PRAYEN MANDAR Sharada Peeth The temple is so ancient that Kashmir State was earlier known as Sharada Peeth located near, Neelam Valley, at a distance of 60 miles from Baramulla and about 16 miles from line of control Sharda in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir , was the famous temple of the goddess Sarasvatī (Sharda) on the banks of Kishenganga River in Pakistan administered Kashmir.[1] Its ruins are near the Line of Control between the Indian and Pakistani-controlled portions of the former princely state of Kashmir and Jammu. Indigenous script of Kashmir is named after the deity Sharada Devi. Kashmir was sometimes called Sharada Desh because of this temple and Sharada was called Kashmira Puravasini (resident of city of Kashmir). The Kashmiris are highly devoted towards this great deity[1] addressed as Bhagavathy. During their daily worship they often say Namastey Sharada Devi Kashmir Pur Vasini Tvam Ham Prartheye Nityam Vidya Danam Che De hi mey meaning Salutations to you, O Sharada, O Goddess, O one who resides in Kashmir. I pray to you daily, please give me the charity of knowledge. The temple was last repaired by Maharaja Gulab Singh of Kashmir. Kheer Bhawani (The Holy Spring of Tulla Mulla) The Divine Mother, Goddess Maharajni is the presiding deity. This temple is connected to Ramayanam. The color of the spring water changes depending on the times. Great souls like Swami Vivekananda has visited this Holy Place. Jyeshta Ashtami festival is very famous and during this festival. Amarnath Cave Shrine of God Almighty Siva (Ice Lingam) One of the holy trinity, Shiva is a living God. Legend has it that Shiva recounted to Parvati the secret of creation in a cave in Amarnath. This is the holy cave in which the ice-lingam of Lord Siva is formed, changing its size with the waning and waxing of the moon. SankaracharyaTemple,Srinagar This is the Hill where Adi Sankara Bagavat Pada meditated during his visit to Kashmir. The temple of Lord Shiva is situated atop the Hill. The Shankaracharya Temple, also known as the Jyesteshwara temple, is located in Srinagar, Kashmir at a height of 1100 ft. above surface level. It is believed that Raja Gopadatya got the temple constructed, giving it the name of Gopadri. Sri Adi Shankaracharya is supposed to have stayed here when he visited Kashmir to revive Sanatan Dharma, thus giving the temple the name of Shankaracharya Mandir and the hill itself is referred to as Shankaracharya Hill A high octagonal platform supports the temple, approached by a flight of approximately hundred steps. The sidewalls of the steps once bore some valuable inscriptions. Shailaputri(Nagabal,Baramulla) This Teertha is situated on the left bank of the Vitasta river at Baramulla. This deity is very famous in this part of Kashmir, also known as miniature Ksheer Bhawani. Martand Martand is the famous temple of Surya in Kashmir It is Anatnag district near the modern village Matan, a prakrit name for Martand. It was built by the famous king Lilitaditya muktapida around 750 The main deity of Surya was made copper – Tamra swami According to the Kashmiri text Nila mata purana, Maratanda was a tirtha of Martanda. According to 19th cent travelers the Martand temple was called the Palace of Pandavas. The inner platform has a number of koshtas in which 37 sculptures of Images like Siva, Vishnu, Brahma, Parvati, Ganga and Yamuna and Dvarapalas are seen. at the end is seen an image of Surya riding on a horse. He is accompanied by his two assistants Dandi and mundi SharikaChakreshwarTemple(HariParbat) A hillock in Srinagar City, Hari Parbat has many temples. The famous one (main temple) is Goddess Sharika. This deity is the presiding deity of Kahsmir. This is considered as a ‘Siddha Peeta’ / ‘Sakthi Peeta’. Navratra is the festival annually performed here. The Cosmic Mother here represents the solar energy, having seven components; seven worlds, seven colors of light, Seven Rishis of Veda Vidya. The energy here is personified as “Solar Energy”. Pandrethan(Srinagar) Pandrethan, originally an old capital of Kashmir and founded by Emperor Ashoka, is about four miles from Srinagar. The word ‘Pandrethan’ is a corrupt form of `Purana`, meaning `old` and `adhishthan` meaning `capital`. The major attraction of this ancient capital is a stone temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The temple named as Meru Vardhana Swami, was built by Meru, minister to King Partha who ruled Kashmir from 921 AD – 931 AD. The temple was chiselled out of a single piece of rock and has awe-inspiring designs and illustrations. The domed roof and the arches are all examples of classical Kashmiri architecture. A devastating fire destroyed the entire capital of Pandrethan, leaving behind the temple monument as reminder of the legacy. Awantipora Temples The two temple ruins located about one km from each other, are in Awantipora, 30 km from the state capital Srinagar. On the way from Srinagar to Jammu, the first ruin is the Awantiswamin Temple. A Vaishnava temple built by king Awantivarman (855 AD – 883 AD), Vaikuntha Vishnu was the presiding deity. This imposing monument has been built on a two-tiered base in the centre of a paved courtyard. Buddhist influence is quite evident in the architecture. The outer boundary wall or the courtyard has four shrines in its four corners. The entrance to the temple is located in the