why one should visit kashmir

Nishat Garden, located on the banks of the beautiful Dal Lake, is one of the largest Mughal gardens. Known as the garden of bliss, this garden was designed in 1633 AD by the brother of Nur Jahan, Asaf Khan. Nishat Bagh as laid out now is a broad cascade of terraces lined with avenues of chinar and cypress trees, which starts from the lakeshore and reaches up to an artificial facade at the hill end. Rising from the edge of the Dal Lake, it has twelve 12 terraces representing twelve Zodiacal signs. However, it has only two sections, namely the public garden and the private garden for the Zanana or harem vis a vis the four sections of the Shalimar Bagh this difference is attributed to the fact that the latter Bagh catered to the Mughal Emperor, while Nishad Bagh belonged to a man of his court, a noble. There are, however, some similarities with the Shalimar Bagh, such as the polished stone channel and terraces. The source of water supply to the two gardens is the same. Built in an east-west direction, the top terrace has the Zenana garden while the lowest terrace is connected to the Dal Lake. In recent years, the lowest terrace has merged with the approach road. A spring called the Gopi Thirst provides clear water supply to the gardens. There are a few old Mughal period buildings in the vicinity of the Bagh.

Chashma Shahi has tastefully laid garden in terraces, which commands a magnificent view of the Dal Lake below and surrounding mountain ranges. The cool water of the spring is highly refreshing and digestive. The original garden was laid out by Shah Jehan in 1632 AD.By the side of Chashma Shahi Garden are huts where some of the state government officials have their official residences to enjoy the luxurious stay while serving the Jammu & Kashmir State Government.Meaning Royal Spring, this garden is located above the Nehru Memorial Park. Measuring 108 m by 38 m, the garden was built by Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan.

Yusmarg has a great scope for adventure tourism. Doodganga a river flows through this meadow. In its vicinity lies the alpine meadow of Tosa Maidan. A trek of 4 km leads to a small Lake named as Nilnag surrounded by pine trees. Another 10 km trek leads to the most interesting lake the frozen lake in Sang e Safed valley, most portion of this lake is covered by ice even during the summer. A number of tourist huts, restaurants and hotels are available for lodging. The other activities include horse riding, fishing, skiing during winter and photography.

Chemrey Monastery Ladakh was founded during 17th century and it is just 40km from Ladakh. Chemrey Gompa belongs to the Drugpa monastic order and was found by the Lama Tagsang Raschen and dedicated to King Sengge Namgyal. There are only 20 monks of Drugpa community residing in this monastery. Drugpa monastery was made in memory of king Sengge Namgyal. There are numerous shrines that are located in this monastery.The major attraction of Chemrey Gompa is the statue of Padmasambhava which is one story high.Chemrey monastery Ladakh also include valuable collection of scriptures.The consecutive reincarnation of Lama Tagsang Raschen have being helping as the incumbent of the chemrey monastery, since quite a long time.Chemrey Monastery contains one main assembly hall of this monastery that lies on the right side of the central courtyard and holds two images of the founder of Chemrey, Stagtshang Raspa, in his 4th and 5th incarnations. Murals of Sakyamuni (Historical Buddha) along with his two chief followers occupy the wall right behind the image of Stagtshang Raspa. Also seen in the dukhang are the paintings of two large mandalas Kalachakra and Akshobhya (the Imperturbable Buddha or the Buddha of the East) as well as twenty nine volumes of the Buddhist scriptures. These scriptures have their title pages lettering in solid silver and the text in pure gold.

Known as the Jewel In The Ring, Nagin is generally held to be the most beautiful of the Dal lakes. Its name comes from the many trees, which encircle the small, deep blue lake. Nagin is only separated from the Larer Dal lakes by a narrow causeway and it also has a number of houseboats moored around its perimeter.If one wants to really get away from the chaotic city life all then Nagin is a good place to find a house boat and do it the surroundings are much more serene and isolated than on Dal Lake. One can rent rowboats from the camping site here either to simply row around the lake or to look around for a houseboat.

The Shankaracharya Temple, also known as the Jyesteshwara temple or Pas Pahar by Buddhists, is situated in the Zabarwan Mountain in Srinagar, Kashmir. It is dedicated to Lord Shiva. The temple is on the summit of the same name at a height of 1,000 feet (300 m) above the plain and overlooks the city of Srinagar.The Jyoteshware temple rests on a solid rock. A 20 foot tall octagonal base supports a square building on top. The terrace around the square temple is reached by a stone staircase enclosed between two walls.

Thickly forested Shankaracharya Hill is topped by a small Shiva temple built from hefty blocks of visibly ancient grey stone. Previously known as Takht i Sulaiman (Throne of Solomon), it now named for a sage who reached enlightenment here in AD 750, but signs date the octagonal structure as 5th century and the site is even older. Some claim, controversially, that a previous temple here was once renovated by Jesus and St Thomas. Access is by a winding 5.5km road from Nehru Park.Walking is considered ill advised given the population of wild bears. From road end the temple is five minutes up a stairway from a police checkpoint where you must leave phones and cameras before reaching the panoramic views of Srinagar and Dal Lake.

Shivkhori is a famous cave shrine of Hindus devoted to lord Shiva, situated in district Udhampur of Jammu and Kashmir state in India. In Udhampur district, there are many shrines such as Mata Vaishno Devi, Sudhmahadev, Pingla Mata, Mahamaya Chountra Mata, Merhada Mata, Baba Dhandar, Siad Baba. Shiv Khori is one of them located in village Ransoo of Pouni block in tehsil Reasi of the Udhampur district, which attracts lakhs of devotees in a year. Shiv Khori is situated in between the hillocks about 140 km north of Jammu, 120 km from Udhampur and 80 km from Katra. Buses and light vehicles go up to Ransoo, the base camp of pilgrimage surrounded by lush green mountains. People have to traverse about 3 km track on foot which is recently being constructed by the Shiv Khori Shrine Board, Ransoo duly headed by the District Development Commissioner, Udhampur as chairman and Sub Divisional Magistrate, Reasi as Member Secretary.

Jamia Masjid is a mosque in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, India. The Jamia Masjid of Srinagar is situated at Nowhatta, in the middle of the old city. An important mosque was built by Sultan Sikandar in 1400 AD.under the order by mir mohmmad hamadani son of Shah hamdan ,shah hamdan already prays namaz in side and stay there Later, the son of Sultan Sikandar, Zain ul Abidin got the mosque extended. The attractions of the Jamia Masjid of Srinagar, Kashmir include beautiful Indo Saracenic architecture, a magnificent courtyard and 370 wooden pillars. Another feature of the mosque is the peace and tranquility inside it, standing out against the hustle of the old bazaars around it. Thousands of Muslims assemble at the mosque every Friday to offer their prayers.

The town of Dras is located in a relatively flat and open space. It has extensive willow groves along the river. Insummer this town presents a pleasant look while in winter it discovered under a thick blanket of snow. Dras experiences the lowest temperatures in the valley and with its altitude of 3,300 m, this town is said to be the second coldest inhabited place in Asia. The mercury may drop to as low as 40 degrees Celcius below freezing point. Often the small huts are covered by snow and communication with the outside world is cut off.The Dras Valley is an enchanting valley formed by the Dras River which rises in the Machoi glacier near the famous Zozila Pass. The river is joined in its course by many other rivers and streams flowing in from snowfields in the nearby mountains.