Sri Sharada Peeth

Sharda, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Goddess

Kashmiri Pandits believe that Sharada in Kashmir is a tripartite embodiment of the goddess Shakti: Sharada (goddess of learning), Saraswati (goddess of knowledge), and Vagdevi (goddess of speech, which articulates power). Sharada Peeth translates to "the seat of Sharada", the Kashmiri name for the Hindu Goddess Saraswati. The word Sharda in Kashmiri means Sarwasti, who is the Goddess of Knowledge.

Interesting Facts

Sati devi's Right Hand had fallen here and the temple is also one of the 18 Maha Shakti Peethas.
Now this temple is in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir(P.O.K).

Best Season To Visit

The best season to visit the temple is Summer season. The best months to visit are May to June and September to October.

Weather

Highest - April to June (21°C during day and 19°C during night)Average - May (24°C during the day and 20°C during night)Lowest - December to February (14°C during day and 8°C during night)Monsoon season - August to October

Dress Code

For men the dress code is Shirt & Trouser, Dhoti or Pyjamas with upper cloth.
For women the preferred dress code is saree or half-saree with blouse or chudidhar with pyjama and upper cloth.
Shorts, mini-skirts, middies, sleeveless tops, low-waist jeans and short-length T-shirts are not allowed.

Do's & Dont's

Do bathe and wear clean clothes before you enter the temple.
Do respect ancient customs and co-piligrims while at temple.

Smoking and drinking is prohibited in this temple.
Chewing betel leaves, tobacco, gutka and spitting inside temple is strictly prohibited.

transport connections

Name	Distance	Contact Number
Neelum Bus Stand	32.7 KM

Muzaffarabad Airport	214 KM	+92 347-5200918

Airport Name	Distance	Contact Number
Muzaffarabad Airport	214 KM	+92 347-5200918

Architecture

The temple is built of a local red sandstone, constructed in a classical Kashmiri style of temple architecture. It sits on a hill, and is approached via a stone stairway to the remains of a thick stone wall and ruined gateway. The main temple continues to stand in its own strength. Its three walls are in good condition although the door and the roof are missing. The door and the roof were made of wood and hence perished with age. The ruins appear to enclose a rectangular area, which at one point would have had its corners aligned with the cardinal points of the compass. The temple is square in plan, and sits on a square plinth, with its doorway facing west. There are five steps between the ground and the entrance, which at one point would have had a half-vaulted ceiling, behind which lay a Trefoil arch leading to the inner sanctum. Today, this area is exposed to the sky. The facades are repetitive, possibly because architects disliked plain outside walls, or else possibly so that even if the spire collapsed, a visitor would be able to tell what the temple originally looked like. The design is simple, with a plain conical Sharada spire. Possibly, the simplicity of the design means that the temple was designed (or more likely, later reconstructed) as a plainer architectural second to the Martand Sun Temple for local worshippers. Both the Martand Sun Temple and the Malot Fort are designed similarly, but more ornately.

Religious Significance

Local legends - There are two popular local legends explaining Sharada Peeth. The first holds that there were two sisters, Sharada and Narada, who ruled the world. The two mountains overlooking the valley, Shardi and Nardi, are named after them. One day, Narada saw, from her abode on the mountain, that Sharada had died, and that giants were fleeing from her body. In her fury, she summoned them and ordered them to build her a tomb, which became Sharada Peeth. The second legend says that there one was a giant who loved a princess. She desired a palace, and so he began work. At the time of morning azan, by which time he was supposed to have finished, the roof remained incomplete, and for that reason, Sharada Peeth today remains without a roof.

As a "Shakti Peeth" Shakti Peethas are shrines of Shakti which are said to derive their divinity from the fallen body pieces of the goddess Sati, when Shiva carried it and wandered throughout Aryavarta in sorrow. There are fifty-one Shakti Peethas, one for each of the fifty-one alphabets in Sanskrit, and each one has shrines for Shakti and Kalabhairava. Sharada Peeth is one of the 18 Maha Shakti Peetha, and is where Sati's right hand is said to have fallen. The form of Shakti worshipped here is Sharada.

History

The origins of Sharada Peeth are uncertain. Some historians believe that it was built under the Kushan Empire (30 CE-230 CE). Others believe that it was built by Lalitaditya (724 CE-760 CE), because of similarities between Sharada Peeth and the Martand Sun Temple. Another school of thought suggests that it was built not at once, but in stages. Some adherents of this school of thought hold that Sharada Peeth was first built more than 5,000 years ago. On this view, the site could not have been first constructed by the Indo-Aryan peoples, who are estimated to have arrived at the Ganges River around 1500 BC.

Temple Timings

Day	Timings
All Days	12:00 AM - 12:00 AM

Tours

Airports

Airport Name	Distance
Shamshabad	40 KM
Lorem Ipsum	12 KM

Railway Stations

Railway Station Name	Distance
Secunderabad	10 KM
Nampally	12 KM
Begumpet	6 KM
Lingampally	20 KM

Bus Stations

Bus Station Name	Distance
MGBS	35 KM
CBS	28 KM
kukatpally	20 KM
Lingampally	30 KM
Uppal	35 KM

Private Transports

Transport Name	Distance	Contact Number
Private Transport	8 KM	9546858757
Private Transport1	8 KM	9546858757
Private Transport1	8 KM	9546858757
Private Transport1	8 KM	9546858757
Private Transport1	8 KM	9546858757