Sharda Peeth - Bhimbar

Sharda, one of the most beautifull places in Azad kashmir,Pakistan . What a beautiful view of the neelum river from sharda .Historically It is of great importance because of sharda peeth .

SARADA PEETH TEMPLE, KASHMIR Written by Ranita Indic The Sarada Peeth Temple, situated at the Neelam Valley, Kupwara District of Kashmir, along the LOC, just 500 kms from POK, has become the centre of interest recently, as the reconstructed temple was inaugurated virtually by our hon 'ble Home Minister, Amit Motabhai Shah, yesterday, on the auspicious occasion of the Hindu New Year and the 1st day of Chaitra Navratri. The inauguration was of utmost significance, given the temple 's strategic location which is almost in POK and the fact that the incumbent GOI has already adopted a resolution in Parliament, claiming POK as Indian territory, that is being forcefully occupied by Pakistan. The Sarada Peeth temple, dedicated to the Goddess of learning, Saraswati, known as Sarada in Kashmir, was believed to have been constructed during the reign of the Kushan dynasty in the early part of the 1st century BC. It is one of the most prominent amongst the 51 Shaktipeeths of Maa Durga being amongst the 18 Mahashaktipeeths. It is located at the confluence of the Kishan Ganga and Madhumati streams in Sarada Village, Neelam Valley. Though there are no murtis of any deity in the temple, a Shivlinga was found outside the same. Mata Sarada is the 'Kuldevi ' or primary deity of the Kashmiri Hindus and hence she is often referred to as Kashmir Puravasini (Resident of Kashmir). Sharada Peeth was one of the most important Centres of Learning /Temple University of Ancient India between the 6th to the 12th Centuries CE. It was developed as a primary centre of learning by King Lalitaditya, the mightiest most succesful Kashmiri ruler. The Sarada University, housed inside the temple complex, was one of the oldest universities of our country, with over 5000 scholars a temple. It was at par in excellence with the Nalanda Taxila Universities, having been built prior to them. The University is credited with developing the Sarada script. The University boasts of such stellar alumni as Adi Shakarachya, Kalhana the author of Rajtarangini, Kumarajiva Buddhist scholar, Vairotsana Tibetan translator and Thonmi Sambhota inventor of the Tibetan script. Structural science, logic, history, geography, philosophy and Buddhist religion were taught here. The temple has all along been very popular amongst the devotees and scholars. However, annual pilgrimage to the temple thrived during the reigns of Maharaja Pratap Singh and Ranbir Singh. Before the partition of India, the Sarada Peeth Temple was one of the three major shrines in the area along with the Amarnath Temple and the Martand Temple. However, with the partition of India into two nations India Pakistan in 1947 and the subsequent territorial war over the occupation of Jammu Kashmir, between the two nations in 1948, the temple was abandoned fell into ruins. The location of the temple was 150 kms from Muzaffarabad, the capital of POK 130 kms from Srinagar. Yet the Congress led regime in India was abjectly apathetic towards the temple it 's upkeep and was quite happy to consider it as a part of POK, thus abandoning all claims on it. It is the incumbent government, which abrogated Article 370, took steps in reconstructing the temple and opening it up to the devotees. The Save Sarada Committee, led by it 's President, Ravindra Pandita had struggled for many years demanding the reopening of the temple. The GOI is also mulling the opening of a corridor, akin to the Kartarpur Corridor, to facilitate travel to the Sarada Peeth Temple. The Sarada Peeth University is a manifestation of the richness of knowledge, scientific mindedness, literature and culture of ancient India. Kashmir or Kashyapa Mira the Land of Rishi Kashyap bears evidences aplenty of such richness. Hence, it is not without any reason that the enemies of our nation both internal and external, wish to hand over Kashmir to the Iz lamists. Besides Kashmir 's strategic location, significant from the military point of view, it is also the desire to destroy all evidences of a developed, knowledgeable and cultured society th

This is a historic university where Swami Ramanuja (Ramanujacharya) was conferred the title Sri Bashyakarar by none other than the Sharda (Goddess Saraswati herself), when Swami Ramanuja explained his understanding of the Bodhayana manuscript Brahmasutra! Many other gurus like Adishankarar have visited this epitome university to understand the Brahmasutra, which forms the basis of vedas and upanishads. Such a historic site of Bharat land, Sad to see it under PoK now in recent days without any maintenance. High Time Indian government gets PoK into India again to let these treasure belong to where it should!

The temple is built in the Kashmiri architectural style using red sandstone. Historical records of the temple's architecture are scarce. A late 19th century account by the British archaeologist Aurel Stein describes the temple's walls as intact to a height of approximately 20 feet (6.1 m), and its pillars rising approximately 16 feet (4.9 m).[13][16] Sharada Peeth cella from behind The compound is situated on a hill, approached on its west side through an imposing stone staircase. The facades are repetitive. Suggested reasons for this include that architects disliked plain outside walls, or that even if the spire collapsed, a visitor would be able to tell what the temple originally looked like. The design of the temple is simple, with a plain conical Sharada spire. It sits on a raised plinth, 24 square feet (2.2 m2) in area and 5.25 feet (1.60 m) in height. The walls of the cella recede 2 feet (0.61 m) from the edge of the plinth. The temple is surrounded by a quadrangle which measures 142 feet (43 m) by 94 feet (29 m). The quadrangle is enclosed by walls of 11 feet (3.4 m) in height and 6 feet (1.8 m) in width. On the north, east, and south, the walls of the cella are adorned by trefoil arches and supporting pilasters, which are constructed in high relief. Below these are small, trefoil-headed niches covered by double pediments. Although a pyramidal stone roof is more typical to Kashmiri architecture, in Stein's description, the temple is covered by a low shingle roof. By the 21st century, the roof is no longer present and the interior of the temple is exposed to the elements. The temple appears imposing even from outside the walled enclosure, because of the plinths it is raised on to equalise the uneven elevations of the ground. The north side of the wall contained a small recess, in which two ancient linga could be seen.

It is also known as sharda old University. It is a historical landmark in sharda. So small area is covered. Carry water, cuz there is no shop or anything just a matter of satisfaction that you just came here and don't wanna miss the place out there. Nothing much special.