Jammu & Kashmir
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© Lonely Planet Publications 347 Jammu & Kashmir The mountain retreat of Mughals and Buddhist lamas; the Alps of India; Jehangir’s Valley of Paradise. All these terms have been used to describe Kashmir, one of India’s wildest and most controversial tourist destinations. After 20 years of isolation, travellers are slowly drifting back to this legendary backwater, returning to Srinagar’s famous houseboats and walking the trekking routes north of Pahalgam. Kashmir boasts some of the highest and most rugged landscapes on earth in mountainous Ladakh, and one of the most sublime in serene Dal Lake. Many people panic at the idea of travelling to Kashmir, so it’s important to dispel some myths. The state of Jammu and Kashmir is actually three separate regions: Hindu Jammu, Buddhist Ladakh and the Muslim Kashmir Valley. Ladakh to the northeast is almost un- touched by the Kashmiri conflict, while Jammu and the Kashmir Valley are safer than they have been for decades. However, the Kashmiri insurgency is ongoing and it is essential to check the security situation before travelling to either Jammu or the area around Srinagar. Remember that the dispute over Kashmir has been the cause of three wars between India and Pakistan. If Jammu and Srinagar seem like too much of a gamble, don’t overlook Ladakh and Zanskar. These rugged Buddhist regions are a little slice of Tibet, transplanted to India and wedged in by roaring rivers and snow-capped mountains. A series of mountain passes, the highest in the world, connect Ladakh, Zanskar, Kashmir, Lahaul, Spiti and Manali, opening up a fabulous circuit from Srinagar all the way to Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh. HIGHLIGHTS Climb stupas (domed edifices housing Buddhist or Jainan relics), murmur mantras, munch momos (Tibetan dumplings) and explore the dusty backstreets of Leh ( p367 ), Gulmarg Ladakh’s glorious medieval capital Pahalgam Marvel at murals and mix with meditative Indus Valley monks at the gompas (monasteries) and Srinagar Mountain Treks Leh palaces of the Indus Valley ( p380 ) in Ladakh & Zanskar Experience the giddy heights of the Himalaya on magnificent mountain treks through JAMMU & KASHMIR Ladakh ( p379 ) and Zanskar ( p391 ) Pay your respects at ancient mosques and relive the Raj on a Dal Lake houseboat in Srinagar ( p357 ) Ski some of India’s finest powder on the ski slopes of Gulmarg ( p360 ) or hike among the pines at the mountain resort of Pahalgam ( p361 ) 348 JAMMU & KASHMIR lonelyplanet.com JAMMU & KASHMIR Under Administration The external boundaries of India Bagtor on this map have not been of Pakistan authenticated and may not be correct. Line of Tragbal Control Kargil G R E A T Drass y Bandipur Suru River e l Shergol Wular Thajiwas Glacier l Lake S a u r u V Mulbekh Sonamarg Gumry Camp To Muzaffarabad Zoji La Kangan Sanku (Pakistan, 75km) Gandarbal Kolahoi (3529m) Glacier Baltal Baramula Camp Anchar Dal Lake Amarnath Cave Rungo (5930m) River Lake Dachigam Kolahoi ὄὄ(5425m) Jhelum Harwan Srinagar Aru Chandanwari Panikhar Parkachik Rangdum Gulmarg Pampore Kun Jhelum Pahalgam Tangole Kas (7087m) Nun hm Avantipura Parkachik P (7135m) Glacier i r ir River Pensi La P Val Lidder River H I M A L A Y A a (4450m) n ley Ponch j 1A Mattan Drang a Drung l ὄὄ Martand Ananatnag Glacier R Chari Sharif a n Kulgam Achabal g e Kokernag Jawahar Verinag K A S H M I R Tunnel Z A N S K A R Banihal Chatru Chenab River ὄ Galhar Atholi Pir Panjal Chenab Kishtwar (4314m) River Shiva Khori Ransoo Batote Naoshera S i w a l i k H i l l s Sanasar Patnitop Riasi P Line of Vaishno i Devi Kud r Katra P a n Control Bhadarwah j a l Udhampur R Akhnoor a Official n Pakistan g J A M M U e Indo- Ramnagar Border Jammu Chamba Sialkot Dalhousie McLeod Ganj Pathankot P A K I S T A N Dharamsala To Amritsar JAMMU & KASHMIR JAMMU & KASHMIR (120km) lonelyplanet.com JAMMU & KASHMIR 349 0 50 km 0 30 miles Nubra Shyok Panamik River River Chamshen Tegar Dha Under Indus Sumur N Administration Hanu-Do Hunder u of China River b Diskit Lughzun r L a d a k h a Skurbuchan V a l l e y Bodh Kharbu Temisgam Khardung Khalsi Fotu La Khardung La Lamayuru Rizong (4147m) (5602m) Likir Phyang Alchi Hinju Nimmu Shyok Leh R a n g e Chang La Konze La (5289m) (4950m) Spituk Choglamsar Durbuk Stok Kangri Stok Thiksey Taktok Tangtse Lukung Z a n s k a r (6121m) Matho S t o k R a n g e Chemrey Zanskar River Markha River Pangong Spangmik Tso Hemis Karu R a n g e Upshi Stod Miru Kangyaze Peak River (6400m) Indus River Phey See Around Leh Map (p381) Ating Karsha Taglang La Sani Stongde (5328m) Tungri Zongkul Pibiting L A D A K H Gompa Padum Chumathang Bardan Thukse Raru Pang R A N G E Raldong