Ravi Speaks:
Updated on 02.03.2022.
I used to spend my summer vacations in Srinagar during June and July mainly almost every year during my college days. I used to very earnestly wait for the vacations to start and immediately move to Srinagar and stay there with my Maternal-Uncle. My grandfather used to spend half of the year in Srinagar and the rest in Jammu. He had the Pharma-distribution business with the name of M/S Marigold Traders in partnership with his Punjabi friend and during summer months he would be attending to that and in winters he used to come down to Jammu and spend the rest of the year there. Even “Shivratri” we would celebrate in Jammu and even my Maternal Uncle’s family too would come down to Jammu to celebrate “Shivratri” together.
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| Shankaracharya Temple-Srinagar |
So, in June and July, I used to go to this small hill very near to Jawahar Nagar-where I was staying with my “Maternals”. This hill was very popular because on top of it there was a very ancient Temple of Lord Shiva -very famous and known as Shankaracharya Temple. I used to get up at 6.00 AM and immediately start on foot for this hill from the route which was falling on the back of this hill. The route was very simple and around 6 km from my residence. I used to go via “Rajbagh” and reach Zero Bridge within half an hour on foot. From that bridge, I used to go towards the back of the hill where the famous “Burn-Hall School” was situated and from there I used to reach the bottom of the hill. Then I had to climb the hill and reach the top of the hill within another half an hour. Once I reached the hill-this beautifully architecture temple which was known as the Shankaracharya temple, looked as real beauty. This temple had unique looks and it reflected a very old and strong architectural marvel-which could withstand the onslaughts of various natural calamities and still was as strong as if made of steel. They say that this temple had a even better look earlier, however, there was a very big earthquake which had come in the early nineties-demolishing certain portions of this hilltop and damaging thereby this temple also to a greater extent. It was later repaired and certain portions reconstructed as well.
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| Temple as it looks now. |
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| Temple as it looked in the early nineteenth century. |
Here is a brief about this :-“Shankaracharya Hill is a hill overlooking the Dal-Lake and Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir union-territory. It is famous for the sacred Shankaracharya Temple, also known as “Jyeshteswara”, which occupies the top of the hill. It is the destination of hundreds of tourists each day. The hilltop affords a commanding view of the Kashmir Valley for tens of miles. Before 1940, the forests occurring on this hill were depleted due to the removal of fuelwood, small timber, and fodder. There came a stage when this hill became virtually devoid of trees. Thereafter, a massive afforestation and rehabilitation program was taken to increase the tree cover, which was met with considerable success. Today, the Shankaracharya Hill supports a good forest cover. The Shankaracharya Temple made of ancient grey stones adorns thickly wooded Shankaracharya Hill. It was earlier known as “Takht-i-Sulaiman”, meaning Throne of Solomon, but has been renamed after a saint who preached enlightenment here in AD 750. Dedicated to Lord Shiva, this temple rests at an altitude of 1000 feet and can be reached in 10-15 minutes by stairs. Do ensure that you reach this temple before 5 pm. Although it remains open till 8.00 pm, the army doesn’t allow four wheelers after 5.00 PM”.
This ancient temple is well known as the site where the famous seer Adi Shankaracharya attained enlightenment.
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The scene was taken from the North of the temple.
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| The scene was taken from North East of the Temple. |
It has another proper road till the top of the staircase on the hilltop-on which the four-wheelers ply and tourists and even the devotees come through that road mainly. Thus, the fun part is getting there-since there is a winding road which leads up to the top of the hill from where a circuitous series of steps lead to the temple. The view from the top is spectacular and well worth the effort. Once we reach there at the top, we see wonderful scenery of South Srinagar on the south of the temple and the beauty of the huge Dal Lake from the north-east of the temple-where several houseboats and moving Shikaras are visible and it fascinates one to reach back to the lake and move around. On the far northwest side, we can see the other smaller hilltop like structure where on the top is the ancient-Forte also known as “Hari-Parbhat” in local language-meaning “the mountain”. There on the “Hari-Parbhat” also we have a very pious Hindu Temple of Mata known as “Chakkrishwar-temple”. Kashmiri Pandits come here quite often and offer prayers to the Mata. One can enjoy stunning views of the locales from up thereafter offering prayers to Lord-Shiva. So, one can capture all those wonderful sceneries and pictures from the Shankaracharya temple top in his camera and keep them as the really good memories to cherish later.
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| The scene is taken from the South of the temple. |
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| The scene is taken from North towards Dal lake. |
So every day by 7.30 AM maximum I used to reach the top of the hill and then enter the temple of Shiva also known as the Shankaracharya temple and offer my prayers to Lord Shiva. After enjoying the sight from the height of this hill around the whole valley-I used to descend back the same route from the southern side of the hill and reach back the roadside within 20 minutes and another half an hour it used to take for me to reach my residence at Jawahar Nagar. In any case, I used to be back by 8.00-8.30 AM. This used to be my daily routine in the morning hours and with this small daily exercise, I used to feel fresh for the whole day and active enough to do the other works during the day without any problems.
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| Scenery from the top of the temple taken. |
This daily routine used to be there from 1977 till 79 and later I could not go to Srinagar for some time till 1996-as my “Maternals” had shifted down to Jammu and there was no attraction as such in Srinagar then. In 1996 I again started visiting Srinagar in the official capacity and every time I went there; I used to enjoy a great deal and cherish my earlier sweet memories of that place. The situations had changed drastically afterward and more so after the mass migration when the Hindus had already left the valley and the place was put under heavy army cover. Later from 1996 till 2019 I was a regular visitor to Srinagar and used to visit that place at least for three days on every alternate month but all those later years the situation of that place had made the level of uncertainty prevailing more and I could hardly make it twice if I remember correctly to the Temple at the top of the hill-Shankaracharya temple-where the army had taken over the whole charge and very high scrutiny was being kept for anyone visiting that temple. Still, on the special pious days like “Shivratri” and many such functions, people do gather there and celebrate to the best of their capacities, however, things are not the same as they used to be there when there was no such security cover earlier.
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