MY VISIT TO SHAHDRA SHARIEF DARGHA AT RAJOURI.

Though I am a Hindu by religion  but I believe that all religion speaks the same language of brotherhood  and a supreme  power, which ever name we call Him by.....it was my 2nd such visit to a mosque....early been to a mosque at aurangabad  but this time I was though bit sceptic at heart ones but felt that definitely there is some power which brought us for a night halt at Rajouri on our way to Mughal road in Bafliaz  sector , onward to Shopian in kashmir valley. Last time we went to mughal road,we bypassed Thanamandi  (shahdra sharief )and surprisingly we were back again here. 
INTRODUCTION :
   Shahdara sharief  is a revered shrine of Baba Ghulam  Shah Badshah  at Thanamandi in Rajouri  dist.of j&k.  Built in the 19th century, standing on top a hill at Thanamandi, is visited by people of all religion. It is believed equally sacred , which communicate  a message of peace and harmony amongst people of j&k. It is 177 kms from jammu city.

HISTORY:
   Acc.to historical sources, in 1820 AD  Maharaja Ranjit  Singh of punjab sent his army general Gulab  Singh  to defeat an adversary. Out of 150  companies of troops  taken on this expedition  only 25  soldiers  could stay with him.At last he camped at Thanamandi  and went to call on a local recluse  who was a wise and pious man. When Gulab Singh  approached him,he smiled mysteriously.  He said , when asked about his smile that, climb atop this hill and cast a glance around and whatever countries u see, ur prosperity will some day spread it's wings of sway over these places.
Later the saint's prophesy  became true and Gulab Singh became the maharaja  of j&k. He later visited shahdra  to express his gratitude  but the saint was not alive. Gulab Singh built this shrine dedicated to the saint to pay homage. It is highly inspiring to learn  that a Muslim shrine built by a Hindu founder if j&k. 
Today thousands of devotees of all faith visit the shrine everyday in deep faith and devotion. And it is strongly believed by multitude of Baba's  devotees that their cherished desires are invariably fulfilled.

My experience at the shrine :
   The shrine is some 7kms  off the main road at Thanamandi. ....its very beautifully located...the drive across is just a pleasure and road across is very well maintained. ..might be often encounter  security personals on the way.As we entered the premises of the complex , our eyes caught the attention of the beautiful garden and lovely varieties of roses , making our climbing the stairs up to the top a more leisureful. Photography is not allowed in the main building...very peaceful atmosphere. ...after our prayers at the dargha, it was our time to head for our journey to Mughal road in poonch  district  just a great feeling in heart to be here at the shrine...hope all our wishes be fulfilled. 

NOTE: 
There are free accommodation, food provided by the shrine management. ...Though not ,many hotels available at Thanamandi, either stay at Rajouri city orelse a good budget  hotel "Hotel Hill view "were we stayed a night was good enough.

MY VISIT TO MATA KHEER BHAWANI SHRINE , GANDERBAL (j&k)

The worship of Mata kheer Bhawani is universal amongst the Hindus of Kashmir. The temple is situated 14 miles east of Srinagar near village Tul Mul.The temple is constructed over a sacred spring.The term KHEER refers to rice pudding that is offered in the spring to propitiate the goddess.....Maharaja Pratap Singh, got the temple constructed in 1912.Goddess Ragnya Devi is known as Kheer Bhawani ,was soulfully worshipped by Ravana but his deeds angered Mata and she ordered Hanuman to shift her to Sitathal , where the temple stands....The 8th day of the full moon in May , holds great significance for the devotees of mata Kheer bhawani. They fast on this particular day and gather at the temple in huge nos. It is believed that the colour of the water of the spring changes on that day. the Kheer Bhawani temple serves as the venue for annual festival held in May-June on the occasion of Jesht Ashtami. And also on Shukhla Paksh ashtami havan are performed to please the Goddess.

