SRINAGAR CITY GUIDE

SRINAGAR CITY GUIDE

Srinagar is known as the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir in India and is located on the river bank of the river Jhelum and is shares its location by five districts of the state. Kargil and Ganderbal are located on the northern part of Srinagar and Pulwama in the south of the city and on its north western side it is Budgam. Srinagar is 1585 meters above the sea level and is recognised as the Switzerland of the east with Tulips blooming during the spring time and it known for its botanical gardens, water bodies like the lakes in the city and the famous house boat and the shikara which is a very famous mode of transport for the visitors across the lake and is the vital means of transport and communication for the local people and inhabitants of Kashmir in Srinagar. Srinagar is identified for its conventional Kashmiri handiworks and edible dried fruits available widely across the city in abundance and of the best of the quality is grown as cultivation out in Srinagar. Srinagar means the city of well-being and truly it is one in regard to the number of tourist it draws annually. Srinagar thrives on the tourism department because the occasional unrest in the city causes many a trip of the visors to be cancelled or delayed. Past two years it has been experiencing flash floods and avalanche during the onset of summer which is causing heavy loss of life and property thought the Government is doing its best in evacuating places under greater threat but still the risk to life and property persists.

Srinagar is said to be founded by King Pravarasena II around two thousand years back and then Srinagar was known as Pravasenpur and was ruled by the Mauryan Empire then as it had the largest kingdom of the Indian sub zone. Kashmir became the epicentre of Buddhism since it was introduced by Buddha first to this valley of flowers. After the independence of India from the British regions in and around Poonch was made to be administered under the defence since it saw the mutiny of the Pashtun tribe. Kashmir is the hub of all the political unrest happening in India and flash mob and protests are very commonly seen at various outskirts of the region. The city of Srinagar was a violent protest against those who are not Muslims and resulted into mass massacre and the Kashmiri Pundits were put behind the atrocities of such violent activists and this all started with the mid 1980s and they burnt down houses and burnt posters but a chunk of Pundits stay here at Kashmir just because of the glorious past and the valley of flowers. The locals are fighting for a safe living which is their right and are striving to normalise the situation of Srinagar and Kashmir at large.

 The city runs parallel to the Dal Lake and Srinagar is famous for the nine bridges that connects the city and also divides it into two halves. Hokersar is a marshland which is located near Srinagar and is spread over 13.75 kilometres of the marshy wetland stretch   and millions of migratory bird arrive here during the winter months from Siberia and stay here till the spring season arrives. Hokersar is on the northern part of Srinagar and includes Hygam, Shalibug and Mirgund as the other quagmire of the city.

According to the census of 2011 the population of Srinagar is 12.19,516 and has a literacy rate of approximately just 71% because mostly the girls are not allowed to get themselves educated because of various religious sentiments. Srinagar has a majority of Muslim population and Hindus stands second in the religious group in Srinagar accounting for just over 1% to be amongst the other religious population are the Jains, Sikhs and the Buddhist.

Sufi music is the folk song of  Jammu and Kashmir and dates back to Iran during the 15^th century which was then established as a religious way of singing songs to attain peace and reach out to the almighty. Down the line Sufi music has evolved and has got its way into the lives of the non-Muslim people as well for the soulful rhythm it has with getting an introduction into the main stream music as a classical nature and also to be introduced into many contemporary music. Only a few handful of Kashmiris know the real indigenous Sufi music and the way to sing it aloud and not the concoction of the todays Sufi songs. It has been recognised itself as other classical music and has also developed ragas just like the Indian classical music.

Srinagar has a tropical climate which is humid in nature and has extremely cold winters since its elevation from the rest of the country. The Himalayas surround the valley and hence there is a Himalayan influence making the winters cool with temperatures going down to freeing point at night. Moderate to very heavy snowfall during the winters and hence such a situation often leads to the total cut-off from the rest of the country even with its neighbouring states because snowfall blocks the only road that reaches up to Srinagar. Army gets into the service of clearing the roads and takes time to rehabilitate the valley once again. Summers are warm with a day temperature of around 24 degrees Celsius while the autumn is the driest season of all the months in Srinagar. During the winter the entire stretch of Dal lake freezes and happens to be a thick frozen land suitable for ice skating. The highest temperature during the summers has been recorded at 38 degrees while during the winters it can be a sharp low of temperature gone below the freeing point of minus 20 degrees Celsius.

The best and major tourist attraction about Srinagar is the Cable car mode of transport which is hardly there in our country besides the roads, rail and airlines. The cable car mode is a new project which has been laid down with a vision and is administered by the Jammu and Kashmir Cable Car Corporations and yet another second project has been sanctioned already with a major investment of INR 30 crore which would be with the state of art facilities and would be the second in its nature after the Gulmarg Gondola also known as the shikara.