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On reaching Srinagar, the capit al
of Kashmir from Delhi in an hour flight you are received at
the airport and Conducted to your reserved accommodation.
Thence your programme starts, beginning with visit to the old
city.
The old city huddles with houses, with narrow streets as
suited the past when no conveyances worth the name plied,.
here you find the grand mosques, the fort and the hillock of
hariparbath with shrines of the religious atop, The shrine at
Hagratbal the repository of the sacred relic of the hair of
the prophet, the shankracharya hill commanding the view of
entire city. The four Mughal gardens laid superbly by the
Mughal emperors around the Dal Lake Namely
The Cheshmashahi (Royal Spring)
The Nishat ( Garden of Pleasure)
The Shalimar (abode of Love)
The Pari Mahal ( an observatory in ruens alongside the cheshma
shahi garden)
City Of Lakes
Srinagar's lakes are the reason why the city receives so many
tourists. Not just expanse of water, the lakes are filled with
houseboats, villages, narrow water canals, lotus and vegetable
gardens and houses and shops.
Life on the lakes, as witnessed from the confines of a Shikara,
is unique. It is possible to book a Shikara for the whole day
and sightsee Nishat Garden, Nasim Bagh, Hazratbal Mosque,
Pathar Masjid and Shah Hamdan's Shrine, having a picnic lunch
in the boat.
DAL LAKE
The Dal is
famous not only for its beauty, but for its vibrance, because
it sustains within its periphery, a life that is unique
anywhere in the world. The houseboat and Shikara communities
have lived for centuries on the Dal, and so complete is their
infrastructure on the lake, that they never have to step on
land! Doctors, tailors, bakers- one can see them all in tiny
wooden shops on the lake, near picturesque vegetable gardens
and acres of lotus gardens
The most
confusing parts of Srinagar for it's not really one lake at
all, but three. Further more much of it is hardly what one
would expect a lake to be like - it's a maze of intricate
waterways and channels, floating islands of vegetation,
houseboats that look so firmly moored they could almost be
islands and hotels on islands which look like they could
simply float away.
Dal Lake lies immediately to the east and north of Srinagar
and stretches over 5-km. The lake is divided into Gagribal,
Lokut Dal and Bod Dal by a series of causeways
The main causeway across the lake carries the water pipeline
for Srinagar's main water supply. Dal gate, at the city end of
Dal Lake, controls the flow of the lake into the Jhelum river
canal. It's the steady flow of water through the lake,
combined with its relatively cold temperature, which keeps it
so clear looking.
NAGIN LAKE
Nagin is
generally held to be the most beautiful of the Dal lakes. Its
name comes from the many trees, which encircle the small, deep
blue lake. Nagin is only separated from the Larer Dal lakes by
a narrow causeway and it also has a number of houseboats
moored around its perimeter.
Nagin Lake, which is usually thought of as a separate lake, is
also divided from Dal Lake only by a causeway. The causeways
are mostly suitable for walkers and bicycles only so they make
a very pleasant way of seeing the lake without having to worry
about traffic or Shikaras.
A Nice Getaway
If one wats to really get away from the chaotic city life all
then Nagin is a good place to find a house boat and do it the
surroundings are much more serene and isolated than on Dal
Lake. One can rent rowboats from the camping site here -
either to simply row around the lake or to look around for a
houseboat.
MUGHAL
GARDENS
 Kashmir was a
favourite of the Mughal emperors who visited it as often as
they could. Cool and refreshing after the plains of North
India where the business of governance kept them, they planted
gardens with stepped terraces and flowing watercourses. When
they rested in their gardens, they dreamt they were in
paradise.
The next garden along the road that encircles the Dal is the
Nishat, built by empress Nur Jahan's brother Asaf Khan. The
largest of the gardens, Nishat has several terraces, a central
watercourse and a majestic site between the Dal and the
Zabarwan hills.
The third Mughal garden - the Shalimar - was planted by
Jehangir, the Mughal emperor, whose love for Kashmir was
legendary. Shaded by magnificent Chinar trees, the Shalimar is
a series of stone pavilions and flowing water with paint box
bright flowerbeds.
SHALIMAR
BAGH
The Shalimar were built
by Emperor Jehangir for his wife Nur Jahan, 'light of the
world' in 1616. Although it is known today as the 'garden of
love' it was originally named the Farah Bakhsh or 'delightful
garden'.
The garden is built in four terraces with traditional
water channel running down the middle. The gardens measure 540
by 183 metres. During the Mughal period the top terraces used
be reserved for the emperor and the ladies of the court and
was the most magnificent. It included a pavilion made of black
stone in the middle of the tank. Black Marble fluted pillars
supported the pavilion, which was used as a banquet hall.
Shalimar Bagh has an air of seclusion and repose, and its rows
of fountains and shaded trees seem to recede towards the
snowcapped mountains. A Son Et Lumeiere or sound and light
show is put on here every evening during the May to October
tourist season.
PARIMAHAL
The old Sufi college of
Pari Mahal, the 'palace of the fairies', is only a short
distance above the Chasma Shahi gardens. One can easily walk
from the gardens up to the Pari Mahal then follow a footpath
directly down the hill to the road that runs by the Oberoi
Palace Hotel. The Pari Mahal consists of a series of arched
terraces. Recently it has been turned into a very pleasant and
well-kept garden with fine views over Dal Lake. It's
attractively sited on a spur of the Zabarwan Mountains. The
gardens are beautifully kept even today and a Son Et Lumiere
show is put on here every evening during the May to October
tourist season.
NISHAT BAGH
The Nishat Bagh is another
lovely garden with its 12 terraces representing the 12 signs
of the zodiac, which descend gradually and seem to almost
merge into the lake. It is situated on the banks of world
famous Dal Lake in the backdrop of Zabarwan hills. With its
flowerbeds, trees, fountains, the Nishat presents a dramatic
sight. The gardens were designed in 1633 by Asaf Khan, brother
of Nur Jahan, and follow the same pattern as the Shalimar
gardens with a polished stone channel running down the centre
and a series of terraces.
It's the largest of the Mughal gardens measuring 548 metres by
338 metres, and often the most crowed. The walks beside the
channel are bordered with lines of cypresses and Chinars. Also
found within its vicinity are some remains of Mughal period
buildings including a double storey pavilion enclosed on two
sides latticed windows.
Directly behind the garden is the Gopi Tirth, a small spring
gushing forth crystal clear water, which feeds the garden
water.
CHASMA SHAHI
Cheshma Shahi is the first Mughal garden one will pass after
Nehru Park. Built at a height above the city, its views are as
stupendous as its layout. The smallest of Srinagar's Mughal
gardens, Cheshma Shahi has only three terraces in addition to
a natural spring of water enclosed in a stone pavilion.
Smallest of the Srinagar Mughal gardens, measuring just 108
metres by 38 metres, the Chasma Shahi, or 'Royal Spring', are
well up the hillside, above the Nehru Memorial Park. The fresh
water spring in these pleasant, quieter gardens is reputed to
have medicinal properties.
The gardens were laid out in 1632 by Ali Mardan Khan and
include three terraces, an aqueduct, waterfalls and fountains.
The water from the spring supplies the fountains and then goes
through the floor of the pavilion and falls to the lower
terrace in a fine cascade of five metres, over a polished
black stone chute.
Some extensions have recently been made to the gardens. Like
all the gardens the Chasma Shahi is open from sunrise to
sunset but unlike the other gardens this is the only one,
which charges admission. There is a small shrine, the Chasma
Sahibi, near the gardens, which also has a fresh water spring. |
