Most Beautiful Tourist Places in Kashmir

Kashmir is very popular for its beautiful tourist places. There is a never ending list for Romantic Places in Kashmir in Jammu Kashmir in India. All of these Kashmir tourist places in Jammu Kashmir in India are the center of attractions of the Kashmir that makes this Kashmir in Jammu Kashmir as one of the top tourist cities of India.

Shalimar Bagh

Shalimar Bagh has a very interesting history. The ancient trace of this garden report that is was formed during the 2nd century. It was Pravarsena II who found the Srinagar city and ruled it for 60 years until 139 AD. He named this village as Shalimar and built a cottage for himself. But later no traces of such building remained but the village remained with the name Shalimar.

The credit of building a wonderful garden like this goes to Jahangir, the Mughal emperor who commissioned this for his beloved wife Nur Jahan. Both of them where very fond of Srinagar and frequently travelled here from Delhi during summers. It was a dream project for Jahangir. He further expanded the garden in 1619 and renamed it to ‘Farah Baksh’. In 1930 the garden was renamed to ‘Faiz Baksh’ following the order of Shah Jahan.

The garden is built with three terraces and each demonstrates high architectural skills. The first terrace contains a small waterfall over which is an installation of a small black marble thrown. The garden is also known as the public garden. And this terrace is not as richly built like the second terrace.

The second terrace is wonderfully built with many water fountains and is broader than the first. This terrace was used only by the royal people and the noblemen. The terrace also positions royal bathrooms that are built on the north-west of this garden area. The third terrace contains pavilions that are restricted access to the public.

Shah Jahan also built a pavilion with black marbles named Baradari. The pavilion is encircled with fountains and the snow covered mountains of the Himalayan ranges forms an excellent backdrop to this garden.

Kashmir is surely an amazing place to visit during a vacation to Srinagar

Dal Lake

It extends 15.5 kilometers along the shore and expands over 21.2 sq.km of natural wet land. The shore also contains an avenue lined along with parks, house boats, Mughal Era gardens and a number of hotels.

The famous and historical gardens of Dal Lake are ‘Shalimar Bagh’ and ‘Nishat Bagh’ built by Emperor Jahangir during the Mughal Era. These gardens are collectively called the “Jewel of the Kashmir Valley” but do not withhold its past glory. Restoration processes are going on with an investment of Rs 1100 crores from the Indian Government.

The lake is mostly considered as Summer Resort and attracts a good number of tourists during summer. The temperature of the place during the summer is 12-30 °C and falls to -11 °C during the winters, letting the lake to freeze.

The house boats are the prime attractions of this place. The house boats came into existence when then ruler of Kashmir during the English rule, let the British to have the place as their summer capital but did not let them acquire any lands.

So the British decided to have their house boats and built them lavishly. Earlier during the Mughal rule, the Mughal rulers used this as a vacation spot during summers, and also built beautiful floating lakes.

The Himalayan ranges form as a backdrop for this wonderful location and adds beauty. People along this valley have a unique living style. They live in the houseboats, with markets, gardens, houses all floating in water. The lake also houses splendid floral collection nourishing the lake’s ecosystem. The major floral categories include emerged macrophytes, submerged macrophytes, floating macrophytes and phytoplankton. Dal Lake is definitely a spot to visit in Kashmir

Hazratbal Shrine

Kashmir is a wonderful place to spend a vacation during summer. Most of the Indian folks would hit the enormously beautiful places in Kashmir. One of them is definitely the city that holds historically important structures, lakes, floating gardens, house boats and the smashingly beautiful ranges of Himalaya.

The shrine is famous for this relic, hair of the Prophet which has an interesting history. The shrine was built by Inayat Begum, daughter of then well known business person Khwaja Nur-ud-Din. It was Syed Abdullah, a progeny of Prophet Muhammad who was responsible in getting the relic into India. He moved away from Medina and settled in Hyderabad. He sold the relic to Khwaja Nur-ud-Din and when Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb got to hear about this Khwaja was imprisoned and the relic was seized.

It was too late when the emperor realized his mistake, khwaja passed away in the prison and the relic was passed on to his daughter Inayat Begum who built the shrine. Since the relic is preserved by Nishaandehs, her descendants.

The basic layout of the building dates back to the 17th century. It was pleasure house named Ishrat Mahal built by Sadiq Khan, Subedar of Shah Jahan in 1623. Eleven years later when Shah Jahan visited the place, he commissioned few alterations to make this place a prayer hall. This place did not hold the relic initially. The relic was in Naqshband Sahib Shrine, it was moved to Hazratbal to accommodate the huge crowds visiting the Shrine.

