Jammu and Kashmir - Tourist Paradise

Set like a jewelled crown on the map of India, Kashmir is a multi-faceted diamond, changing its hues with the seasons - always extravagantly beautiful. Two major Himalayan ranges, the Great Himalayan Range and the Pir Panjal, surround the landscape from the north and south respectively. They are the source of great rivers, which flow down into the valleys, forested with orchards and decorated by lily-laden lakes.

The Mughals aptly called Kashmir ‘Paradise on Earth’ where they journeyed across the hot plains of India, to the valley’s cool environs in summer. Here they laid, with great love and care, Srinagar’s many formal, waterfront gardens, now collectively known as the Mughal Gardens. Anecdotes of four and five centuries ago describe their love for these gardens, and the rivalries that centred around their ownership. They also patronized the development of art & craft among the people of Kashmir, leaving behind a heritage of exquisite artisanship among thes people and making the handicrafts of the land prized gifts all over the world.

Kashmir is a land where myriad holiday ideas are realised. In winter, when snow carpets the mountains, there is skiing, tobogganing, sledge-riding, etc. along the gentle slopes. In spring and summer, the honey-dewed orchards, rippling lakes and blue skies beckon every soul to sample the many delights the mountains and valleys have to offer. Golfing at 2,700 m above the sea, water-skiing in the lakes and angling for prized rainbow trout, or simply drifting down the willow fringed alleys of lakes in shikaras and living in gorgeous houseboats are some of the most favoured ones.

Kashmir has four distinct seasons, each with its own peculiar character and distinctive charm. These are spring, summer, autumn and winter.

Spring, which extends roughly from March to early May, is when a million blossoms carpet the ground. The weather during this time can be gloriously pleasant at 23^oC or chilly and windy at 6^oC. This is the season when Srinagar experiences rains, but the showers are brief.

Summer extends from May until the end of August. Light woollens may be required to wear out of Srinagar. In higher altitudes night temperatures drop slightly. Srinagar at this time experiences day temperatures of between 25^oC and 35^oC. At this time, the whole valley is a mosaic of varying shades of green - rice fields, meadows, trees, etc. and Srinagar with its lakes and waterways is a heaven after the scorching heat of the Indian plains.

Through December, to the beginning of March is winter time, which presents Srinagar in yet another mood. Bare, snow-covered landscapes being watched from beside the warmth of a fire is a joy that cannot be described to anyone who has not experienced it. Some houseboats and hotels remain open in winter-these are either centrally heated or heated with ‘bukharis’, a typically Kashmiri stove kept alight with embers of wood, quite effective in the winter.

Srinagar is located in the heart of the Kashmir valley at an altitude of 1,730 m above sea level, spread on both sides of the river Jhelum. The Dal and Nagin lakes enhance its picturesque setting, while the changing play of the seasons and the salubrious climate ensures that the city is equally attractive to visitors around the year.

Kalhana, the author of 'Rajtarangini’, states that Srinagri was founded by Emperor Ashoka (3^rd Century BC). The present city of Srinagar was founded by Pravarasena-II, and Hiuen Tsang, who visited Kashmir in 631 AD, found it at the same site as it is today. Laltaditya Muktapida was the most illustrious ruler of Kashmir in the Hindu period, which ended in 1339 AD. King Zain-ul-Abidin (1420-70 AD), popularly known as ‘Budshah’, was a great patron of Sanskrit. Akbar captured Kashmir valley for the Mughals, who endowed Srinagar with beautiful mosques and gardens. The Sikhs overthrew the last Muslim ruler in the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1819. In 1846 the Dogras secured the sovereignty of Kashmir from the British under the Treaty of Amrjtsar, and in 1947 the state of Jammu and Kashmir with Srinagar as its capital, became part of the Indian Union.

Today Srinagar is a resort for the tourist who can experience, at first hand, the peculiar beauty of the valley that has attracted the Chinese, the Mughals and the British to it.

Its waterways with their own quaint lifestyle, the unique Houseboat, the blossoming gardens, water sports activities, shopping for lovingly hand-crafted souvenirs and the nearby resorts make it a cherished spot among those looking for a memorable holiday.

State Bank of India, Residency Road. Jammu & Kashmir Bank Ltd., Residency Road.Canara Bank, The Bund. Bank of Baroda, Residency Road.

Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Soura, Tel. 400348. SMHS Hospital, Karan Nagar, Tel. No.451312,452013 Children's Hospital, Hospital Road, Tel. No. 451317 Lal Ded Hospital, Srinagar, Tele No.477527/452017 Jhelum Valley Medical College ,Srinagar Tele.No.490137 Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Hospital, Rainawari Tele.No.452025. Bone & Joints Hospital, Barzulla Srinagar Tele.No. 430155.

