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Top 10 Astonishing Facts about Temple Of Lava

Lava Temple is a Hindu place of worship dedicated to the Hindu deity Lava, the son of Rama. It is in Lahore Fort, Lahore, Pakistan, and dates to the Sikh period.

According to Hindu Mythology, the name of Lahore city is attributed to Lava the son of the Great Hindu God Rama Chandra who is the founder of Lahore city & Lahore Fort. It is situated inside the Alamgiri Gate of Lahore Fort and very near to Royal Kitchens. It is a very interesting temple and most people don’t know about this hidden treasure of Lahore Fort.

Hinduism is the second largest religious affiliation in Pakistan after Islam. While Hinduism was the dominant faith in the region a few centuries back, today Hindus account for 2.14% of Pakistan’s population or 4.4 million people according to the 2017 Pakistan Census, although Pakistan Hindu Council has claimed that there are 8 million Hindus living in Pakistan, making up 4% of the country’s population. Dig in to learn the top 10 astonishing facts about the Temple of Lava.

1. Temple of Lava is Dedicated to the Son of the deity Rama

Lord Rama Mata Sita ,Kank Temple, Aayodhya from

Lava Mandir, is a Hindu temple dedicated to the Hindu deity Lava (Ramayana) – son of Rama, is located in Lahore Fort, Lahore, Pakistan. Lahore city is named after him. It is said that Sita gave birth to twin sons, Lava and Kusha according to legend based on oral traditions.

Rama is one of the most widely worshipped Hindu deities, the embodiment of chivalry and virtue. The name is specifically associated with Ramachandra, the seventh incarnation (avatar) of Vishnu. His story is told in the epic poems the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.

2.  Is the Temple of Lava as Old as Lahore City?

Lahore City. Image by from

Lahore is the Capital city of the Punjab Province of Pakistan. With a population of approximately 12 million, it is a lively city. The main attraction of the city is its beautiful Architecture and bustling Bazaars. The tradition of buildings is centuries old in Lahore but the Moghuls (1500AD to 1800AD) have contributed the most to it.

The main religion of Lahore before the 10th Century was Hinduism, with Hindu temples present at various locations throughout the city as stated in chronicles of Al-Biruni. The city of Lahore was earlier called Lavpor or Loh Kot, meaning ‘Fort of Loh’, pointing to the deep association the city has with Loh, son of Lord Rama. That the foundation of the city and this temple are connected to the same Hindu entity, perhaps suggests the site is as old as the city itself.

3. The Temple of Lava’s Architectural style is Hindu Temple Architecture

Temple of Lava in Lahore. Image by Nawab Afridi from

Hindu temple architecture as the main form of Hindu architecture has many varieties of styles, though the basic nature of the Hindu temple remains the same, with the essential feature of an inner sanctum, the garbha griha or womb-chamber, where the primary Murti or the image of a deity is housed in a simple bare cell. This chamber often has an open area designed for movement in a clockwise rotation for rituals and prayers.

Around this chamber, there are often other structures and buildings, in the largest cases covering several acres. On the exterior, the garbhagriha is crowned by a tower-like shikhara, also called the vimana in the south. The shrine building often includes an circumambulatory passage for parikrama, a mandapa congregation hall, and sometimes an antarala antechamber and porch between garbhagriha and mandapa. There may be other mandapas or other buildings, connected or detached, in large temples, together with other small temples in the compound.

4.  Temple of Lava is found within Lahore Fort

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This temple is dedicated to the son of Hindu Lord Rama, Lord Lava. It is him Lahore city is named after. His temple is located in Lahore Fort.

The Lahore Fort is a citadel in the city of Lahore, Pakistan. The fortress is located at the northern end of the walled city Lahore and spreads over an area greater than 20 hectares. It contains 21 notable monuments, some of which date to the era of Emperor Akbar.

Lahore’s famous landmark, Lahore Fort, located at the northern end of the Walled City, houses 21 different structures from various periods in the city’s history, but in order to control the flow of people in and out of the Fort, some of these monuments have been made inaccessible to the general public. One such structure located at a short distance from the stately Alamgiri Gate is the Lava Temple.

5. Temple of Lava dates back to the Sikh Period

The Sikhs established their Empire in Punjab after the death of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir in 1707.  Taking advantage of the ensuing anarchy Charat Singh, who was the head of one of the Sikh Clans, established his stronghold in Gujranwala in 1763.

