Malot Temple

On Friday, 20 January 2023, the artist visited the Malot Village situated at a distance of 40 km from Chakwal City and it took around 1 hour and 15 minutes to reach there. The road leading to Malot was in decent condition. Thanks to a cement plant, a decrepit road was transformed into a properly designed one. The factory was around 3 kilometers from the Malot settlement, but once passed, one had to face the jumpy and dilapidated piece of road that led to the Malot village. The Malot Fort stands atop a hill near Malot Village. As the artist approached the settlement, the first thing that caught his sight was a pond with an ancient banyan tree on the right side. The presence of a pond and a banyan tree indicates that this settlement was originally inhabited by Hindus.
The time was around 9:30 am and the artist got encouraging support from the locals and one of the village people Mr. Anees (Age 60 years) with good health and an active personality, offered his support regarding the visit and information required related to the Malot Fort. There are very few remains of the Malot fort left and thus no proper fencing and proper guide or information available from there. Therefore, the best source of information was available from Mr. Anees the local person and the other possibility was from online searching.
The artist discovered the rock-strewn Malot village was a fortified hamlet on his route to Malot Fort from the settlement. The usual rural life remains peaceful and quiet. The artist was met by the remnants of the Malot Fort as he exited the settlement from the other corner. According to Mr. Assaid, the deposed Janjua king, Raja Ajmal Dev Janjua, was the son of Raja Dhrupet Dev, who converted to Islam first. Following his conversion, he titled himself Raja Mal Khan in accordance with Islamic naming traditions. In the 12th century, he captured the Koh-e-Jodh, a peak in the Salt Range, and established Rajgarh as his capital. Malot was given the name Rajgarh.
The fort was built during the 10th century. The remains of the fort show that, while constructing the fort with local red stones, the architects of that time were at their best in mingling the Kashmiri and Greek styles of architecture together. The Malot Fort remained the center of power of the Janjua Empire till the early years of the 19th century.
The artist was lost in the nostalgic background of the Malot fort as Mr. Anees was a good narrator. Two temples have collapsed, and the fort's remains are completely overgrown. Malot has become a shortened form of Malik Kot. The name change was noted in Tuzk-e-Babri. The temple and its doorway, built of Red Stone, are excellent examples of Greek architecture linked to indigenous temple architecture. The red stone of the fort glows in the sunshine. Malot was constructed at the time when the Salt Range was under Kahmirian rule.
As the effects of time continued to deteriorate the fort, the hardest blow occurred a few decades ago, when the hill on which the fort is situated was destroyed by coal mining. The mining was prohibited by the Lahore High Court, but the Punjab Archaeological Research Department has failed to conserve the fort's ruins. Some years ago, an idea was floated that the fort might be saved by moving it to a safer location, which was meant to be the Katas Raj Temples complex, but that notion has yet to be accomplished.
Mr. Anees said that he with other village dignitaries had met Deputy Commissioner Chakwal and a couple of times visited the archaeology department but no concrete steps had yet been taken to preserve this historic place.
The artist took pictures of the Malot Fort and its surroundings. The objective was to capture the remains of the Malot Fort in its current state and digitally illustrate the key places of the Malot Fort. Therefore, the maximum outreach of the legacy of the Malot Fort may reach the people. The author/ Artist has used a digital technique and composed her artwork in collage work to give it an Aesthetic look and named it “Malot Reminiscences” (Image.4). Malot Fort is a lovely and distinctive fort, but its state is deteriorating. The temple and its doorway, built of Red Stone, are excellent examples of Greek architecture linked to indigenous temple architecture. The red stone of the fort glows in the sunshine. The artist had developed a website and in the site menu had developed a web page about Malot.