at Katas Raj, and the complex became a joint place of worship.
One of the other temples my guide took me to is dedicated to Hanuman, and it remains an active temple to this day.
For those unaware, Hanuman is a major character of India’s other great epic, the Ramayana. In the story, he’s a fierce warrior and a loyal devotee of Rama. And the monkey god now has a considerable amount of his own devotees throughout South Asia.
As mentioned, Katas Raj’s small Shiva temple was more or less similar to what one might find in India. But this one felt a bit different.
The paintings all over the walls and ceiling, according to my guide, were actually left by Sikhs.
Interestingly, some of the paintings even depict Hindu gods, making this Hanuman temple a heartwarming example of interfaith cooperation.
Next, we walked up even higher in the complex, where there used to be a temple dedicated to Lord Rama, but this one is no longer active.
The structure may have also served as a Sikh palace at some point, and it’s adorned with similar floral patterns to the Hanuman temple mentioned above.
In any case, this is a great place to enjoy views of the entire complex. Today, the buildings of Katas Raj are in such good condition thanks to renovation work that the PHMMC did as recently as 2024.
Next, we walked through other sections of the Sikh haveli. This is said to be a rare example of early-19th century Sikh archiecture, but a lot of the buildings seem to be inaccessible to visitors.
After that, we headed to the far eastern edge of the complex to see more Hindu temples.
Notably, these temples appear a lot older than the others, having been built in the Kashmiri style of Hindu temple architecture. But they were locked and inaccessible during my visit.
Heading back down to the lowest level of the complex, we passed by a mound that appears unremarkable at first glance. But it adds a whole new layer to Katas Raj’s storied history.
This mound used to be a massive Buddhist stupa that once reached up to 60 m high, according to ancient accounts. It may have been initiated by none other than Ashoka the Great when he visited the area.
The stupa was written about by two prominent Chinese monks who traveled to India in a search for original Buddhist scriptures.
The first was Faxian, who lived in the 4th century. And then came Xuanzang in the 7th century. Both monks recorded comprehensive travel journals which remain some of our primary sources on ancient Central and South Asia.
The Cave Complex
One of the main things that interested me about Katas Raj was its association with the Mahabharata. As mentioned above, the pool is believed by some to be the place where the Yaksha Prashna portion of the epic took place.
But that’s not the only purported connection.
Outside of the main complex, on the opposite side of the road, is a series of caves. And according to local legend, the Pandavas themselves dug them out to take shelter during their long exile.
It’s worth noting that in the Mahabharata itself, there’s only one instance of the Pandava brothers digging, which is when they dig out an escape tunnel beneath the House of Lac to survive an assassination attempt.
Still, many local legends throughout South Asia, such as here at Katas Raj, state that the brothers dug out caves as opposed to simply dwelling in the forest.
I encountered one such other place at the Pandav Leni caves in Nashik, Maharashtra. And there are at least several more.
While the geography described in the Mahabharata is overall quite accurate, there’s no clear description of exactly where the Pandavas stayed during their exile – hence the vast array of candidates throughout the region.
Here at Katas Raj, you’ll find various manmade structures in front of and around the cave area, which are said to date from the Hindu Shahi period.
Additional Info
The Katas Raj temple complex is about 160 km from Islamabad and 270 km from Lahore. If you’re visiting as a day trip, it makes a lot more sense to do so from Islamabad, though you can still book a private tour from Lahore.
No public transport goes to the Katas Raj temple complex. If you don’t have your own transport, getting to Katas Raj from Islamabad is still possible, but it requires a bit of effort, patience, and luck.
In Pakistan, the InDrive app is often the easiest way to get from place to place within a city. But unlike Uber, where the price is determined by the app based on demand, InDrive has you name your own price. Interested drivers will then accept or send you counteroffers which you then either accept or ignore.
InDrive also works for city-to-city journeys, so you can use this system for a trip to Katas Raj. The tricky part is, though, that there’s no roundtrip pricing system on InDrive as far as I’m aware. And you will absolutely need the same driver to wait for you and take you back.
