RAM DAS TEMPLE BHOUN, CHAKWAL, PAKISTAN: ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS AND ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND CHANGING LANDSCAPE

Ram Das temple is located in Bhoun, a small but historical town of District Chakwal in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. Bhoun accommodates many other buildings of religious and historical importance. These include Hindu and Sikh temples, samadhis, colonial period railway stations and residential houses. Of these, Ram Das temple located in the middle of the town bears a unique testimony to the temple architecture that flourished in the region during the Sikh and colonial era. The temple is elegantly embellished with floral motifs (i.e. sunflowers, pipal leaves, acanthuses, and vine scrolls). The fresco paintings of flowers and birds are executed around garbhagriha (a womb house for the placement of deity). An image of a Hindu deity-Hanuman (Monkey God) is engraved on the eastern façade of the temple. But despite its rich architectural and unique decorative elements, this important religious building is constantly losing its originality due to many factors. The temple is suffering from various environmental factors such as temperature, light, humidity, salt effloresces, and bio- deterioration. The current paper is an attempt to highlight the architectural richness of this temple and to elaborate the environmental factors as well as the effects of changing landscape on Ram Das temple.