The Shankaracharya Temple (Kashmiri: शंकराचार्य मंदिर (Devanagari), شنکراچاریہ مندر (Nastaleeq)), 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 hill is also referred to as Takht i Suleiman (Throne of Solomon) and the temple also called "Throne of Solomon."It is believed that king Solomon came to worship on the hill which makes the place sacred from ancient times.
History & development
The temple dates back to 200 BC, although the present structure probably dates back to the 9th century AD. It was visited by Adi Shankara
and has ever since been associated with him; this is how the
hill/temple got the name Shankaraharya. It is also regarded as sacred by
Buddhists.
It was originally a Buddhist temple nearly 2500 years ago; the shiv
ling was placed inside by Adi Shankaracharya on his visit to Kashmir; it
became a Hindu temple.
According to Pandit Anand Koul (1924) the temple was originally built
by "Sandiman" (unknown) who, according to Koul, reigned in Kashmir from
2629 to 2564 BC. It was repaired by King Gopaditya (426–365 BC) and by King Lalitaditya (697–734).Its roof was also repaired by Zain-ul-Abidin after an earthquake; later, its dome was repaired by Sheikh Ghulam Mohiuddin, a Sikh governor (1841–1846).
शालीमार बाग़ जम्मू और कश्मीर राज्य के श्रीनगर शहर में स्थित एक मुग़ल बाग़ है।
- शालीमार बाग़ को जहाँगीर ने अपनी मलिका नूरजहाँ के लिये सन् 1616 में बनवाया था।
- मखमली हरी-भरी क्यारियों, गलियारों, सुन्दर दृश्यों के लिये प्रसिद्ध यह एक अत्यन्त रमणीक स्थान है।
- शालीमार बाग़ के चार मुख्य गलियारे हैं।
- मुग़ल काल में चौथे गलियारे का प्रयोग केवल शाही ख़ानदान की औरतें ही कर सकती थीं, किसी अन्य का प्रवेश वहाँ वर्जित था।
- शालीमार बाग़ में पहले केवल डल झील के जल-मार्ग से ही आया जा सकता था किन्तु अब यहाँ आने के लिये सड़क भी उपलब्ध है।
शालीमार बाग़ के बीचोबीच शानदार चिकने पत्थरों से बनी एक नहर बहता है जिसकी शोभा देखने लायक़ है।
History
While the recent history and development of the Mughal types of
gardens is credited to Emperor Jahangir, the ancient history of the
garden can be traced to the 2nd century when it was built during the
reign of Pravarsena II.
Praversena II founded the city of Srinagar and ruled in Kashmir from 79
AD to 139 AD. He had built a cottage for his stay at the northeastern
corner of the Dal Lake and had named it Shalimar (the meaning of the
name remains unknown, Russian scholar Anna Suvorova
in her book "Lahore: Topophilia of Space and Place" has asserted that
it is certainly an Arabic or Persian name since a Muslim King would
never use a Sanskrit name for a royal garden). The king, on his visits
to a local saint by the name Sukarma Swami at Harwan,
used to stop at this cottage. Over the years, the cottage fell into
ruins and later could not be located. However, the name of the village
remained as Shalimar.
It is here that Emperor Jahangir built his celebrated Shalimar Bagh, his dream project to please his queen.[3]
He enlarged the ancient garden in 1619 into a royal garden and called
it 'Farah Baksh' ('the delightful'). He built it for his wife Nur Jahan ('light of the world'). In 1630, under Emperor Shah Jahan’s
orders, Zafar Khan the governor of Kashmir got it extended. He named it
‘Faiz Baksh’ ('the bountiful'). It then became a pleasure place for the
Pathan and Sikh governors who followed Zafar Khan.
During the rule of Maharaja Ranjit Singh the marble pavilion was the guest house for European visitors. Electrification of the premises was done during Maharaja Hari Singh’s
rule. Thus, over the years, the garden was extended and improved by
many rulers and called by different names, but the most popular name
‘Shalimar Bagh’ continues to this day.
During the Mughal period in particular, Emperor Jahangir and his wife
Nur Jahan were so enamoured of Kashmir that during summer they moved to
Srinagar with their full court entourage from Delhi
at least 13 times. Shalimar Bagh was their imperial summer residence
and the Royal Court. They crossed the arduous snowy passes of the Pir Panjal mountain range on elephants to reach Srinagar.
Dal Lake is a lake in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.
The urban lake, which is the second largest in the state, is integral
to tourism and recreation in Kashmir and is named the "Jewel in the
crown of Kashmir"or "Srinagar's Jewel".The lake is also an important source for commercial operations in fishing and water plant harvesting.
History
Dal lake is mentioned as Mahasarit (Sanskrti-महासरित्) in ancient Sanskrit texts. Ancient history records mention that a village named Isabar to the east of Dal Lake was the residence of goddess Durga.This place was known as Sureshwari on the bank of the lake, which was sourced by a spring called the Satadhara
During the Mughal period, the Mughal rulers of India designated Kashmir, Srinagar in particular, as their summer resort.
