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Srinagar History - Travel Rajasthan
Gondola ride in Gulmarg, Kashmir. SRINAGAR: altitude 5,200 ft . Gulmarg 9,000 feet.
Srinagar
Late Summer and monsoon. There is an onset of light rain in July. The Srinagar monsoon is not very heavy. The valley looks beautiful at this time and you can walk through the meadows and listen to the raindrops... In October the terrible air pollution starts to build up and peaks throughout November. East of Dal Lake the air is less polluted.
Jesus is alleged to have lived and herded sheep in Yuzmarg, an easy drive from Srinagar. A beautiful meadow and river place, A day trip. Another day trip, up to Harwan and view of the mountain where belief is that Jesus was buried there, after he lived out his life.
Srinagar, Kashmir, travel in Rajasthan
Best Chinese restaurants in Srinagar are: Lasha, Tibetan Bowl and Nun Kun. Fancy dining in the Lalit and Dal View. Ahdoos Restaurant and Bakery in town is very popular.
Srinagar History
A Hindu kingdom during the Mahabharata period. It became a part of the Buddhist Mauryan empire between the 3rd and 1st Centuries BCE. The Emperor Ashoka founded the beautiful city of Srinagari in the 3rd Century BCE. Buddhism flowered in Kashmir under King Ashoka, who dispatched hundreds of monks from Gandhara to spread the faith, at the same time building a Shiva temple at Vijeshwari to support what was then the Hindu religion of the majority.
The area around Srinagar has been inhabited since ancient times. Several ancient temples and monasteries were constructed in the area, contributing to its religious and cultural importance. It is locally known that Jesus spent the elder years of his life in Kashmir and his Tomb is in a cave on a mountain at the edge of Srinagar, now sealed by a landslide.
Modern Srinagar dates back to the 7th Century. Buddhism continued to blossom in close proximity to Hinduism under Ashoka’s son and grandson, The Fourth Buddhist Council in the first century at Harwan, ... today’s Shalimar Garden in Srinagar... The council drew 500 Buddhist and Hindu scholars from all over the region, including China, to codify Sarvastivada, the precursor to Mahayana Buddhism.
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Kashmir Converts to Islam
During the 14th century, the Sufi saint Mir Syed Ali Hamdani from Iran, travelling on the Silk Route, visited Kashmir accompanied by hundreds of disciples, many of whom settled in Kashmir. He saw the superlative quality of the wool. The King provided patronage to the Sufi craftsmen and in no time pashmina weaving took over the valley. The mass conversion of the Kashmir Valley to Islam occurred in the fourteenth century. Srinagar became a hub of Islamic culture and scholarship. The Mughals recognized the strategic and scenic significance of the region and established beautiful gardens, such as the Nishat Bagh and Shalimar Bagh.
In the 19th century, Kashmir came under the control of the Sikh Empire, and later, the Dogra dynasty. Maharaja Ranjit Singh's forces annexed Kashmir. However, following the First Anglo-Sikh War in 1846, the British awarded the region to Maharaja Gulab Singh of Jammu, who established the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. During the British colonial era, Srinagar and the surrounding region remained a princely state under the British Crown. The region retained its cultural and religious diversity, with a mix of Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh.
The region has been a center of political and territorial disputes between India and Pakistan for many decades. This has led to occasional unrest, protests, and conflicts in the area, which can potentially escalate and affect the safety of travelers.
India claims the entire former British Indian princely state of Jammu and Kashmi. Pakistan insists on claiming most of the region based solely on its Muslim-majority population. Presently Muslims make up about 90% of Srinagars population. Many thousands of Hindu Kashmiris have fled around 1990 because they were threatened by the violence of terrorist attacks from Pakistanis..
Kashmiri Pandits have formed an organization called Panun Kashmir ("Our own Kashmir"), which has asked for a separate homeland for Kashmiri Hindus in the Valley, they have opposed autonomy for Kashmir on the grounds that it would promote the formation of an Islamic state. Their return to the homeland in Kashmir also constitutes one of the main points of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's election platform.
The presence of heavy security forces and the implementation of security measures in response to the political and security situation can create an uncomfortable environment for travelers. Always seek up to date info.
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