Sharada Tirtha – A forgotten bit of Kashmir
I first heard about “Sharada Tirtha” (Sharada Temple) when I stumbled on these photographs on the net. A search led me to Varnam’s post from which I learnt that while “Sharada Peeth” was as important as Somnath, Multan and Thaneshvar in olden times, it does not find any mention in History books (nor does it find any mention in the Wikipedia list of Hindu Temples in Pakistan) .
Curious to find more, I ended up on this site which noted:
Kashmir contains the famous Sharda Temple where Sankara ascended the Sarvajna Pitha(the throne of the omniscience).It is about 100 kilometres from Srinagar, the entire route being studded with paddy fields, small villages and orchards. The whole plain is lovely with beautiful lakes and mighty masses of rock.
After crossing the plains a high range of mountains has to be trekked through a difficult stretch with treacherous slopes, sheets of snow at the foot and forests down the slopes. Kishanganga, a tributary of the Jhelum, is the last to cross before reaching Sharda Temple.
Sri Sharda Temple is situated at a height of about 3400 metres. Surrounded by snow-capped mountains and dense forests, inhabited by wild beasts, the temple inspires travellers with a feeling of awe and strangeness. Far from the ignoble strife of the madding crowds, the spot is pecularly divine with supreme peace. To fulfil this aim in life, Sankara travelled all over Bharata and visited Sharda Temple in Kashmir. There he vanquished many learned disputants and seated himself triumphantly on the throne of the omniscience. This part of kashmir was a flourishing stretch of land, housing scholars and pandits of high Vedic learning.
The seat of learning is symbolic and not one of materialistic grandeur. It is seen as a kind of stone slab, held sacred. All that you can now see inside the temple are a seat , round and smooth, hewn out of rock, a Sri Chakra and a few other figures.
So how is it that we hardly know anything about the temple? Your guess is as good as mine…
But there appear to be some efforts underway to revive the shrine (news report dt. Feb ’08):
Jagadguru Shankaracharya of Sharda Sarvagyapeeth, Swami Amritananda Dev Teerth, plans to revive the Shankaracharya parampara in Shardapeeth, which is located in PoK.
To attain this goal, he plans to restart the fair (mela) of Sharda Ashtami in Shardapeeth, which begins on the Bhadrapada Shukla Chaturthi and goes on for five days till Sharda Ashtami with the consent of the authorities concerned. The old record says that it was celebrated there in Kashmir—now PoK—till 1949.
And efforts by Kashmiri Pandits to get permission from government of Pakistan to visit the shrine have been continuing…which is ironic, considering that Sharada Tirth is in “occupied” territory.
I wish the Shankaracharya and the Pandits luck but I am not optimistic.
In the meantime, I worry about the present condition of the shrine. It is in a region that is not easily accessible…and the (Pakistan) government’s record of maintaining Hindu temples in Pakistan has been mixed.
I live in the fond hope though that someday I might be able to visit the shrine.
P.S. As an aside the Organiser interview mentions that upto 10 Lakh families that earlier belonged to PoK, continue to be stateless subjects (citizens?) in India. Does anyone have more information on this?
Shantanu, good one. Just to add to this, Adi Shankaracharya is unquestionably the one great saint India had seen just before the arab rise. During his time, there was mass conversion into Jainism and Buddhism too. During some general discussion with friends and family, I learnt from some elders that Shankaracharya saw the islamic invasions coming. To beat this, he wanted to establish spiritual centers of learning and debate in four corners of the country. It is said that Sharada Peeth in Pakistan, Haridwar, Sringeri and Kanchi.
In my later search on internet, I also learnt that infact, Sri Adi Shankara built various temples and peethas called Dashanami, most of them across the coast line. The west coast line on arabian sea today is filled with temples if you have a look at the map. He saw it coming and that was why he built these with the help of his disciples. Most of his establishments stand very near to the border of the country. If chanakya used politics to unite India, Shankara used spiritualism to unite India.
It is our pathetic situation that some of the peethas are disputed. Some so-called scholars and historians claim that some of the Dashanami peethas and mathas are not acutally built by Sri Adi Shankara or his disciples but were Budhist monastaries occupied by Hindu Kings and made into Peethas. The very seat of Advaitha thought – Kanchi peetham is also considered a disputed site by learned men of great Independent India. Pity!
Vivek: Thanks for the comment…I was not aware of the controversy around Kanchi Peetham…Pity indeed.
@ vivek’s mention of kanchi peetam
the history that we have been told is that adi shankara started four peetams in the four directions. what vivek has missed is the Puri peetam.
again there is a oral tradition that adi shankara finally settled at kanchi which survives as the kanchi peetam which unfortunately has no significant evidence except personal belief of millions of devotees (including myself).
what adds fuel to this dispute is the fact that the kanchi mutt operated from kumbakonam in the recent past till the famous pontiff H.H Chandrasekhara saraswathi moved the mutt back to kanchi.
it is also pertinent to note that the same pontiff shifted outside tamilnadu in the seventies and early eighties unable to continue in tamilnadu. it is only on the request of the then CM of tamilnadu – MGR – that he returned to tamilnadu.
