Prominent Holy Places in Kashmir
The
happy valley of Kashmir is well known throughout the world for its Natural
beauty. Here nature has been prodigal enough in crowning this ancient land
with all its splendour and glory. Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Mughal gardens
attract visitors from all over the world. Its lakes, green meadows, dancing
and foaming streams, majestic forests full of fir and pine, snow-capped
peaks are common attractions to the outsider as well as to the native.Besides this, the valley being sacred and called
Rishi wari till now, abounds in sacred places, Tirthas and Asthans. Long
ago at the dawn of civilisation when the sons of Rishi Kashyapa from plains
came to settle here they brought with them their traditions, religion,
mythology etc. etc. These early settlers named the confluence of river
Sindh and river Jhelum as Prayag, equal to holy Prayag at the confluence
of the Ganga and the Jamna in India. They named the tallest mountain peaks
here after their Gods and deities such as Brahma, Vishnoo and Mahadev.
These settlers must have felt surprised to see the hide and seek of water
in the Spring of Trisandya; melting of snow around the spring of Bedaba
Devi and other marvellous places. With the passage of time, these places
became Tirthas or places of worship and has continued so upto the present
time. The tradition being like this R. L. Stein who has translated Rajatarangini
into English writes, "Kashmir is a country where there is not a place as
large as a grain of seasam without a Tirtha. Time and conversion to Islam
of greater portion of population has changed but little in this respect.
" Pandit Kalhana while writing introduction to Rajatarangini names the
miraculous springs of Trisandya Saraswati lake on the Bheda hillock, Self
created fire at Soyambhu."
 Pilgrim
Spots in Kashmir
The valley of Kashmir being sacred and called Rishi wari till now, abounds in sacred places, Tirthas and Asthans. Long
ago at the dawn of civilisation when the sons of Rishi Kashyapa from plains
came to settle here they brought with them their traditions, religion,
mythology etc. etc. These early settlers named the confluence of river
Sindh and river Jhelum as Prayag, equal to holy Prayag at the confluence
of the Ganga and the Jamna in India.
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Pilgrimage
to Amarnath Cave
The
trek to Amarnath, in the month of Shravan (July-August) has the
devout flock to this incredible shrine, where the image of
Shiva, in the form of a lingam, is formed naturally of an
ice-stalagmite, and which waxes and wanes with the moon. By its
side are, fascinatingly, two more ice-lingams, that of Parvati,
and of their son, Ganesha.
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 Sharadha
Tirtha
The
ancient temple of Sharada is located in Neelam (Kishanganga)
valley just beyond the line of control in Pakistan occupied
Kashmir. The temple is located in a small village called Shardi
near the confluence of Kishanganga and Madhumati rivers.
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 Shankracharya
Temple
The
present name of the temple owes its origin to the great
philosopher Shankaracharya who visited the valley about ten
centuries ago, and lodged at the top of this hill, where it
appears there were small sheds of Brahmans who looked after the
temple.
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 Mamleshwar
Temple at Pahalgam
Mamleshwar
Temple at Pahalgam Mamleshwar Temple, Pahalgam Mamal This spot
is also about a mile from Pahalgam. It stands across the Kolahoi
stream up towards the mountain side. There is an old temple here
the pinnacle of which was adorned with gold during the reign of
one of the early kings.
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 Rishipeer
at Srinagar
Reshi
Pir Pandit was one of the greatest saints of Kashmir of the 17th
Century A.D. He was a Karmyogin type of a Saint who helped
people both in spiritual and temporal pursuits and he became
famous as "PIR PANDlT PADSHAH HARDU JAHAN MUSHKIL ASAN"
i.e. Emperor of two worlds and answer to difficulties of all
kinds.
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 Vaishno
Devi Yatra
This
cave temple has a very popular following from people of all
faiths. Among the most revered of shrines, and the oldest in the
region, it entails a 13.5 km trek from Katra which in turn is 50
km from Jammu. The route up to the shrine consists of both tiled
paths as well as steep staircases, and the devout often walk
barefeet up the Trikuta mountain.
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 Shree
Sharika Peetham of Kashmir
The
valley of Kashmir is known as Deva Bhoomi i.e. the abode of
gods. It is situated in the lap of the Himalayan mountains.
The seat of Sharika Devi, the 'Cosmic mother', is one of such
divine centres. It is the abode of three crore gods; hence in
Sanskrit it is called Vaas Bhoomi of Trikoti devtas of the
Hindu pantheon.
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 Chakrishwar
at Hari Parbat
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 Khirbhawani
at Tulla Mulla
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 Pandrethan
This
place is about 4 miles from Srinagar. Here was the old capital
of Kashmir, which was founded by king Ashoka of Buddhist fame.
The word is a corrupt form of Purana-old, adhishthan-capital.
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Photo
Gallery
| Video Gallery
Collection
of Photographs of temples and Places of Worship in Kashmir.
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A List of Temples in
Kashmir
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