MY STORY :
                           Me & My husband was returning back to Srinagar from our trip to Kargil & Batalic sector of J&K.....I wanted to visit Manasbal lake & Wuller lake on our way back. But the question from the beginning was that "ONLY IF WE COULD CROSS THE ZOJILA PASS ON TIME"....... Its always , a problematic moment if crossing Zojila pass as no one can predict how long it might take to cross & reach Sonmarg....... But luckily we were in time to Sonmarg & then planned to go across to Ganderbal area & see the Manasbal lake & later Wuller lake.....
    Its quite a distance by the time we reached the lakeside, but couldnt stand too long as it was too hot & humid & had to return back . Our driver , who was with us althru this 2 days journey insisted us to visit Mata Kheer Bhawani shrine some 7 kms off the main highway ,inside a village( very reluctantly, we agreed) ....as we were not sure where he was driving us too ......& Ganderbal region is alway in news for wrong reasons so we were bit uncomfortable with that idea. Anyways, after reaching the site , there's lot of checking & then had to walk a km inside the premise to reach the main gate of the shrine.... leather itemsnot allowed inside, we felt really good ....... the cool shade of the Chinar trees really created a beautiful atmosphere..... Both Shiva & Mata parvati is prayed together. The complex is really very well maintained.....Not much pull & push , unlike other Hindu temples , we prayed for a while before we left... Saw people taking a dip at the freezing cold water site of the spring that flowed across.....
 Should recommend everyone coming to Srinagar to visit the shrine.

BREATHETAKING JOURNEY TO BANI .

BANI is an offbeat tourist lo

cation situated in kathua district of jammu and kashmir.At 4200ft,located in the lap of lofty mountains, good climate and immense natural resources, Bani is 88kms from Basohli town and linked by road only.it is also the base camp of trekkers who go to different  routes to Bhaderwah,  Machhedi  etc.
THE ROUTE :(From Jammu to Bani)--- JAMMU -LAKHANPUR -MAHANPUR - BASOHLI -BANJAL -BHOOND -KAHAROD -BANI -CHANDEL -SARTHAL  TO BHADERWAH. 
Total distance is 250 kms approx from jammu to  bani and took us almost 8 hrs  drive one way as the road from Basohli  to Bani is very difficult  mountain  route.

It was Saturday morning  of Eid 2015 that I and my husband  thought to take on the drive to Basohli  and Bani...Earlier we did Billawar  also in kathua district of j&k. After a long while we got 2 consecutive  days of holidays  so wanted to have a nice break, hardly aware that it will be such a long journey, full of adventure  and heart crushing  thrill. We started around 8am and drove straight  to lakhanpur which is almost 90kms  drive via NH1A  and after crossing  over the j&k border toll plaza took a diversion  towards Mahanpur by the Thein Dam...it was another 40kms or so drive thru some bad patches often  ......but Mahanpur really brings joy with its first glance....THE HUGE RANJIT SAGAR LAKE and The Thein Dam just make everyone stop for a while and pose a photo shot with it at its backdrop. ..

Now it was some 66 kms (approx ) drive to Basohli. ....just was enjoying the drive up and down the high mountain road following the Ranjit Sagar lake. ...The lake is so so huge that as we drove ahead ,I could see it from various angles from top of the mountains. ..jungles of fig trees ,  dates kept on coming and going but hardly we could find any tress of settlements on the way .....

Atlast we reached Basohli,  it was almost 1.30pm  and my husband  insisted  me to have lunch there itself.  It's a small town, famous for its miniature  paintings  , but those caves thar had those paintings seems to be drowned  into the lake waters after the dams where built on it.
  Now another 88kms left for Bani.... but as we left Basohli,  the landscape  changed totally....now it felt that we r really on the Himalayan  track. ...just beautiful, I can see ..not much of traffic, simply we two ...unknown  road , high mountains,  chill in the air during  such hot and humid climate of July in jammu. ...just so romantic,  I said to myself.....We hardly remembered , how long we were driving by then ... its BANJAL,  THE GARDEN OF NATURAL FLOWERS "...... so beautiful,  colourful  mountain slope with flowers growing as wild..then the Glacier bed, which was really difficult  to drive thru , though there was no ice but the leftover rocks and gravels. ... bur we were just too excited to see it as we drove towards BHOOND. 

