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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.
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