Nagarparkar (, ) is a

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

in at the base of the Karoonjhar Mountains in

Tharparkar District Tharparkar ( Dhatki/; , ), also known as Thar, is a district in Sindh province in Pakistan, headquartered at Mithi. Before Indian independence it was known as the Thar and Parkar (1901⁠–⁠1947) or Eastern Sindh Frontier District (1860⁠– ...

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

province of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. The historic Churrio Jabal Durga Mata Temple is situated here. The taluka is located at a distance of 129 km from Mithi, in

. It is the eastern-most part of Pakistan.

Description

The name comes from the original word ''Nangar Parkar''. It is at the foot of the Karoonjhar Hills. It is situated at a distance of about 16 km from south and about 23 from east from the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n border. At one time the area was under the sea, which had to be crossed; the name "Parkar" means "to cross over". Nagarparkar has Chachro taluk on its north, and on its west is Islamkot taluk, while on east of it lies

Barmer district Barmer District is a district in Rajasthan state of India. It is located in the western part of Rajasthan state forming a part of the Thar Desert. Barmer was the third largest district by area in Rajasthan and fifth largest district in India, o ...

of the Indian state of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

and on its south is Rann Kachchh and the Indian state of

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

. The surrounding area is a rocky belt called Parkar, and the remaining part is a sandy area. The Karoonjhar hills cover 16 miles in the south of Nagarparkar taluk. The

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

stone of this mountain is used for making tiles. There is a saying that the Karoonjhar hills provide 1-1/4 kilos of

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

every day in the form of red granite stone, china clay, and honey. In summer, different sounds are audible from the rock due to sulfur deposits.

Demographics

In 1998, the population of the taluka was 153,106, out of which 90,513 were

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

and 62,213

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. As of 2017 census Nagarparkar Taluk has a population of 259,880 and had a percent annual growth rate of 2.82% over the period of 1998-2017. 11,801 (4.54%) live in urban areas. The sex ratio was 901 females per 1000 males and the literacy rate for people 10 years and above was 24.17%, the lowest in all taluks of Tharparkar district. Hindus were 165,204 while Muslims were 94,065. Nagarparkar is located at a unique position at the intersection of three major languages: Sindhi, Marwari and Gujarati. Although 97.78% of the population recorded their mother tongue as Sindhi and 1.62% as 'Other', most people speak a blend of all three languages. Some of these varieties are Parkari Koli, Wadiyara Koli, and Kachi Koli.

Culture

Nagarparkar Jain temples

The region once had a significant Jain population. Shri Gaudi Parshvanth Stavan in 1650 described the Parkar as the most glorious of all regions of India. The remains of a number of Jain temples are popular tourist attractions and heritage sites in the region.

Churrio Jabal Durga Mata Temple

Churrio Jabal Durga Mata Temple, on Churrio Jabal hill in Choryo village, is one of the two Hindu temples in this place. On

Shivratri Maha Shivaratri is a Hindu festival celebrated annually to worship the deity Shiva, between February and March. According to the Hindu calendar, the festival is observed on the fourteenth day of the first half (night start with darkness - ...

200,000 pilgrims visit the temples. Hindus cremate the dead and ashes are preserved till Shivratri for immersion in the into holy water. Richer Pakistani Hindus go to India to immerse the ashes in

Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

and the rest visit Nagarparkar to immerse the ashes. This area has been leased by the government for the mining by dynamite blasting of the hills on which the temples are located. This is posing a threat to the temples. Angry pilgrims held a protest against mining.Contractor blasting through Tharparkar temple in search of granite
The Express Tribune, 10 Mar 2011. There is one

rest REST (Representational State Transfer) is a software architectural style that was created to describe the design and guide the development of the architecture for the World Wide Web. REST defines a set of constraints for how the architecture of ...

house beneath the Karoonjhar Mountain, but it partially collapsed during the 2001 Gujarat earthquake. This region is now a significant place of worship for the minority Hindu community due to the temple being located there. Sardharo Shiv temple, Anchlesar, and Jain temples are situated there.

Gallery

File:Bodehsar temple front view it was mind blowing.jpg, Jain Temple of Bhodesar File:Jain Temple Nagarparkar by smn121-15.JPG, An ancient Jain temple at Nagarparkar File:Nagr Parker Sindh Pakistan.jpg File:Virawah Jain Temple.jpg, Virawah Jain Temple File:Gori Mandar.jpg, Gori Temple File:Durga Mata Temple 4.jpg, Churrio

Durga Durga (, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars. Durga's legend centres around combating evils and demonic ...

temple is under threat from the reckless dynamite blast mining File:Bhudesar Mosque.jpg, Bhudesar Mosque File:Bhodesar1.jpg, Jain Temple ruins

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Hindu temples in Sindh Shiva temples Ruins in Pakistan Populated places in Sindh Tehsils of Tharparkar District Jainism in Pakistan