However the final structure what appears now was completed just three decades back. Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, head of the ‘Muslim Auqaf Trust’ started the construction in 1968 and finished it in 1979. This glorious edifice reflects both Kashmiri and Mughal architectural styles. This three-tiered structure is wonderful place to visit on a tour to Srinagar, Kashmir.

Nishat Bagh

Kashmir is a wonderful place to be at when on a vacation. Srinagar is one of the best cities that bring exotic beauty of nature. The Himalayan ranges are the attractions of the city, while the lakes, gardens, valleys, Lake Side Avenue. The layout of the garden was chose to be an axial stream flow design to get accommodated to the factors like the Garden being in the hill and the water sources. However, the basic model of the Garden resembles the Chahar Bagh in Persia, while some factors forced the builders to adapt rectangular layout, unlike the Chahar Bagh being a square.

The architecture of the garden is mind blowing. It has twelve terraces which hold Chinar and Cypress trees, which reaches until a man-made frontage at the end of the hill. These 12 terraces represent the 12 zodiac signs. But it has to be noted that the garden has only two sections, the private garden and the public garden. The garden also contains water jets or fountains in each of the terrace with seating arrangements to sit and enjoy the scenic beauty.

All the terraces in the garden have its own significance but the second terrace of the garden is considered to be the best of the lot. Attractions at this terrace are the 23 niches, with lighted lamps placed at these niches increasing the beauty of the place and also the Persian lilacs and pansies integrated with the water jets are significant.

In the neighborhood one could find few more Mughal architectures. It is easy to get Nishat Bagh; one way is to take the “water taxi” through the Dal Lake which is quite famous and the other way is to take public transport as this location is just 11 kms from the center of the city.

Jamia Masjid

Kashmir is one of the busiest tourist spots in India around the year. People around India, also from different parts of the world come here to witness the beauty of the Himalayan ranges. The number of the tourists coming to the place for an enthralling tour is equaled by the number of the Muslims who visit the holy shrines and the mosques it holds.

It was Zain-ul-Abidin, Sultan Sikandar’s son who made alterations to the mosque and got it extended. This mosque is very sacred and witnesses Muslims in huge number during the Friday prayer offering. Even though the neighborhood of the mosque is full of markets, the structure does not absorb any of the noise outside into it.

The significant factors that magnetize visitors to this famous Masjid are the splendid courtyard, Indo-Saracenic architecture and 370 wooden pillars of the mosque. In spite of having a busy world in the immediate surroundings of the mosque, the mosque is always known for its serenity inside it. It assures a peaceful prayer offering to thousands of Muslims who step in to offer their prayer.

Prayers are offered five times a day at this mosque. This magnanimous structure has hit by fire thrice since the construction and has been restored successfully every time after the disasters. It was during the rule of Maharaja Pratap Singh the structure witnessed its last disaster.

One more attraction of the mosques is the vastness in area. Its enormity extends to hold about thirty thousand people at the same time to offer prayer. The area reportedly measures 384 feet × 381 feet, largest in Srinagar. Tourists should make it to the spot when touring Kashmir.

Wular Lake

The scenic beauty of the place is decorated to excellence naturally by the abundant vegetation available at this place. The lake had a small piece of artificial land as a part of this lake where boatmen halt in case of bad weather. The lake has experienced strong winds, sometime turns fatal also. This artificial land is now a part of the shore and is a perfect picnic spot. And another major attraction of the place is fishing; the lake is blessed abundantly with a variety of fishes.

Fishing is also of major economic value as there are thousands of Fishermen who earn their living depending on the richness of the lake. One significant point in the lake is the ‘Gulf of Corpses’, locally known as Mota Khon. This point in the lake is where the corpses of people who drowned in the lake get flushed to, and is supposedly the deepest part of the lake.

“Navigation lock-cum-control structure” project known as the Tulbul project is positioned at the entrance of the lake, with a capacity of storing water of about 0.30 million acres. This project helps maintain a 4.5 feet water depth till Baramulla.

The other places in the vicinity of the Wular Lake are Sopur, Lolab Valley & Bungas, Kiuhnus Bay, Bandipur, Baramula, Shadipur and Narmarg. The best time to visit Wular Lake is during the month of June to August. One gets to admire the beauty of the location amidst the Himalayan ranges with many other attractions lying close by. Without doubt one of the best lake locations in India.