They developed the precincts of the Dal lake in Srinagar with sprawling
Mughal-type gardens and pavilions as pleasure resorts to enjoy the
salubrious cool climate. After the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, which led to the disintegration of the Mughal Empire, Pashtun tribes in the area around the lake and city increased, and the Durrani Empire ruled the city for several decades. In 1814 a significant part of the Kashmir valley, including Srinagar, was annexed by Raja Ranjit Singh to his kingdom, and the Sikhs grew in influence in the region for 27 years.
During the British Raj,
the British also made Srinagar their capital during the summer months,
attracted by the cool climate of the Kashmir valley, amidst the back
drop of the majestic snow covered Himalayan ranges. The lake precincts
experience temperatures in the range of 1–11 °C (34–52 °F) during winter
and 12–30 °C (54–86 °F) during the summer season. The lake freezes when
temperatures drop to about −11 °C (12 °F) during severe winter.Although the Dogra Maharaja of Kashmir
restricted the building of houses in the valley, the British
circumvented this rule by commissioning lavish houseboats to be built on
the Dal Lake. The houseboats have been referred to as, "each one a
little piece of England afloat on Dal Lake."
After the independence of India, the Kashmiri Hanji people have
built, owned and maintained these houseboats, cultivating floating
gardens and producing commodities for the market, making them the centre
of their livelihoods. The houseboats, closely associated with Dal Lake
also provide accommodation in Srinagar. Following the Mughal and British
rule, the place has became a haven for tourists and earned the epithet,
"Jewel in the tourist crown".
Mughal gardens are a group of gardens built by the Mughals in the Persian style of architecture. This style was heavily influenced by the Persian gardens particularly the Charbagh structure.Significant use of rectilinear layouts are made within the walled enclosures. Some of the typical features include pools, fountains and canals inside the gardens.
History
The founder of the Mughal empire, Babur, described his favourite type of garden as a charbagh.
This word developed a new meaning in India, as Babur explains; India
lacked the fast-flowing streams required for the Central Asian charbagh.
The Agra garden, now known as the Ram Bagh,
is thought to have been the first charbagh. India, Bangladesh and
Pakistan have a number of Mughal gardens which differ from their Central
Asian predecessors with respect to "the highly disciplined geometry".
An early textual references about Mughal gardens are found in the
memoirs and biographies of the Mughal emperors, including those of Babur, Humayun and Akbar.
Later references are found from "the accounts of India" written by
various European travellers (Bernier for example). The first serious
historical study of Mughal gardens was written by Constance Villiers-Stuart, with the title Gardens of the Great Mughals
(1913). Her husband was a Colonel in Britain's Indian army. This gave
her a good network of contacts and an opportunity to travel. During
their residence at Pinjore Gardens,
Mrs. Villiers-Stuart also had an opportunity to direct the maintenance
of an important Mughal garden. Her book makes reference to the
forthcoming design of a garden in the Government House at New Delhi (now
known as Rashtrapati Bhavan).She was consulted by Edwin Lutyens,
and this may have influenced his choice of Mughal style for this
project. Recent scholarly work on the history of Mughal gardens has been
carried out under the auspicious guidance of Dumbarton Oaks (including Mughal Gardens: Sources, Places, Representations, and Prospects edited by James L. Wescoat, Jr. and Joachim Wolschke-Bulmahn) and the Smithsonian Institution. Some examples of Mughal gardens are Shalimar Gardens (Lahore), Lalbagh Fort at Dhaka, and Shalimar Bagh (Srinagar).
From the beginnings of the Mughal Empire, the construction of gardens was a beloved imperial pastime.Babur, the first Mughal conqueror-king, had gardens built in Lahore and Dholpur.
Humayun, his son, does not seem to have had much time for building—he
was busy reclaiming and increasing the realm—but he is known to have
spent a great deal of time at his father’s gardens. Akbar built several gardens first in Delhi then in Agra, Akbar’s new capital.These tended to be riverfront gardens rather than the fortress gardens
that his predecessors built. Building riverfront rather than fortress
gardens influenced later Mughal garden architecture considerably.
Akbar’s heir, Jahangir, did not build as much, but he helped to lay out the famous Shalimar garden and was known for his great love for flowers. Indeed, his trips to Kashmir are believed to have begun a fashion for naturalistic and abundant floral design.
Jahangir's son, Shah Jahan, marks the apex of Mughal garden architecture and floral design. He is famous for the construction of the Taj Mahal, a sprawling funereal paradise in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. He is also responsible for the Red Fort at Delhi which contains the Mahtab Bagh, a night garden that was filled with night-blooming jasmine and other pale flowers.The pavilions within are faced with white marble to glow in the
moonlight. This and the marble of the Taj Mahal are inlaid with
semiprecious stone depicting scrolling naturalistic floral motifs, the
most important being the tulip, which Shah Jahan adopted as a personal symbol.