Pepula Tsarap River Tso Kar Mahe Phuktal Puga Purne Lachlung La (5060m) R U P S U Tso Tetha Kiagar Sking/Kargyak Korzok Tso Moriri Sarchu Pattan Valley Shinkun La Lhakhang (5090m) Ramjak Patsio Darcha L A H A U L Keylong C H I N A T I B E T H I M A C H A L P R A D E S H Manali Kaza JAMMU & KASHMIR JAMMU & KASHMIR K u l l u V a l l e y S P I T I Kullu Tabo Shimla 350 JAMMU & THE KASHMIR VALLEY •• History lonelyplanet.com JAMMU & FAST FACTS Population: 10.1 million THE KASHMIR VALLEY Area: 222,236 sq km Hemmed in by the Pir Panjal mountains and Capital: Srinagar (summer) and Jammu the western Himalaya, the Kashmir Valley (winter) straddles India and Central Asia. In both Main languages: Kashmiri, Urdu, culture and appearance, this Muslim heart- Ladakhi, Hindi, Purig, Balti, Dogri, land is closer to Afghanistan or Iran than the Punjabi and Pahari neighbouring states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. The countryside inside the valley is When to go: Kashmir – April to October flat and heavily cultivated, with low, terraced (December to March for skiing); Ladakh – fields delineated by fruit and nut orchards and May to October rows of pin-straight poplar trees, backing onto a wall of snow-capped mountains. Kashmiris even look different to their southern and east- century BC. Kashmiri mural artists travelled ern neighbours, with their green eyes and grey across the Himalaya, creating fabulous mon- flowing pheran (woollen tunics). astery murals in Ladakh, Lahaul and Spiti. Unless you fly, there are only two routes Sufi mystics brought Islam to Kashmir in the into the Kashmir Valley – the summer-only 13th century and Hindu and Buddhist culture highway from Srinagar to Kargil and the went into rapid decline. The Mughals con- southern highway to Jammu, exiting the solidated their hold on the valley during the valley via the 2531m-long Jawahar Tunnel. reign of Sultan Sikander (1389–1413), who Once a vision of tranquillity, the valley has ordered the destruction of most of the Hindu been scarred by violence ever since Indian temples and Buddhist monasteries in the val- Independence, when the majority-Muslim ley. Followers of Buddhism fled east towards kingdom joined with India instead of ceding Ladakh, but the Hindu pandits were granted to Pakistan. However, recent peace overtures protection under Akbar (1556–1605) and the have gone some way towards quelling the Kashmiri style of painting found a new ex- violence, and both Jammu and the Kashmir pression in the lavish interiors of Srinagar’s Valley are safer than they have been since mosques. 1989, when the tourist industry collapsed after By the time the British arrived in India, a series of deadly attacks on foreign tourists. Jammu and Kashmir was a loose affiliation As this book went to print, Jammu and the of independent kingdoms, nominally under Kashmir Valley were the safest they have been the control of the Sikh rulers of Jammu. After for many years. The winter capital, Jammu, is the British defeated the Sikhs they handed a fascinating metropolis jammed with temples Kashmir to the Hindu Dogra dynasty, who and museums, while the summer capital at Sri- ruled from 1846 until Independence. nagar is a mesmerising sprawl of ancient wooden Most of the current problems in Kashmir mosques and bobbing houseboats. In the north, began with Partition. Although the princely the hill stations of Gulmarg and Pahalgam are state of Kashmir had a majority Muslim popu- once again attracting trekkers and skiers, and lation, its maharaja initially refused to sign up growing numbers of travellers are using Srina gar with either India or Pakistan. After months of as the western gateway to Ladakh. equivocation, an invasion by Pashtun tribes- However, certain caveats apply. Violence men, backed by the new government in Paki- can flare up suddenly and it would be foolish stan, persuaded the maharaja to throw in his to visit Kashmir without checking the political lot with India. Pandit Nehru, himself a Kash- situation first; see the boxed text, p352 . miri Hindu, sent troops to secure the border, sparking the first India–Pakistan war. History By the end of the conflict, two-thirds of the The Hindu kingdom of Kashmir was men- state was under Indian control, including the tioned in the Mahabharata and the valley majority-Muslim Kashmir Valley, while the became a major centre for Buddhist learn- remaining third was held by Pakistan. This JAMMU & KASHMIR JAMMU & KASHMIR ing under the Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd sparsely inhabited area has been the main lonelyplanet.com JAMMU & THE KASHMIR VALLEY •• History 351 cause of tension between India and Pakistan In fact, most Indian Kashmiris would ever since.