Sadhu Bela Temple (Sadh Belo)

Sadhu Bela, also spelled Sadh Belo, is a Hindu temple complex occupying two connected islets in the Indus River between the twin cities of Sukkur and Rohri in Sindh — one of the relatively small number of actively functioning Hindu pilgrimage sites remaining in Pakistan. The site, then called Menak Parbat, was established in 1823 by the wandering ascetic Baba Bankhandi Maharaj, and the main temple structure seen today was built later, in 1899, under Sant Harnam Das. Tradition holds that Bankhandi received a vision of the goddess Annapurna, who gave him a ritual vessel and promised the site’s community kitchen would never run short of grain — a legend still reflected in the complex’s ongoing tradition of feeding pilgrims. Alongside its principal Shiva shrine, the complex includes separate shrines to Annapurna, Hanuman, and Ganesh, as well as spaces honoring the Guru Granth Sahib and the Bhagavad Gita, reflecting a broadly syncretic devotional character common to many Sindhi Hindu sites.

Reached only by boat from the Sukkur riverbank, the temple is today managed by Pakistan’s Evacuee Trust Property Board, the government body responsible for properties left behind by Hindus and Sikhs after Partition, and visitor access is reported to require clearance from the Pakistan Hindu Panchayat given the site’s security setting. Its largest annual event is a three-day Mela commemorating Bankhandi Maharaj’s death anniversary, which draws thousands of pilgrims from across Sindh and from India for free lodging and meals, making Sadhu Bela, alongside Hinglaj Mata and Katas Raj, one of the more prominent surviving centers of organized Hindu pilgrimage in present-day Pakistan.