Photo: Shikari7 · CC BY-SA 3.0Area guides / Punjab / Salt Range & Katas Raj
Area guide
Salt Range & Katas Raj
Temples, salt mines and lakes off the M2 motorway
Region
Punjab
When to go
October to March
Getting there
About 2.5 hours from Islamabad or Lahore off the M2 motorway. Katas Raj is near Choa Saidan Shah; Kallar Kahar is just off the motorway.
Places
12 field guides
Overview
About Salt Range & Katas Raj
The Salt Range runs along the south of the Potohar Plateau above the Jhelum River, named for its rock salt. Along it are the Katas Raj temples around their sacred pond, the Khewra Salt Mine, the world's second-largest, and Kallar Kahar lake, all within reach of the M2 between Islamabad and Lahore.
About 2.5 hours from Islamabad or Lahore off the M2 motorway. Katas Raj is near Choa Saidan Shah; Kallar Kahar is just off the motorway.
Katas Raj
The temple complex is joined by walkways around the pond named Katas, held sacred by Hindus, with a second group, Satghara, a little to the south-west. The Maha Shivratri pilgrimage brings devotees each year.
A day along the range
Katas Raj, Khewra and Kallar Kahar combine easily in one or two days from the motorway. Nandana Fort needs a steep climb and a local guide for the final approach.
Top sights in Salt Range & Katas Raj
All 12 places →
Katas Raj Temples
Hindu temples around a sacred green pond; the oldest dates to the 6th century CE.
Khewra Salt Mine
The world's second-largest salt mine, with a ticketed tour.
Kallar Kahar Lake
A saltwater lake in a Salt Range basin, ringed by hills.
Nandana Fort
A ruined 9th-11th century hilltop fort on the eastern edge of the range.
Resorts
All resorts →
Salt Range & Katas Raj: Questions Travellers Ask
What is there to see in Salt Range & Katas Raj?
12 places in Salt Range & Katas Raj have their own field guide here, the most in parks and gardens (4), landmarks and buildings (4), churches and temples (2) and sikh heritage (1).
When is the best time to visit Salt Range & Katas Raj?
October to March; the Salt Range is hot in summer. Khewra stays at a constant cool temperature inside, so it works year-round.
How do you get to Salt Range & Katas Raj?
About 2.5 hours from Islamabad or Lahore off the M2 motorway. Katas Raj is near Choa Saidan Shah; Kallar Kahar is just off the motorway.
The complete guide
Everything to See in Salt Range & Katas Raj
All 12 places in Salt Range & Katas Raj with their own field guide, grouped by kind.
Sikh heritage · 1
Churches and temples · 2
Forts, gates and palaces · 1
Parks and gardens · 4
- Kallar Kahar LakeA saltwater lake ringed by Salt Range hills just off the M2 motorway in Chakwal, long a popular boating and picnic stop with resident peacocks on its gardens, roughly equidistant from Lahore and Islamabad.
- Salt Range and Khewra Salt MineUNESCO tentative Salt Range landscape and one of the world's best-known salt mines.
Salt Range National ParkA 43,000-acre park in the Salt Range of Chakwal, the hills of Khewra salt and Punjab urial.
Swaik LakeSwaik Lake, a clear spring-fed pool with a waterfall near Kallar Kahar in the Salt Range.
Landmarks and buildings · 4
DulmialDulmial, the Salt Range 'village with the gun', given a cannon for sending 460 men to the First World War.
Katas Raj Stupa Remains, ChakwalThe Katas Raj Temples have a significant connection to both Hindu and Buddhist traditions, with historical ties to both religions.
Takht-e-BabriA stone platform carved from a Salt Range boulder at Kallar Kahar, where the first Mughal emperor Babur is said to have camped and addressed his troops in 1519 en route to Delhi.
Two Ancient Temples, NandanaTwo ruined Hindu temples inside the hill fort of Nandana above Baghanwala in the Salt Range, Jhelum, built in the Kashmiri style of about the 9th century.