Hari Parbat
Encyclopedia
is a hill overlooking Srinagar
Srinagar
Srinagar is the summer seasonal capital of Jammu and Kashmir. It is situated in Kashmir Valley and lies on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus. It is one of the largest cities in India not to have a Hindu majority. The city is famous for its gardens, lakes and houseboats...
, the largest city and summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir is the northernmost state of India. It is situated mostly in the Himalayan mountains. Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south and internationally with the People's Republic of China to the north and east and the...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It is the site of a Durrani
Durrani Empire
The Durrani Empire was a Pashtun dynasty centered in Afghanistan and included northeastern Iran, the Kashmir region, the modern state of Pakistan, and northwestern India. It was established at Kandahar in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani, an Afghan military commander under Nader Shah of Persia and chief...
fort, built in 1808. It has the famous Shakti Temple on the western Slope and Muslim shrines of Khwaja Makhdoom Sahib
Hamza Makhdum
Hamza Makhdum , also called Mehboob-Ul-Alam, and Sultan-Ul-Arifeen, and popularly known as "Makdoom Sahib", was a sage born to Baba Usman, of the Chandra-Vanshi Rajput family hailing from Kangra,...
and Akhund Mullah Shah
Mullah Shah Badakhshi
Mullah Shah Badakhshi, popularly known as "Mullah Shah" was a Muslim Sufi, spiritual successor of the famous Mian Mir. He belonged to the Qadiri order of Sufism. He was the spiritual mentor of the mughal prince Dara Shikoh Qadri. Dara Shikoh desired to be initiated into the Qadri order at the hands...
on the southern slope. On the southern side of the outer wall there is a Gurudwara, which commemorates the visit of Guru Hargobind
Guru Har Gobind
Guru Hargobind Sahib, also Saccha Badshah was the sixth of the Sikh gurus and became Guru on 25 May 1606 following in the footsteps of his father Guru Arjan Dev. He was not, perhaps, more than eleven at his father's execution...
.
History of the fort
The first fortifications on the site were constructed by the MughalMughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
emperor Akbar in 1590. He built an outer wall for the fort, and planned a new capital called Nager Nagor to be built within the wall. That project was never completed. The present fort was built in 1808 under the reign of Shuja Shah Durrani
Shuja Shah Durrani
Shuja Shah Durrani was ruler of the Durrani Empire from 1803 to 1809. He then ruled from 1839 until his death in 1842. Shuja Shah was of the Sadozai line of the Abdali group of Pashtuns...
.
Sharika Temple
Kashmiri Pandit
The Kashmiri Pandits are a Hindu Brahmin community originating from Kashmir, a mountainous region in South Asia.-Background:The Hindu caste system of the region was influenced by the influx of Buddhism from the time of Asoka, around the third century BCE, and a consequence of this was that the...
s due to the presence of temple of Sharika. Temple is of goddess Jagadamba Sharika Bhagwati. She has 18 arms and is regarded as the presiding deity (`isht`-Devi) of Srinagar city. The goddess is represented by a Swyambhu Shrichakra (Mahamaha Shrichakra), also called Mahashriyantra, which consists of circular mystic impressions and triangular patterns with a dot (bindu) at the center. Sharika Devi is believed to be a form of Durga Mata or Shakti.
Makhdoom Sahib
Hamza Makhdum
Hamza Makhdum , also called Mehboob-Ul-Alam, and Sultan-Ul-Arifeen, and popularly known as "Makdoom Sahib", was a sage born to Baba Usman, of the Chandra-Vanshi Rajput family hailing from Kangra,...
. Also known as Makhdoom Sahib, Mehboob-ul-Alam and Sultan-Ul-Arifeen. Shrine is towards the southern side of Hari Parbat Hill. It is one of the most sacred shrines in Kashmir. This double storied, many-pillared structure displays a remarkable architectural style. This shrine is visited not only by Muslims but by people of all faiths, throughout the year. Makhdoom Sahib, also called Hazrat Sultan, was a Sufi saint.
Gurdwara Chatti Patshahi
Legendary origin
According to legend, the Hari Parbat hill was once a huge lake inhabited by the demon Jalobhava. The inhabitants called on the goddess ParvatiParvati
Parvati is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is Shakti, the wife of Shiva and the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess...
for help. She took the form of a bird and dropped a pebble on the demon's head, which grew larger and larger until it crushed the demon. Hari Parbat is revered as that pebble, and is said to have become the home for all the gods of the Hindu pantheon.
Another version of the myth says that two demons, Tsand and Mond, occupied the fair valley. Tsand hid in the water near the present location of Hari Parbat and Mond somewhere above the present Dal Gate, and both terrorized the people of the valley. The gods invoked Parvati who assumed the form of a Haer (myna
Myna
The myna is a bird of the starling family . This is a group of passerine birds which occur naturally only in southern and eastern Asia...
) and flew to Sumer, picked up a pebble in her beak, and threw it on the demon Tsand to crush him. The pebble grew into a mountain. Parvati is worshipped as Sharika in Shri Tsakra (an emblem of cosmic energy pervading the universe) occupying the middle part of the western slope of the hill. The hill is also called Predemna Peet.
On the birthday of Sharika Bhagwati, the devotees make a sacrificial offering of `Taher-charvan' (Taher - rice boiled with turmeric powder and mixed with oil and salt; Tcharvan - cooked liver of goat) to the goddess. This day is celebrated as Har Navum.
Muslim Mosques and Fort
Many mosques were built by Muslims in the Hari Parbat area since the time of the AfghanDemographics of Afghanistan
The population of Afghanistan is around 29,835,392 as of the year 2011, which is unclear if the refugees living outside the country are included or not. The nation is composed of a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual society, reflecting its location astride historic trade and invasion routes between...
Ghaznavids
Ghaznavid Empire
The Ghaznavids were a Persianate Muslim dynasty of Turkic slave origin which existed from 975 to 1187 and ruled much of Persia, Transoxania, and the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent. The Ghaznavid state was centered in Ghazni, a city in modern-day Afghanistan...
and Afghan Ghurids
Ghurids
The Ghurids or Ghorids were a medieval Muslim dynasty of Iranian origin that ruled during the 12th and 13th centuries in Khorasan. At its zenith, their empire, centred at Ghōr , stretched over an area that included the whole of modern Afghanistan, the eastern parts of Iran and the northern section...
. The present fort, called Hari Parbat Fort, was built by the Durrani Afghan rulers of Kashmir in 1808.