Mathas established by Adi Sankara.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adi_Shankara
विदà¥à¤¯à¤¾à¤¶à¤‚कर मंदिर (Vidyashankara temple) at Sringeri Sharada Peetham, SringeriAdi Shankara founded four Maá¹has (Sanskrit: मठ) to guide the Hindu religion. These are at
Sringeri in Karnataka in the south,
Dwaraka in Gujarat in the west,
Puri in Orissa in the east, and
Jyotirmath (Joshimath) in Uttarakhand in the north.
Hindu tradition states that he put in charge of these mathas his four main disciples: Sureshwaracharya, Hastamalakacharya, Padmapadacharya, and Totakacharya respectively. The heads of the mathas trace their authority back to these figures. Each of the heads of these four mathas takes the title of Shankaracharya (“the learned Shankara”) after the first Shankaracharya. The table below gives an overview of the four Amnaya Mathas founded by Adi Shankara and their details.[29]
Åšishya Maá¹ha MahÄvÄkya Veda Sampradaya
HastÄmalakÄcÄrya Govardhana PÄ«á¹haṃ PrajñÄnam brahma (Brahman is Knowledge) Rig Veda Bhogavala
SureÅ›varÄcÄrya ÅšÄrada PÄ«á¹haṃ Aham brahmÄsmi (I am Brahman) Yajur Veda BhÅ«rivala
PadmapÄdÄcÄrya DvÄraka PÄ«á¹haṃ Tattvamasi (That thou art) Sama Veda Kitavala
Toá¹akÄcÄrya Jyotirmaá¹ha PÄ«á¹haṃ AyamÄtmÄ brahma (This Atman is Brahman) Atharva Veda Nandavala
Please see the table in Wiki as cited above.
the most authentic biography of Adi Sankara is by Vidyaranya , a Sankaracharyya of Sringeri . This is published by Ramakrishna Mission.
S Radhakrishnan former president of India and Prof of Religion Oxford University , also has written on Adi Sankara.
The Sharda Peeth, to be more correct a Vidyapeeth, referred here in the post is the great university Sharda university in Kashmir , which was a great seat of learning. There was a temple dedicated to Sharda in this University.
The Sringeri mutt is Shardha peetham.
How we treat our own Kashmiris.I used to send $12 us to Kumari Panna Sharma who resided in a camp in Jammu,having left-chased out-of Kashmir in the great exodus of Hindus.Now the Swat valley pays the price.
Panna was studying Dance. Where is she now? and her sister,brother,mother andfather who had a heart-attack.’
panna is my living Sharada’
I wish to change the world but it moves so slow!
@Sridhar,
Ironic isnt it. The Dravida Movement Bufoons need Kanchi Peetham to stay in TN because they know that most of the brahmins in TN have unwavering faith in Kanchi Muttam. These bufoons need such faith so that they can keep showing fingers at seers and make people buy their Dravidian theory and vote in their favour. The day TN shuns its identity as the seat of Advaitha Philosophy, it would become a rogue state waiting to be wiped out of existence. Andhra is moving in a similar direction. Y Samuels Rajasekhara Reddy faces the worst drought in the past decade whilst Karnataka is has had good rains in recent few weeks.
Vedic Yagna and Yaga is the quintessential thing that should be practised on this land. Once we moved away from it, we started suffering!
Try and pray for regain our united INDIA.
Adding this here for the record: Balochistan’s Hinglaj Mata Temple By Muhammad Akbar Notezai..
A brief excerot:
Today’s update is about an amazing, little-known ancient temple, deep in Balochistan..which has a special place in our history..
“…The Hinglaj Mata Temple is situated in a desolated and hilly area of Balochistan’s Lasbela District.
…The area of Hinglaj Mata Temple is located in the rugged mountains, and its journey is extremely tiring.
The pilgrimage of Hinglaj Mata Temple is also famous among the local Muslims, particularly the Zikri Balochs (predominantly an ethnic Baloch group). They call it “Nani Ki Haj.â€
There are water kunds (pits) in proximity to Hinglaj Shrine; these are: Til Kund, Kheer Kund or Briham Kund, Khali kund and Maha Kali kund at up to the stream of the river Hingol, going downwards to the Hinglaj Mata and kali Mata kunds.
…
There are also worship places of Ganesh Deva, Asha Pura Mata, Hanumanji, Mata Kali, Gru Gorakh Nath, Gru Nanik, Ramjarokha, Bethak, Aneel Kund on Chorsi Mountain, Braham Kund, Kali Kund and Maha Kali Kund. In the way, Chandra Goop, Khari Nadi, Aghora Pooja and the main pilgrimage place which is the Asthan of Mata Hinglaj Devi.
