News Excerpt:

In southwestern Pakistan's Hingol National Park, Hindu pilgrims ascend steep mud volcanoes to reach the ancient cave temple of Hinglaj Mata during the Hinglaj Yatra.

About:

• It is the largest national park in Pakistan.
• Hingol spans around 6,200 square kilometers (2,400 square miles) across three districts of the Balochistan Province: Lasbela, Awaran, and Gwadar. It is located approximately 200 kilometers (120 miles) northwest of Karachi. 
• The area was declared reserved in 1988.
  

• The park is named for the Hingol River, which flows through this dry region year-round and is the longest in Balochistan. Before emptying into the Arabian Sea, the Hingol flows into an estuary that supports threatened fish, birds, and crocodiles. 
• A portion of the national Makran Coastal Highway runs through the park.
• The park is home to wild Sindh Ibex, Balochistan Urial, and Chinkara Gazelle.
• It is home to the intriguing Mud Volcanoes. These natural phenomena occur when natural gas seeps through the ground and mixes with the mud, causing mud cones to form.

• Hinglaj Mata is one place where the remains of Sati, the goddess of marital felicity and longevity, fell to earth after she ended her life.
• The journey begins hundreds of kilometers away, mostly from neighboring Sindh province. Hundreds of packed buses set off from cities like Hyderabad and Karachi, traveling along the Makran Coastal Highway that hugs Pakistan's south and southwest.
• The park's Hingol River provides Hindu pilgrims with the opportunity for ritual bathing, like the Ganges in India.
• The park is also well known for its unique rock statues. 
  • One formation, called the Princess of Hope, resembles a woman looking into the distance.
  • The Balochistan Sphinx is a natural rock formation that looks like the Great Sphinx of Giza.