Katas, a small town in Punjab Province some 135 kilometres from Islamabad, used to be a holy city among Hindus. Legend has it that a tear was shed by Shiva here upon the death of his wife. This teardrop later formed a holy lake around which a giant temple was built. But after the Partition and the exodus of Hindus from Pakistan, Katas temple got neglected, and now it looks like a ghostly palace abandoned by its owners. Katas had faded in the midst of Punjabi’s dreary salt hills.
Katas, Punjab, Pakistan, 2006