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Kali Mata Asthan is few yards away in a mountain cave from Aashapura where a Murti of Kali Mata is fixed.
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Predominantly the Baloch ethnic group, Zikris, are also followers of this Devi. They also worship here and call it “Nani Matha.â€
In front of Kali Murti, there is a large pit of water, which comes from up stream.
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Hinglaj Asthan..is the main pilgrimage place for devotees where there is a small old Temple in a cave of mountain in original form with open place for devotees. Here yagan, which is offered by devotees favoured with Darshan of Hinglaj Mata. They take sacred bath in Hinglaj Kund (Pit), which is in front it.
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Guru Gorakh Shilla (Stone)
It is a big piece of about 15 feet diameter and 12 feet high lying of Hinglaj Shrine. It is, as the Hindu people say, to have been thrown by Guru Gorakh Nath from the Chorsi Mountain, which is at about 2 km away from here and its diameter is equal to present Aneel Kund (water well) on the Chorsi Mountain. On this mountain, Agarbati Dhopp, Namaskher is made.
They also say that the pilgrims, who cannot climb up the Chorsi Mountain, take four rounds around this big stone.
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This writer was further updated about the Hinglaj Shrine that before pre-partitition days, Rajput King used to come to Hinglaj Shrine for performing pilgrimage from Rajistan and Gujrat provinces of Indus. And at that very time, there were no roads. The devotees had to pass through jungles, sandy routes, deserts, mountains, and rivers, full of danger on the back of camels. It would also take months in travelling.
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They further added, “The devotees from all over the world would come to the Hinglaj Matha Teerath since centuries. Even Hindus Rama Avatar,Great Guru Nanik, Mekhan Avatar of laxman, and other great saints, Rishis and Hindu scholars paid visit to Hinglaj Matha Teerath.â€
Sham Kumar, a prominent Hindu scholar based in Balochistan, said: †Hindu sect, Nath Panthis, whose founder was Gru Gork Nath, used to visit this shrine in 6, 00 A.D. Also, the Sindhi mystic poet, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, would visit the Hinglaj Shrine. He has written a poem about Hinglaj Mata Templeâ€.
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Undoubtedly, Hinglaj Matha Temple has remained famous even in Mahabharet period.
Samrat Vikramjeet, the king of India also visited Hinglaj Matha Temple for performing pilgrimage after conquering the all India.
Raja Todarmal of Mughal regime visited Hinglaj matha Temple, too.
Besides them, other well known names who visited Hinglaj Shrine are: Bihari Ma, Raja Bhaj Singh, Raja Madho Singh, Raja Jagat Singh, of Jaipur, Dada Mekhan, the great saint of Gujrat, who was first called Kapris of Matha and, after this, all the devotees are called Kapris (who wear Mala in their necks), visited Hinglaj Matha Teerath.
Moreover, there is a much famous story among the Hindus about the Hinglaj Mata Temple that the daughter of Prajapati Daksha, Sati, married to the God Shiva against her father’s wishes. Due to this reason, Daksha organized a great Yajna, but didn’t invite Sati and Shiva. Uninvited, Sati reached the yajna-site, where Daksha ignored Sati and vilified Shiva. Then, after that, Sati couldn’t withstand this insult. She committed suicide by jumping into the sacrificial fire. Sati died but her dead body didn’t burn. After that the grief-stricken Shiva wandered the universe with the corpse of Sati. Lastly, God Vishnu cut up the body of Sati into 52 parts. The Head of Sati is believed to have fallen at Hinglaj.
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Unlike previous times, pathetically, Hindus are now living dangerously in Balochistan.
They, after visiting the Hinglaj Mata Temple, were less in number over there. In the past, Hindus would be visible in large number in the mountains of Hinglaj Matha. They would nonchalantly come from inside and outside of the country to visit Hinglaj Mata Teerath. But now it is the condition that they cannot visit the Hinglaj Mata Temple from its contigous districts.”
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I can safely say that this remarkable temple – and its story – is unknown to most Indians and Hindus..
I doubt how many in the government are aware of it either..or for that matter, the mombatti-wallahs at Wagah..
And I wonder if this would ever become part of various “Aman ki Asha” efforts?
Would someone ever take the lead to renovate this ancient, sacred spot and make it easier – and safer – for Hindus to visit?
Or would this temple too – like at least one other (the forgotten Sharda Tirth in Kashmir http://j.mp/1qUjfIS) become part of the folklore, having faded from memory?..
…
But there is one EASY thing you can do. You can “SHARE” this post with as many of your friends as you can..
At least they will become aware – and through them, hopefully many others..
This is the least you could do – at least for now..
Make sure that a “Like” is followed by a “Share”. Please.
Related and uplifting: Sharada Of Kashmir: The Goddess That Is India by Aravindan Neelakandan, Mar 22, 2023