Kashmiri
Missionaries in China
Historical Places
Baramulla
55
Kms. away from Srinagar, Baramulla is the western
entrance to the Valley. Till 1947, it was the
export-import trading centre of Kashmir, the nearest
rail head being Rawalpindi.
Baramulla
is situated on both the banks of Vitasta. The town
on the right bank, in ancient times, was called
Varahmula, derived from the ancient tirtha of Vishnu
- Adivaraha - at the site of Kotitirtha, which is
situated at the western extremity of the town, close
to river bank. [The Linga, the sacred image was
destroyed by Sikander Butshikan, according to
Jonaraja.] On the left bank, is the ancient site of
Hushkapur (now Ushkur). Hushka had built a town, a
Buddhist vihara and a Stupa here. Later Lalitaditya
also built a vihara, a stupa and a Vishnu temple.
Heun-Tsang, on arrival in the Valley, stayed here
for the first night. He says, some copper plates, on
which the proceedings of Kanishka’s council were
engraved, lay buried here. These two ancient and
sacred sites are now connected by bridges and f.mp3
the present Baramulla. In ancient times, a dwarpal
incharge of the security of the Valley was posted at
the watch tower called Drung, which was situated a
little below Kotitirtha. The following religious
places, situated in the town are famous:
- Chhatipadshahi
in honour of the visit of the sixth Sikh Guru.
- On
the right bank, f.mp3ing the back wall of
Varahmula, is Gosaniteng hill, which is the
abode of seven springs and a temple sacred to
the memory of the heroes of Ramayana,
including that of Sita.
- Bhairao
Mandir amidst an almond orchard at the foot of
Gosaniteng.
- The
famous Shrine of Dastgirsahib.
- On
the left bank are situated the Shrine of
Janbaaz Sahib at Khanapora and Devibal, the
famous sacred spring of Shailaputri.
Baramulla
town is the headquarter of Baramulla district. The
town bore the brunt of Pakistan aided tribal raid in
1947 and halted its onward march to Srinagar for two
vital days. The town was the native place of Shaheed
Sherwani who laid down his life, defending Kashmir
against Pakistani invaders in 1947.
Avantiv.mp3an’s
Temples
Avantiv.mp3an’s
Temples, two in number, were built by Avantiv.mp3an
(855-883 A.D.) at a place now known as Avantipur, 29
kms. from Srinagar, on the Jammu-Srinagar road. The
larger of the two, is the Shiva Avantipura Temple,
commanding a magnificient view of the broad bend of
the Vitasta (Jhelum) over a ridge. The extensive
courtyard enclosed by a massive stone wall, western
face of which is adorned on the outside with a row
of fluted columns, indicates that it must have been
one of the best achievements in the field of
architecture. The temple base, the only existing
part of the main edifice, is seventeen meters square
and three meters high. The sanctum has been reduced
to a mass of ruins. Second one, the more ornate and
better preserved temple known as Avantiswami Vishnu,
comprises a spacious paved courtyard, a colonnaded
peristyle, in the centre of which is the main
shrine, raised on a double base with four smaller
shrines at the corners. The structure closely
follows the plan of Martand and is a more refined
product of art. The peristyle has a row of
fluted columns on the west side. The front pilasters
of the side walls bear figures of Vishnu and his
consorts carved in relief. The chief beauty of the
temple lies in its cellular colonnade which consists
of 69 cells. The walled courtyard served as
fortification in parlous times that followed
Avantiv.mp3an’s reign. The temple was completely
destroyed by the time of Sultan Sikandar in the 14th
century.
Parihaaspur
Parihaaspur,
also known as Paraspur, is situated on and below a
plateau, at right side of the Srinagar-Baramulla
road, about 27 kms. from Srinagar. The plateau is
known as Paraspur Udar. In the early period of Dogra
rule, the whole area around this plateau, was called
Paraspur. Parihaaspur, in Sanskrit means the ‘The
Laughing City’. The town is known as ‘the Town
of Stones’ now.
Parihaaspur,
of which only ruins are available now, was laid by
the famous king Lalitaditya (695-731 A.D.) to
establish his capital. Ruins are also
available at four different places near the plateau.
Three of them are known as Divaryakhmanpur,
Govardhan Udar and Tregaam. The fourth one is on the
north-east side of the plateau where ruins of Bodh
constructions are available. Till now, there have
been no discoveries to prove that residential places
existed there in ancient times. The discoveries
prove that the plateau had been reserved only for
religious places and palaces whileas the residential
places were confined to the area between
Divaryakhmanpur and Tregaam. During the time when
Parihaaspur was established, the Sindh river
confluenced with Vitasta (Jhelum) at Tregaam and
flowed via Naid Khai before confluencing with the
Wular lake. Goverdhandhar, Muktakeshav,
Parihaskeshav, Mahavarah, Rajavihar, Chitiha and
Vinaysaman, were some of the famous places,
constructed by the King within the Parihaaspur
area. The king had also built a fort with iron
bricks, in the city. The exact location of this fort
has not been established, but it is said that iron
bricks of the fort, would be found during ploughing
of land in the vicinity, even upto early twentieth
century. Chunkan, a Turk wazir of the king, had also
built a stupa here, the ruins of which still exist.
During Kushan rule, a royal Bodhvihar was built on
the plateau. It is said that summary of the
proceedings of third Bodh conference which was held
in Kashmir, was engraved on copper plates and kept
here. The plates are believed to be buried under the
Bodh viharas.
Destruction
of Parihaaspur started taking place immediately
after Lalitaditya, when his son Vijadatta (733-774
A.D.) took over the control of the property of
various temples. During the reign of Avantiv.mp3an
(855-883 A.D.) Suyya relocated the confluence of
Vitasta & Sindh at Shadipur. This resulted in
the tremendous loss to Parihaaspur, because the
source of potable water shifted 5 kms. away from the
city, and secondly, it hampered the water transport
system in the area which was of prime importance
because of the absence of any other transport
system. The next phase of destruction of Paraspur
came when King Shankarv.mp3an (883-901 A.D.)
demolished the temples and used those stones and
other material in the construction of a new town
Pattan and the temples here. Abu Fazal says that
Sultan Sikandar (1389-1413 A.D.) was responsible for
the final destruction of Parihaspur.
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