Sharadha Tirtha
Here are some facts about Sharada, the most famous and sacred of all the
Kashmiri pilgrimage centers:
1. The ancient temple of Sharada is located in Neelam (Kishanganga) valley
just beyond the line of control in Pakistan occupied Kashmir. The temple is
located in a small village called Shardi near the confluence of Kishanganga
and Madhumati rivers. As far as I can gather from my maps, its location
seems to be 74.2 E and 34.8 N. It is located northwest of the Wular lake
about 40 miles as the crow flies. Another way of getting an idea of its
location note that Kishanganga and Vitasta (Jhelum) meet in Muzzafarabad.
Shardi and Sopore are about the same distance from Muzzafarabad along two
different rivers.
2. It was important not only as a temple to Sharada in her triple form as
Sharada, Sarasvati, and Vagdevi, it was also a centre of Kashmirian
learning. The main pilgrimage used to be conducted on the 4th shudi of
Bhadrapada. Shradha used to be performed by the Madhumati.
3. The famous chronicler Al-Biruni (1130 AD) names Sharada, together with
Somnath, Multan, and Thaneshvar, as one of the most important temples of
Hindus in north India. In the 16th century, Abul Fazl, the author of Ain-
Akbari, similarly describes this as a temple dedicated to Durga which is
regarded with great veneration. He adds, "On every eighth tithi of the
bright half of the month it begins to shake and produces the most
extraordinary effect."
4. If you would like to read details about the temple see pages 279-290 in
the second volume of RAJATARANGINI translated by M.A. Stein, who visited the
temple in 1892. Stein has extensive notes regarding the temple and his own
description of it.
5. It is curious that during the fighting of 1948, the Indian army made no
attempt to control this region. I presume this was because the memory of the
Sharada temple was not very strong in the minds of the main actors in the
drama.
Remember the fame of Sharada was so great that the word became synonymous
with learning. Also remember that the native script for Kashmiri is a script
called Sharada. Some of you would remember the zataks written in it. Sharada
is somewhat similar to Devanagari but not identical.
PART II: THE SHARADHA SCRIPT
Here I summarize current knowledge on the Sharada script:
Sharada, like other Indian and southeast Asian scripts, is derived from
Brahmi which was in use in India at least as early as 500 BC if not earlier.
New theories suggest that Brahmi, in turn, evolved from the ancient Indus
(or Sarasvati) script that was in use in India in 2500 BC.
The earliest records in Sharada have been dated to about 800 AD. You find
them all over northwest India. Incidently, Gurumukhi, the script that was
designed by one of the Sikh gurus for Punjabi, used Sharada as its model.
The widespread usage of Sharada has been interpreted by scholars to mean
that Kashmiri Pandits in ancient times, as now, were fond of travelling
outside the valley. The script of the Dogras, called Takari, is also derived
from Sharada.
PART III: MORE ON THE SHARADA TEMPLE
This information is abridged from Stein's account:
The temple is approached from the lower slope of the hill in the west by an
imposing stone staircase, now half decayed, which leads up in 63 steps to
the main entrance of the quadrangular court enclosing the temple. The
staircase is about 10 feet wide and rises rather steeply in six flights
between two flanking walls of massive construction. The entrance to the
court is through a gateway with a double porch of Kashmiri design.
The court of the temple forms an oblong accurately oriented and enclosed by
a massive wall 6 feet thick. The north side of the enclosure measures 142
feet whereas the east side measures 94 feet and 6 inches. Thus the
quadrangle has proportion of 3:2. In the centre of the northern wall is a
small recess 3 feet 3 inches square inside which opens by a trefoil arched
door towards the interior of the court. This recess contained two ancient
lingas.
In the centre of the quadrangle is the temple raised on a basement of 24
feet square and 5 feet 3 inches high. The entrance to this inner temple is
from the west side and is approached by stairs five and a half feet wide
with flanking side walls. The interior of the inner temple is a square of 12
feet and 3 inches and it has no decoration of any kind. The only conspicous
object inside is a large slab which measures about 6 by 7 feet with a
thickness of about half a foot. This slab is believed to cover a kunda, or
spring, in which goddess Sharada appeared to the sage Shandilya. This kund
is the object of the special veneration of the pilgrims.
The main Sharada temple rises in a prominent and commanding position above
the right bank of the Madhumati on the terrace-like foot of a spur which
descends from a high pine-clad peak to the east. Immediately below this
terrace to the northwest is the spot where the waters of the Madhumati and
Kishanganga mingle. The view from the staircase to the outer temple is
magnificent. Not only can you see the valleys of Madhumati and the gorge of
Kishanganga but also a stream now called Sargan that falls into Kishanganga.
The location of the Sharada temple in the village of Shardi is beyond the
mountains, immediately surrounding the valley north northwest of Bandipur.
It is beyond Lolab valley and beyond Drang so reaching it must take a few
days. Although it is only about 35 miles or so from the northern reaches of
the Wular, the journey in ancient times must have been carried out entirely
on foot. I suppose now it should be possible to complete it rather quickly
starting from Bandipur.
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