One of the oldest Ismaili jamaat khanas in Sindh
Jhimpir, about 112 kilometres to the east of Karachi, has many distinctions to boast of: it is the location of Pakistan’s first wind power plant; it is endowed with dolomite, an essential ingredient of steel-making; and it is the site of Keenjhar Lake, one of the country’s largest freshwater reservoirs. It also houses one of the oldest Ismaili jamaat khanas in Sindh.
Members of the Ismaili sect living in Karachi visit the place in large numbers every month. Luxury buses, with Bollywood music blaring from their sound systems, are parked along a road winding around the lake. Men in their Reebok shorts and Polo shirts can be seen spreading out bed sheets and towels in front of the huts normally occupied by local villagers who number just about 100.
The road ends at a gated courtyard with a white marble floor. A low wooden door in a shaded part of the courtyard opens into a cavernous structure with a very low ceiling. It is furnished with glittering cots and is adorned with colourful upholstery. “This is a natural structure. We only added a few things to it to keep it cool,” explains a caretaker.
The cave at the bottom of a hill is full of mysteries — one of them being a small opening into a tunnel. The caretaker narrates: some people say the tunnel goes to Karbala; others say an imam would say the afternoon prayer in Jhimpir and would use this tunnel to offer the evening prayer in Medina. “People say these kinds of things all the time,” he adds with a laugh.
A mosque reportedly built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan is located at the top of the hill. The stairs that go up to the mosque appear quite old. Away from the ruinous stairs is a massive hall that works as the jamaat khana. A man sits on its floor on an early May day – crouched over cooking utensils – next to a portrait of Aga Khan IV, hung on the main wall.
The lack of communication and transport facilities has helped the Ismailis to keep the place little known. As a minority religious community, says the caretaker, “we have to be cautious”.
Source: Subuk Hasnain – Dawn Pakistan’s Herald Magazine
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