To make matters more complex, the driver will also understandably want extra for fuel, tolls, and wait time.
Therefore, after accepting someone’s offer on InDrive (you won’t automatically be charged), you’ll then have to work out a deal with them via chat.
Unfortunately, there’s no way to chat with someone until accepting their offer (at least there wasn’t the last time I used the app). Therefore, you might repeatedly have to accept offers, only for the driver to request too high a total price, forcing you to cancel and start again.
In my case, the third driver I accepted and negotiated with turned out to be the one I went with. We ultimately agreed on PKR 5650 each way plus some extra for wait time. Fortunately, everything went smoothly.
But what about visiting Katas Raj while en route from Lahore to Islamabad (or vice versa)? I was seriously considering this idea and had asked my Airbnb host in Lahore if he knew any reliable drivers. But he didn’t, and just suggested I use InDrive.
I was hesitant to use InDrive for such a journey, considering how I’d be needing to keep my luggage and valuables in a random driver’s car as I explored Katas Raj. While I find Pakistanis to be incredibly kind and hospitable people, there are very few countries in the world where I’d feel comfortable doing such a thing.
Islamabad is a massive, sprawling city, so you’re going to do a lot of moving around regardless of where you stay.
Islamabad is divided into ‘superblocks,’ each of which is supposed to have everything you need – at least in theory. You’ll still find yourself needing to travel for certain tasks or shopping, not to mention sightseeing.
Islamabad doesn’t have a proper center, but the closest thing is the so-called ‘Blue Area,’ a strip of shops between the F and G sectors. A good midrange option here is The Avenue Hotel.
F7, meanwhile, is one of the city’s most modern and convenient districts and is often recommended to tourists. A highly-rated choice is Grand Peace House II.
In my case, I ended up staying in the district of G9/4, which ended up to be a really memorable experience. I simply chose Oriole Guest House because it seemed to be the cheapest private room in Islamabad that had mostly positive reviews (but wow – they seem to have gotten review bombed and the score’s gone way down).
It wasn’t until arriving that I realized it was right in the heart of Islamabad’s Afghan district. And since I already had plans to visit Afghanistan next, it served as a nice little introduction to Afghan cuisine. (Many people here also told me they came from Kashmir.)
I stayed here for an extended period both before and after visiting Gilgit-Baltistan (and the hotel kindly looked after my luggage during the two weeks I was away) and I ended up becoming friendly with numerous shopkeepers, almost feeling part of the little community.
G9/4 is probably not for everyone, though, as it’s both a bit out of the way and not at all modern.
BY BUS
For those traveling domestically, most people will be coming by bus. Major companies in Pakistan include Faisal Movers and Daewoo, which offer modern and comfortable buses.
Depending on the company, you can sometimes book tickets through their apps, but other times you might have to call if you can’t make it to the bus terminal in person.
A lot of buses will come in and out of Rawalpindi, a bustling city of around 5 million situated just south of Islamabad. To get to and from Rawalpindi from the capital area, using a ridesharing app is ideal. (But I’ve also found to taxi drivers to be quite honest here.)
When I arrived in Islamabad, I came on a Faisal Movers bus from Lahore, and I got dropped off at the Faizabad Bus Station situated in between Islamabad and Rawalpindi. But it’s not always clear where you’re going to arrive.
When traveling between Islamabad and the Gilgit-Baltistan region (Skardu, Gilgit or Karimabad), most foreigners are going to use the NATCO bus company which departs from Rawalpindi. For various reasons, a lot of other companies refuse to take foreign passengers.
BY PLANE
Internationally, Islamabad can be reached directly from cities like London, Dubai, Istanbul, Bangkok, Tashkent, Kabul, Beijing, and even Urumqi.
To avoid a grueling 15-20 hour bus ride (and that’s if no major problems occur) to the Gilgit-Baltistan region, many opt to fly. Flights exist between Islamabad and Gilgit and Skardu, but cancellations are frequent, so it would be wise to anticipate a bus ride as Plan B. (I did it twice and survived!)