middle of the west wall and can be approached by a flight of steps. The walls have beautiful designs and images of gods. Even though the temple is dedicated to Vishnu, images of Shiva can also be seen on the pillars and stones. Even after 1200 years, the sculpted images are distinctly visible and impressive. Mameswara Shiva Temple The Mameswara Shiva temple located at Mamalaka or modern day Mamal is dedicated to Lord Shiva and houses an old pedestal and the Shiva Linga. The temple finds mention even in Kalahasa’s Rajtarangini. The book mentions that the temple was gifted a golden Kalasa by the King Jayasinka (1128 AD – 1155 AD). A spring flows from under the site of the temple. Harmukh Towards North-East of Srinagar city there stands one conspicuous hoary headed mountain overlooking the Gangabal Lake. It is known as Harmukh meaning thereby that the peak appears same from all sides.. Shamus-Faqir a well known Kashmiri poet in one of the songs says, Thou knower of truth if you want to see Him face to face you can see Him at Harmukh. Kashmiris in general believe that there is a mine of jewels and rubies in Harmukh. The inhabitants of the valley believe that wherever the Harmukh peak is visible in the Valley, the serpents of the place happen to be quite harmless, and on the other hand, the peak is not visible the serpents of the locality are poisonous and their bites are fatal. At the foot of Harmukh there is one beautiful lake known as Gangabal Lake. In the month of September corresponding to the bright fortnight of Bahadun, Kashmiri Pandits immerse the urns ( ashes ) of their dead relatives in this lake after performing their ShraddhaOnce a hermit tried to reach the summit of the Harmukh to see Lord Shiva face to face. For twelve years long he tried to scale the summit, but failed until one day he saw a gujar descending the summit. When the gujar approached him, the hermit enquired as to what he saw there. The gujar whose goat had strayed and for whom he had been searching, said that he saw a couple milking a cow and drinking the same in a human skull. They had offered some milk to him, which he refused to drink and when they departed they rubbed a little of the milk on his forehead. As the gujar indicated the spot on his forehead where the milk was rubbed, the hermit was extremely joyful and rushed to lick his forehead. It is said that the hermit got Nirvana and diasppeared from the place, to the entire surprise of the gujar. The legend is known as Hurmukhuk Gosoni. Narastan Mandir, now in ruins, lies in the North-East of Avantipora, 16 km from Tral town towards famous Aripal. The place of Narastan is famous for its ancient temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu,. The name Narastan is the deviation of the original Narayan Sthan (place of Narayan).; it is dissimilar from all the other temples in the Kashmir Valley. Dating back to more than 1400 years. This circular shaped temple is wholly constructed with stones in Gandhara style of architecture. The temple is on a single base consisting of only four courses of stones. At the top of the pediment, there is a figure that resembles a Garuda, the king of birds, sacred vehicle to Lord Vishnu, who is half man and half eagle with the power to acquire any shape. The main draw of the temple is the trefoil arches on the peripheral of the shrine walls. Another remarkable feature is the absence of any circumambulatory path on top of the base. From the courtyard, a flight of four steps leads to the shrine of Narastan. 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. There is also a spring beautifully banked with long dressed stones of about 8th century. This was dedicated to Shiva and was called Mamalishwara. It is said that Ganesh was placed as doorkeeper not to allow anyone to enter the temple without his permission. So it was called Mam Mal - Dont go. GANPATHYAR Bestows all the success, the Sidhi Vinaayaka, whose temple is situated on the bank of sacred Vistasta, the place is known as Ganesh Vihar, its location is inside Srinagar Kashmir. This type of historical background clearly confirms that the Ganpatyar and also its neighborhood Badiyar, This is the place were sage Kashyap was assured by Lord Ganesha to have the settlement of the people of the Kashmir. The historical event also confirms that this is the only temple in Kashmir where before February 1990, twenty five thousand Kashmiri Devotees used to visit and pay their respect. History reveals that during the Pathan Rule, the oldest idol of the Siddhi Vinaayaka was thrown into river Vitasta (commonly known as Jehlum), probably it was 1760-1765, after that the idol of Siddhi Vinaayaka was lifted out from the river in 1854-55 and was reinstalled again. It is considered the oldest Ganesh Idol. JWALA DEVI TEMPLE OF KHREW KASHMIR This shrine is dedicated to Fire Goddess Jwala ji .Jwala ji is Ishta devi of many kashmiri Pandits .kashmiri Pandits organize a fair at this shrine on 14th bright fortnight of Ashada ( June - July ). Yellow rice or TAHAR ( a kashmiri tradition ) and SHOOSHNOR ( Lambs lung ) are offered to the deity, occasional flames sparked in this temple from time to time .Some elders from the village Khrew also confirmed having seen the flames in early sixties .
Posted on: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 11:06:53 +0000
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