 Now we were heading towards BHOOND  AND KAHAROD. .,hardly aware that we will be experiencing  more and more beauty...oh , those clouds,  I just was amazed  covering our way ahead  ...Driving thru the clouds  , almost zero visibility. ..just so so exciting. but surely my husband on the steering wheel was just becoming to worried about the drive ahead. ..but I was on top of the world  .....felt as if lost  in the high mountains,  not aware where we were heading too .....just the thrill of an adventurous drive. ....the road was good upto few kms and then couldn't understand  whether it's a road or a trek route. ...now had to be very conscious  as even a wink of an eye,  one will be down into the gorge below. ...hardly anyone around and silence really  was making us both bit scared...
 The pics on the top of my writeup will speak for itself..... at Kaharod  , we entered the rain forest zone ,  just made me recall my journey  in Arunachal  pradesh  (Tawang trip )....just lively but slowly it was getting  dark and we were getting  worried about  reaching Bani. ..was not aware of its proper distance  as hardly I could find much info on this place on the Internet.  Slowly, even my husband was getting  restless after driving for so long  .....oh ,  that's the NHPC PROJECT  dam at Bani, I told him as my camera lens picked it's first glance ,  so we aren't  far off ... then it was another 6/7kms drive to Bani valley which was situated amidst nature,thick forest,waterfalls and meadows..... we had to halt the night at  the Forest ranger guest house at Bani town ..... at last a long journey  of 250kms,  came to a halt at almost 5.30pm. ...with a cup of tea , we stood by Sewa river and keep enjoying  a lovely evening amidst  dense jungle, chill in the air and the smell of the chir  and the pine trees....so peaceful  away from the hussel bussels of our everyday lives. ....the bells at the famous Shitala mata shrine echoing  across.....just loved it all.

OUR FIRST VISIT TO THE APPLE TOWN OF SHOPIAN .

Shopian in Kashmir Valley is well known as the APPLE TOWN. Its alway in the news for all wrong reasons, so alway we skipped this place, as we travelled across extensively in J&K....might be some sort of fear in heart. Last saturday , we just planned for a drive on the Mughal road , at Poonch district.... though , we loved that drive last time we took it from Bafliaz to Peer Ki gali , total 44kms dream drive across the Ratan panjal range...... but this time we thought to extend our drive from Peer ki gali onto Shopian town in Kashmir Valley.
     As one takes on the drive from Peer ki gali , there's lots of checking before one crosses over..... Its Now DUBJAN......................... Oh, God..... what a creation of Almighty, we were awestruck by the beauty of nature. As we drove , we got to see Aliabad Sarai, a historical sight built during Mughal period..... Dubjan is truely mesmerizing..... one gets to see another Sarai ,offcourse in ruins called Sukh Sarai........................

It was truely amazing as we drove off to HEERPORA,which was more a valley from where the Apple Orchards starts................ I was very eagerly waiting to see my favourite PINK LADY Apple trees, untill we stopped a while to have a peep into those acres of Apple orchards spread across on both side of the roads. though , its still 2 more months to ripe but we were all very excited to pose with those apple trees..................... Now we wanted to drive further into SHOPIAN town to see the way of life of those people,...................... It felt ,a different landscape as we drove,the people there have a totally different way of dressing both men & women , got lovely houses with big farms of Apple & Cherries.... I chanced to speak to a localite there, they r really good..... he was so pleased to speak to me ,that he shared his lunch ie garden fresh cherries from his own farm , a km inside the village................. I really got so impressed by the persons behaviour. I really loved their simplicity besides their beautiful town ......Don't know , whether i will again get a chance to be there or not but today , I am not scared of the place anymore.... I think , media alway portray the wrong image instead of highlighting the good and diverse culture all across.

DAL LAKE AT SUNRISE.

Thousands of tourists visits the kashmir valley every year and a walk by the Dal lake is always on everyone' s itenary,which every season one happens to visit. Dal lake in Srinagar ,had always fascinated me... i had the oppertunity to frame it on my lens from various angles ,in autumn season, freezing winter season but for the first time,i framed it in summer season this june....Basically , we were to drive to kargil the next day, and a bandh atmosphere was on in the valley, which is really boring to be confined within the 4 walls of the hotel room..... Both , me & my husband are early riser, just as we woke up on 18th june 2015, we quickly got ready to move to the Dal lake...... Got an auto and off we go , I was very happy to film the Dal lake at sun rise.......As we drove, the road looked deserted, hardly any vehicle, anyone walking by as we passed Lal chowk....very scarry atmosphere. Anyways, if one fear, while in Valley, they cannot see anything....& i believe in this very much .....My stay ,in J&K for last 3 yrs have made me more comfortable in such atmosphere....
    We reached the Dal gate and thought to walk upto the Boulevard road end.....but the auto driver insisted us to get don at gate 3/4 instead & walk and he'll wait for us to get back to our hotel. Though, Army men were asusual around, but it was so freshening to walk by the Dal lake..... Earlier , we alway stayed in House boats , but this time preferred to stay in  hotel instead.
    The morning sun, just dazzled the clear waters of the Dal lake, the shikaras floating around, the boatmen busy throwing their nets, ............and above all the pollution free air, just a peaceful atmosphere..... No hussle bussle of traffic, shops all closed, few joggers during their running & few exercising in small parks by the Dal .... very pleasant  sight.... We just loved it as we kept walking in the morning sun.... on the way, often I stopped a while to capture various frames that caught my sight........................ Loved it all ; hardly ,in our busy daily life we get such oppertunity to have such moments together at so much peace of mind........ Just trying to share some of my frames of the Dal lake that morning........