The style of construction and the fact that the Temple is on the same level as the ground outside led the early 20th century Punjab administrator Sir Edward MacLagan to conclude in his work Lahore and some of its Historical Monuments that this was not a pre-historic temple but rather was constructed at some later date, most likely during the Sikh occupation of Lahore Fort. This view is echoed by Nazir Ahmed Chaudhry in his book Lahore Fort: A Witness to History. But both historians seem to be unable to offer an exact date for the temple’s construction.

6.  Temple of Lava is Managed by Department of Archaeology Pakistan

Archeology Department of Pakistan’s information board. Image by drfyzee from

Pakistan contains many of the oldest archaeological discoveries in the world. The country is home to many archaeological sites dating from the Lower Paleolithic period to the Mughal empire. The earliest known archaeological findings belong to the Soanian culture from the Soan Valley, near modern-day Islamabad. Soan Valley culture is considered the best-known Palaeolithic culture of Central Asia.

The Mehrgarh culture was amongst the first cultures in the world to establish agriculture and livestock and live in villages. Mehrgarh civilization lasted for 5000 years till 2000 BCE after which people migrated to other areas, possibly Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. Harappa and Mohenjo-daro are the best-known sites from the Indus Valley civilization

The early history of the Fort is shrouded in mystery and nothing definite is known about it as traditionally it is stated that the Fort was built as early as the city itself and its foundation is attributed to the mythic Loh a son of the hero of Ramayana of Legendry age (1200-800 B.C) A small shrine known as the temple of Loh still exist in Lahore Fort, near the Alamgiri Gate, which gives support to this tradition.

7. The Temple of Lava has survived Defacing and Disrespect

Farhan Wilayat (Philanthropist) at Loh Temple, Lahore. Image by Nawab Afridi from

The vacant temple is a hexagonal brick structure topped with a dome. On the temple itself, some graffiti was visible — testaments to the disrespect that the temple had experienced. But even the defacement witnessed presently is minor compared to how extensive it has been in the past — in old photographs of the temple one can see it covered with phone numbers and the kind of romantic couplets one would expect to see in a public toilet.

Cultural heritage sites in Pakistan are protected under the Antiquities Act 1975. The sites listed under this act are declared protected monuments and special measures are taken for their preservation and promotion; most are Muslim sites. Out of 145 monuments in Punjab, only one is a Hindu temple, meaning that no measures for the conservation of other existing temples are in place.

8. The Temple used to be Bigger

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Recent findings have indicated that the temple was once bigger than the current size of a few square metres that it has been reduced to. During the excavation of the nearby Royal Kitchen, the archaeological findings included a structure and fresco work that once had been part of the temple.

Lahore Fort was commissioned by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and it is unclear what existed in its place before the fort was erected.

9. Temple of lava is one of the Surviving Hindu Temples in Pakistan

By Nawab Afridi  from

A survey carried out by All Pakistan Hindu Rights Movement Pakistan revealed that out of 4280 Hindu temples in Pakistan around 308 survived. The Temple of Lava is one of them.

It survived the 1992 riots that ensued in Pakistan as a result of the demolition of Babri Mosque in India, is one such example. The incident led to protests erupting throughout Pakistan, and Hindu temples were the obvious and easy target of this uproar. During these protests, thirty Hindu temples were attacked in different parts of Pakistan.

The major Hindu temples in Pakistan are Shri Hinglaj Mata temple (whose annual Hinglaj Yatra is the largest Hindu pilgrimage in Pakistan, which is participated by more than 250,000 pilgrims), Shri Ramdev Pir temple (whose annual Ramdevpir Mela in the temple is the second largest Hindu pilgrimage in Pakistan, Umarkot.

10.  Temple of Lava is tucked away in a Room

Sitting inconspicuously next to the Alamgiri Gate of the Lahore Fort is a small room which was once a Hindu Temple called Temple of Loh or Lava Temple. Now abandoned, the Temple of Loh is said to have been dedicated to the son of Hindu Lord Rama. Some historians have even claimed that the birth of Loh, the son of Lord Rama, took place in the very temple.

Its origins remain shrouded in mystery. According to Hindu Mythology, the name of Lahore city is attributed to his son, Lava.

The room is located near the renovated royal kitchen in Lahore Fort. Some historians have even claimed that the birth of Loh, the son of Lord Rama, took place in the very temple.

Now predominantly Muslim, the land that is now Pakistan has Hindu and Buddhist roots, going back thousands of years. As has been shown, the cultural heritage of both of these religions and Hinduism in particular, still exist in Pakistan, though in various states of dilapidation, primarily due to administrative negligence and falling victim to religious or political debacles.