Category Archives: Kashmir

Of Sacred Chants and Dragonflies

Published August 2, 2009 / by Jehangir

The mighty Mughal emperors laid out a series of exquisite gardens on the foothills of the Zabarvan Hills overlooking the Dal Lake. These include Cheshma Shahi, Nishat and Shalimar.

Other interesting sites include the Botanical Garden below Cheshma Shahi and Pari Mahal, an ancient Mughal observatory above it. Harwan is a garden on the banks of a reservoir fed by the Dagwan stream flowing through the Dachigam National Park.

A short walk up the hills from the Harwan gardens and reservoir leads to the ancient monuments where the Kushan emperor Kanishka held the Fourth Great Buddhist Council in the first century CE.


Schematic reconstruction of the apsidal stupa at Harwan

I am not an expert on Buddhism but I read somewhere that the Fourth Great Buddhist Council had great significance as it marked the advent of Mahayana Buddhism which is one of the two main branches of Buddhism, the other being Hinayana/Theravada Buddhism.

Mahayana or "Greater Vehicle" emerged as a more inclusive stream of Buddhism accessible to people from all walks of life – not just monks and ascetics as was the case with Hinayana or "Lesser Vehicle" which focused primarily on meditation and a monastic life. Mahayana is the primary form of Buddhism in North Asia and the Far East, including China, Japan, Korea, Tibet and Mongolia.

The vast commentary known as the Mahāvibhāṣā (“Great Exegesis”) is generally attributed to the council held in Kashmir.

One summer day as I was standing amongst the ruins of the Great Hall of the Council, I heard a long drawn out Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…

For the briefest of moments I imagined I was back in Ladakh with long-forgotten Buddhist chants ringing out as clear as crystal in my mind. Startled, I looked up and saw that the sound was being generated by the wing beats of a large dragonfly hovering above my head.

Indeed the setting has the wondrous stillness I have experienced at other Buddhist sites especially the Alchi Monastery in Ladakh. One has to marvel at the perfection of the spot chosen by the Kushan emperor. I would recommend experiencing in person the unparalleled vista of the Dal unfolding against the backdrop of the Zabarvan cliffs. No panoramic photographs can do it justice.

Harwan Buddhist Site

P.S My kids think this hill above the stupa should be called Elephant Hill.

I think it has something to do with watching the 'Ice Age' trilogy back to back!

Nice to see them use their imagination, though.

Dal Photoblog

Published July 12, 2009 / by Jehangir


A shikara waits to ferry tourists to the Houseboats across the lake.

This years tourist season has been badly affected by political violence in Kashmir.


The last rays of the sun light up a minaret against the backdrop of an ancient Mughal fort.

Unchecked construction within the boundaries of the lake threatens its survival.


An angler practices his art unmindful of the polluted waters.

Pollution in and around the lake has has grown to disastrous proportions despite millions being spent on various control projects.

A Clear Point of View

Published March 25, 2009 / by Jehangir

An excerpt from an article titled “No More Friday Afternoons in the Old City” published in the Viewpoint section of Greater Kashmir by Carin Jodha Fisher.

“The main sources of my own frustration, and I am sure of many others here, include many things besides the curbing of personal freedoms:

– smug bureaucrats who have the power to endlessly delay developmental or any projects, making us squirm while trying to push them along;

– friends who seem to lack truthfulness and commitment to an idea;

– acquaintances who appear to be one thing but turn out to be another;

– politicians who promise economic salvation in low level governmental jobs instead of encouraging people to take their fate into their own hands;

– the young who seek but cannot find hope in a future that they dont believe will be determined by themselves;

– divided local communities who fight each other instead of the various outside forces that are keeping them down;

– leaders of different ideological persuasions urging change with rebel rousing slogans while assuring that their own existence remains unchanged and protected;

– widows and orphans who attract media coverage but little other attention;

– timber smugglers who loot the forests in connivance with greedy government officials;

– authorities who lack the will to protect the precious resources of a place that could move towards economic self-sufficiency, instead of environmental disaster, if those resources were managed with greater transparency, sincerity and skill;

and last but not least,

– the sometimes seemingly empty pursuit of achieving nationhood in a nation that has yet to be built or else may one day become only a wasteland of the free.”