Chitti Gatti is a hamlet located in Gandhian (village) of Inayatabad union council, of

Mansehra Mansehra is a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and the headquarters of Mansehra District. It is the 71st largest city of Pakistan and 7th largest city in the province. The name of the city (written in Hindko, Urdu and Goj ...

area, of Hazara,

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. Since early times, it is especially notable for two

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

festivals which occur on 6th Phagan and on 1st

Baisakh Vaisakha; hi, बैसाख, Baisākh; pa, ਵਿਸਾਖ/وساکھ , te, వైశాఖ, kn, ವೈಶಾಖ, Vaiśākha; ml, വൈശാഖം, Vaiśākham; mr, वैशाख, Vaiśākh; ta, வைகாசி, Vaikāci; ne, � ...

, as mentioned by an early Settlement Report;, dedicated to the worship of the deity

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

. The present old

Mansehra Shiva Temple Mansehra Shiv Temple is one of the oldest Hindu temple in Pakistan that is still in existence. The temple is at least 2000 to 3000 years old. The temple is situated in Chitti Gatti, 15 kilometres from Mansehra in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. T ...

here on this site, which has been recently restored, was originally constructed by a Raja of

Jammu Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi Ri ...

in the 1830s as an act of devotion. According to the latest archaeological research, there were probably earlier

temples on this same site, but the ancient ''Shiva Lingam'' (or ''Ling'') inside the temple's precincts is truly ancient and at least 2000 years old.Report on Antiquities of the Mansehra Region, based on Joint Research by UNESCO and the Hazara University, Dhodial-Mansehra Campus, 2007 The temple and ''Lingam'' still attract many Hindu pilgrims and tourists each year, especially at the time of the annual ''Maha Shivratri'' festival.

References

External links

Images of Shiv Mandir at Chitti GattiCelebration of Maha Shivratri in Manshera
Mansehra District Populated places in Mansehra District History of Pakistan 1st-century Hindu temples {{Mansehra-geo-stub