Temples of Jammu (Travel Guide)

Jammu, the gateway to India's northern –most state of Jammu & Kashmir, is a land of natural beauty and spiritual pietry. Every year, lakhs of pilgrims come here to pay homage at shrines dedicated to the gods and goddesses of the hindu pantheon.

In temples of Jammu: Travel Guide, we explore the pouplar pilgrimage sites of Vaishno Devi, Kailash Kund and Machail Mata. Besides the myths and legends associated with these yatras, we have detailed guides on when to go, how to reach, and what to expect during the course of the pilgrimages.

An exhaustive section of this Guide presents the shrines of Jammu city, including Raghunath, Ranbireshwar and Bawe Wali Mata Temples, all built by the region's devout Dogra kings. From the city, we take readers to nearby destinations like the picturesque fort and ghats of Akhnoor, and the temple towns of Purmandal and Uttarbehni – before venturing into the picturesque and moutainious region of shiv Khori Bhaderwah and Kishtwar.

Alongside the colour and crowds of such living shrines, the Guide also includes heritage sites like Kirmachi and Babour . both are fascianting for devotees and scholar,and present well –preserved examples of local architecture.

The state of Jammu & Kashmir may be likened to a house with many storeys. The door is at Jammu and the house faces south, looking out on Punjab... There is just a frings of level land along the Punjab frontier, bordered by a plinth of low hilly country sparsly wooded, broken, and irregular. This is known as the Kandi, the home of the Chibs and the Dogras. Then comes the first storey... a temprature country with forests of oak, rhododendron, and chestnut, and higher up of deodar and pine, a country of beautiful uplands, such as Bhadarwah and Kishtwar, drained by the deep gorge of the Chenab river'

India's northernmost state, Jammu & Kashmir, comprises three regions, Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, each distinguished by a distinct culture and landscape reflect each other, as soaring temple shikharas echo the beauty of the surrounding Pir Panjal range, suffusing the air with spirituality. Indeed, it is said that the Pir Panjal itself, soaring at an average altitude of 5,000m, was named after a faqir(saint) by that name.