LAHORE: Two temples inside Masti Gate, Walled City Lahore are abandoned and house locals and shoe shops inside them, Daily Times learnt through reliable sources. Both the temples are being used privately and no authority either the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) or Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) is looking after their maintenance and neither is there any plan for their conservation, whereas the nearby area was recently restored by the WCLA, sources informed. These two temples, one of which is named Hanuman ka Mandir is located at the backside of Chunna Mandi College in tangled streets and the other is Mai ka Mandir, which is located near Rim Market opposite Akbari Gate of Lahore Fort. The temples are heavily encroached and cannot be located by any tourist or visitor unless a local guide tells about them, whereas the locals residing inside these temples are not in favour of the restoration of these heritage Hindu holy sites as they will have to leave the place which they have encroached since ages, sources further added. If the locals see any visitor or unknown person coming to see the temples, they immediately run away or close the doors to these temples, the sources added. On visiting the locations, Daily Times learnt that both the temples were dilapidated but the architecture features including the conical shaped domes remained intact. Hanuman’s Mandir engravings and structure was intact but the locals are occupying it and residing in there, which has damaged the interior of the temple. Mai ka Mandir is housing some local vendors who have spoiled the interior with paint, nailing and storage of goods. The conical shaped dome of Mai ka Mandir still has gold traces on it. Locals of the area told Daily Times that those temples were of no use as they were not functional and that was the reason they had changed the use of the place. A tourist guide of the area, wishing anonymity, said that these could have been a useful heritage sites for tourists as Masti Gate has been the best example of religious harmony because it housed temples, mosques, gurdwara and samadhi. The guide said that the temples could have been restored by WCLA or ETPB but so far no attention was paid towards these, adding that in his childhood and until a decade ago, he had seen many temples and gurdwaras inside the Walled City, Lahore which have either been converted into factories, godowns or plazas and now only a few are left and those too would be lost if not noticed or conserved. ETPB Inspector Sardar Atif said, “We are dealing and looking after all the functional Sikh and Hindu religious places in the country. There are several temples, shrines and Sikh holy places which are still hidden. In case, any temple or a Sikh holy place is found, we are informed about it. In the case of these temples, no one from the community or WCLA informed us about them and no proposal so far has been received for their restoration. If WCLA comes through a proper channel and proposes the restoration of these temples, we would not have any objection.” WCLA Media & Marketing Deputy Director Tania Qureshi said that heritage has no religion and like WCLA has restored several other monuments, they would be restoring these ones too as heritage spots for tourists to showcase the past of the city. “Recently the well of Dina Nath has been restored and we are listing more of the Hindu and Sikh religious and other places in the city, which will be taken up for restoration soon. We need to showcase our city as a museum site where a tourist can find all the traces of past preserved and in a better condition. Heritage is our priority and we are working to preserve it,” she said. WCLA Conservation & Planning director said, “We are looking into this matter and we will make it a part of our conservation and restoration plan as we need to save what is left in the city in terms of heritage. We will soon be contacting ETPB for allowing us to preserve these as a piece of heritage and it has a potential of becoming a tourist site.” Artist and historian Salima Hashmi she said that surely attention needs to be drawn towards the diverse legacies of architectural forms in the old city. “We are lucky to have old mandirs in the city which depict the richness of our heritage,” she concluded. Published in Daily Times, May 16th 2018.