'Karachi has a significant intangible culture'.

KARACHI -- The coastline of Karachi doesn't just have a tangible culture as it also has a significant intangible culture, said distinguished architect and town planner Arif Hasan on Saturday.

He was addressing as chief guest at the 8th Annual International Conference on 'Endangered heritage of south Sindh with special reference to Karachi' organised by Dr N. A. Baloch Institute of Heritage Research at the Arts Council here.

Mr Hasan said there are many stories associated with Karachi. 'I have seen a number of sites that have vanished. There was a site where today exists a part of Gulistan-i-Jauhar. It was an important site. I know a bit in detail about it. Then there was one at Bath Island. That too has disappeared and these days there's an officers' housing on that location. Apart from that, there are four to five sites in the range (zad pe) of the under construction Malir Highway.'

The architect said old Karachi neighbourhoods should be looked at as well. 'The wall around the old city was demolished by the British in 1848. One part of Rampart Road is on a raised ground. I think since it is high, there must be traces of that wall underneath it.'

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'Similarly, there are other places to do with intangible culture. One of them is Mahadev Temple. The story about it is that when Shivji gave a form to the world, he got tired and rested in a cave. After resting he promised to look after the area. In 1983, I interview a number of Sindhi scholars and members of the Hindu community, I intend to publish them. The Hindu community claims that the temple is mentioned in the Mahabharata. I read the Mahabharata because of this mandir, but I could not find any reference to it in book. Except at one place it's given that there's a cave near the sea where Shiv stayed,' he said.

'Mewa Shah is another subject and how he arrived in Karachi. [It's said] he faced a few property-related problems in the place, which I'm forgetting, from where he came. The issues angered him and he landed in Karachi.'

Mr Hasan in the last part of his extempore speech touched upon a Jewish graveyard. 'Mostly, the names and dates on gravestones are in Hebrew. As far as I recall, the first grave dates back to 1841. It's a beautiful cemetery. When I published its pictures and details on my website, I received many letters from Jews who're settled in the UK and whose...