HARAPPAN SITE AT AMBARAN -AKHNOOR.

Ambaran is famous for its historic site of  Harappan  remains. The location is some 30 kms drive off from Jammu city  by the river chenab at Akhnoor.  I had been to the place several times before  too and so lucky enough to see the site before the completion of the restoration  of the site work and after too. I feel ,people coming to jammu should try to come and see the site besides enjoying the chilling waters of chenab at the ghats, the famous Gurdwara at akhnoor and pasasuram temple. 
Trying to canvas a little history thru my lens as the site looked yesterday and today. 

MATA VAISHNODEVI -CALLING !!!!!

It might sound like some story telling ,but that 's how I felt about the whole episode as it unfolded. ....it had been 2 yrs that we had been living in jammu city...had made several visits to Kol  kandoli  mat's shrine at Nagrota  and various other religious places around the jammu region but couldnot , as such made it to vaishnodevi shrine at katra.Though , I did  visit mata 's shrine in 2010 , when I came from mumbai.last 10 months , I just kept telling my husband that I felt as if Ma vaishnodevi  keeps calling me to come to her place and pay my respect. ....but my husband  kept ignoring  my words....It was last Dec 2014 when I got  my leg fractured at gulmarg  ski field and still couldnot fully recovered. It was 14th April 2015,  I woke to Her call early in the morning and asked  my husband to drive me to kol kandoli  mata vaishnodevi shrine at Nagrota, which is considered as the first stop to Mata vaishnodevi darshan at katra. Since it was very early morning,  I had a great darshan , sat a while under the amar  ajar  banyan  tree there for a while and felt so  at peace in heart. I was then very sure that I will be surely making it to katra too but was very sceptic  at heart whether surely I could walk the way to mata vaishnodevi shrine on top of Trikut range  at katra but had faith that Ma will make my way to her place.
After a day or 2,it happened to be Sunday and a day prior  just planned to make it to katra.Since now it has become bit difficult to get helicopter tickets  ...we had to drive down to katra town bit early in the morning. Thereafter someone known arranged us our VVIP  helicopter ticket to sanjhachat  helipad. My husband was not sure that I will be able to walk even that 6kms + some 600 steps with this fractured leg. ...but it was sheer determination and strong faith that I started to walk my way. Though it was very hot , miraculously, it got a cloud  cover as we walked our way without food and water.i was determined to have mata 's  prasad  as my first food of the day. ...taking Her name I walked....never realised  when I reached the shrine....I got chunni for ma to be brought back home as her blessing and prasad from counters there.....Had a Holy Darshan  at the shrine. My heart  cried to her , to relieved me from all my pains. .....AMEN!!!!
After darshan,  we sat for a while along with millions of other devotees. ..and now we had to start back. ...all of a sudden it started to rain horribly with strong wind and my husband said to me "God knows if the helicopter service  stops,then u have to walk down 13.5kms  with this fractured leg "....but I just had faith that it was Ma's wish that I was there and if she wants me to walk the whole way  ,then she will give me strength  to do so.Rain was lashing badly as we walked and unknowingly  I just told my husband that 1kms ahead of sanjhachat helipad, where on there's  no shade, I believe  the rains will stop..."and it's  like magic. ...we reached the spot and sun shown up and both of us laughed at each other. ...just miracle; after reaching the helipad , within mins the helicopter service started and we were back to katra after a 7 mins  flight. .....and later drove back home....still I am amazed,how I didnot  feel the pains , leg ache. ..and such I still can't walk more than 500 mts but how could that impossible was made possible  ....its only  ALMIGHTY can have its answer..... 
Ma I tried to see u with all the difficulties  in my life...please give me strength to fight all odds and hurdles of life  and may u keep showering ur blessings alway.....Amen! !!