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Pilgrim Places in Jammu & Kashmir
To the west of the city is the much lower hill of Hari Parbat, which is
surrounded by a fort. On this hill is the temple of Sharika Devi, believed to be
a form of Durga Mata or Shakti. 25 kms from Srinagar, past Ganderbal, is the
most important pilgrim place in Kashmir, the only exception being Amarnath cave.
This is the temple and spring of Tulla Mulla, the local name of the Goddess
Raginia, believed to be another form of Durga Mata. The site of the temple
predates this millennium. The temple-spring complex is affectionately known as
Kheer Bhavani because of the thousands of devotees who have offered milk and
'kheer' to the sacred spring, which magically changes colour, turning black when
warning of disaster.
Within Srinagar, on its highest hill is the
Shankaracharya temple, nearly one thousand feet above the city. It is devoted to
lord Shiva. The site dates back to 2500 BC. The philosopher Shankaracharya
stayed at this site when he visited Kashmir ten centuries ago to revive Sanatan
Dharma. Before this date, the temple was known as Gopadri, as an earlier edifice
on the same site was built by king GopadUya in the 6th century. In fact the road
below the hill, with residences of high- ranking State Government officials, is
still known as Gupkar road.
Chatti Padshahi Gurudwara, the sixth guru of
Sikhism travelled through Kashmir, stopping to preach occasionally. A gurudwara
has been built at the exact site of each of these halts. The most important one
is Chatti Padshahi Gurudwara near the Kathi Darwaza in Rainawari, Srinagar.
Amongst the temples in the city, the Raghunath Mandir takes pride of the
place being situated right in the heart of the Jammu. It consist of cluster of
temples which makes it the largest temple complex in northern India. The inner
sactums of the temples contain giganatic status of Gods and Goddesses and
numerous 'lingams'. It contains representatives of almost Hindu Pantheon which
makes it rare site to see.
The famous temple of 'Bawey Wali Mata' is in
site the Bahu Fort, where every Tuesday and Sunday pilgrims throng and jostle
one another to worship the Goddess. A little further away on a hill top opposite
the Bahu Fort, is a lovely spot over looking the river Tawi, where a temple
dedicated to Mahamaya has been constructed.
It is said that if Bawey
Wali Mata is the presiding deity of Jammu, the Dargah of Peer Budhan Ali Shah
(Peer Baba) is the other shrine that protect it people from mishaps and evil
sprits a friend of Guru Gobind Singh, Peer Baba lived all his life on milk alone
and was 500 years old when he died. On Thursdays, you can find Hindu and Sikh
devotees vastly out - numbering their Muslim brethren at this shrine such is the
faith that people have in the Peer Baba. Most VIPs make it a point to visit this
Dargah when they come to Jammu.
The Peer Kho Cave Temple, overlooking
the Tawi river, the Panchbakhtar Temple and the Ranbireshwar Temple are the
other well-known Shiv temples in Peer Mitha is another famous shrine in Jammu.
Peer Mitha was a contemporary of Ajaib Dev and Ghareeb Nath. Both saints were
famous for their prophecies and miracles. 'Mitha' means the sweet one for this
Peer would accept nothing more than a pinch of sugar from his devotees. Other
significant temples are the Laxmi Narayan Temple and Panj Mandir in the posh
Gandhi Nagar locality of Jammu.
Other Places Of
Worship:
Christian:
Garrison Church,
Satwari. St.
Paul's Church, Wazarat Road.
St. Peter's Church, Christian Colony.
Muslim:
Jamia Masjid, Talab Khatikan.
Jamia Masjid, Ustad
Mohalla.
Jamia Masjid, Gole Market.
Ibrahim Masjid, Wazarat Road.
Sikh:
Sunder Singh Gurudwara, Gurudwara Road.
Tali Sahib
Gurudwara, Talab Tillo.
Maharani Chand Kaur Gurudwara, below Gumat.
Gurudwara Singh Sabha, Nanak Nagar.
Kalgidhar Gurudwara, Rehari.
Singh Sabha Gurudwara, Raghunath Bazaar.
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