A special police force called Tourist Police is posted at all important places frequented by tourists for providing assistance to tourists to prevent them from being cheated, harassed, etc. This force is headed by a Superintendent of Police, designated as Deputy Director Tourism (Enforcement) and is stationed in the Tourist Reception Centre.

For safeguarding the interests of tourists visiting the State, the J&K Government has enacted a special legislation called "J&K Registration of Tourist Trade Act" under which some officers of the Tourism Department have been vested with magisterial powers, including the power of compounding, in case of cheating, overcharging, harassment, pestering, touting, etc. faced by tourists. Tourists are urged to contact the nearest tourism officer or the Deputy Director Tourism (Enforcement), with complaints, if any, or for solving problems faced by them.

Tourist Police Station, Tourist Reception Centre, (Open 24 hrs).phone: 452690/91 extn.26

Foreigners' Regional Registration Office: Senior Superintendent of Police (CID), Special Branch, Residency (Shervani) Road. Open: 10 AM to 4 PM.

Srinagar has a large number of registered Travel Agencies and Tour Operators for providing the best possible holiday packages to the visitors to Kashmir and other parts of the State, but the more prominent ones are membes of the Travel Agents Society of Kashmir (TASK), the local association that strives to enforce professional ethics among its members. For a detailed listing of the members of TASK go to Travel Agencies and Tour Operators.

Rich and redolent with the flavour of the spices used –cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, saffron, etc. -- Kashmiri food can be the simple meal of a family, or a 36-course wedding banquet called Wazawan. The staple diet of every Kashmiri is rice, the most preferred being the dense, slightly sticky grained Kashmir variety, which is prized in the Valley.

Mutton, chicken or fish are of prime importance in Kashmiri meal and everyday cooking often combines vegetable and meat in the same dish. Mutton and turnips, chicken and spinach, fish and lotus root are also very popular combinations. Pure vegetarian dishes include dum-aloo - roasted potatoes in curd-based gravy, and chaman- fried paneer (cottage cheese), in a thick sauce. Non-vegetarian dishes are considered in Kashmir to be a sign of lavish hospitality and at a Wazwan or banquet, not more than one or two vegetarian dishes are served. Sweets do not play an important role in Kashmiri cuisine. Instead Kahva or green tea is used to wash down a meal.

Wazawan is usually served at weddings and parties. The most commonly served items are rista (meat balls) made of finely pounded mutton and cooked in a gravy; seekh kababs, tabak maz, or flat pieces of meat cut from the ribs and fried till they acquire a crisp crackling texture, roganjosh, which owes its rich red colour to the generous use of Kashmiri chillies. Yakhni, a cream coloured preparation of delicate flavour, is made with curd as a base. Gushtaba, which is the last item to be served in a traditional wazawan, are meatballs moulded from pounded mutton like large-sized Rista but cooked in thick gravy of fresh curd base. Dam-Aaloo and chaman are the commonly served vegetarian dishes - to serve more than this would indicate an unseemly tendency on the part of the host to economize!

Several restaurants in Srinagar serve Kashmiri wazawan on their menus. Mughal Durabar, Ahdoos and Grand, on the Residency Road, offer authentic wazawan. Similarly, Broadway Hotel on Maulana Azad Road arranges wazawan prepared by professionals.

Restaurants

All the better hotels in Srinagar have attached restaurants, generally serving Indian, Continental and Kashmiri cuisine. Other restaurants are mainly located on the Boulevard, Shervani (Residency) Road, Lambert Lane and Lal Chowk.

Mughal Durbar and Ahdoos on Shervani Road, Ruby in Lambert Lane and Juniper in Lal Chowk are well known for their Kashmiri cuisine. Solace and Tao Cafe on Shervani Road and Shamyana on the Boulevard are three known garden cafes. There are also several restaurants offering Chinese cuisines such as J&K TDC’s Nun-Kun Restaurant near Nehru Park, Alka Salka on Shervani Road and Lhasa on the Boulevard. Some restaurants, both attached to hotels and independent, cater to the large number of vegetarians who holiday in Kashmir. These are mainly located in the Dalgate Kohna Khan area and on the Boulevard. Amira Kadal and Dalgate have inexpensive eateries where you can get simple, well cooked meals.

There are a number of bakeries at Dalgate and Shervani Road. Some of them, in addition to patties and pastries, serve Kashmiri breads like 'sheermal' and 'baqerkhani', without which no Kashmiri breakfast is complete. Kashmiris use a variety of breads seldom seen elsewhere.

Tsot and tsochvoru are small round breads, topped with poppy and sesame seeds and traditionally washed down with salt tea. Lavas is a cream coloured unleavened bread; baqerkhani is the Kashmiri equivalent of rough puff pastry and kulcha is a melt-in-the mouth variety of short-bread, sweet or savoury, topped with poppy seeds.