Very close to the Nishat Baug at
Srinagar there is a very famous place known as Hazratbal. Once it was a village
which now is a suburban locality of Srinagar. “Bal” literally means a place and
it is some times misconstrued as “Baal” meaning “hair”. Hazratbal if literally
translated could mean a holy place. Interestingly it does have an association
with the “hair” of the Prophet Mohammed, the precursor of Islam. It is believed
by the muslim community of Kashmir that a strand of hair from Prophets beard is
preserved at a shrine thereat which is also referred to as Hazratbal. A gang of
terrorists even occupied the shrine with an intent to take away the holy relic
and in the shoot out that followed, the security forces succeeded in eliminating
them. Even thereafter there had been few skirmishes. Now it seems that peace has
finally dawned. There are hundreds of pigeons here and people say that the white
ones, representing peace, are on an increase. Because the entire area is
sensitive, security forces have been posted at the shrine.
The structure as it appeared in 1920 |
It was in 1699 that the remains of
Nur-ud-din Eshai’s body as also the holy relic were brought to Kashmir. Inayat
Begam, daughter of Nur-ud-din got the remains of her father’s body cremated and
a shrine erected at Hazratbal. She also took the holy relic under her
protection. The present structure made of marble was constructed by the Muslim
Aukaf Trust administered by Sheikh Abdulla (a renowned politician of yester
years). The construction started in 1968 and got completed in 1979. The shrine,
apart from religious activities, was also a nerve centre of all political
activities at Srinagar. Sheikh Abdulla used to address the public from this
venue and became very popular. After his death, his son Dr. Farooq Abdulla
desired to have control over the affairs of the shrine but terrorists had a
upper hand from 1990 onwards. The shrine proved to be a safe heaven for
them.
We roamed about the residential areas adjoining the Shrine and then proceeded towards the left. The road was going down, not steep though. To our right there was one opening leading towards the left side of the Holy Shrine. Amidst a well laid our lawn, there were some ornamental trees. The main dome of the shrine had scaffoldings and it appeared that some restoration/repairs were being undertaken. There was a group of Kashmiri women at the extreme end of the lawn singing and rejoicing. We asked a gentleman there, probably belonging to that group, about the happenings. We were told that a family from a nearby village had no issues and they had prayed at the Shrine earlier. As a result a baby was born and that the family has brought the child here and were expressing their gratitude. We sought their permission to take few photographs and they gladly agreed. After enjoying their traditional group song with the accompaniments, we proceeded towards the shrine. There were not many tourists. Most of the people there were local women who were entering a side hall to offer their prayers. We had a peep through a window. When we were proceeding towards the front side, we encountered few security personnel. We once again enquired if it would be proper for us to take photographs. We were advised not to do so inside the hall leading to the main Shrine (tomb). There was a covered porch outside through which we could enter the main hall, The hall was fully decorated and carpeted and looked like the hall of a church without the seating arrangement (benches). Thereafter we came out and we were on the main street after passing through an arched gate.
The visitors from different parts of country generally pay a visit to the shrine. In the past, even the political delegations, including from the BJP, also made it a point in the past to pay obeisance at the shrine. Former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Atal Behari Vajpayee, and Presidents Neelam Sanjiva Reddy and APJ Kalam had also visited the shrine. But now a days It seems that tourists are not very comfortable coming here as it is perceived that any thing could happen anytime.
Here is a small video:
nice post... we missed hazratbal because we wanted to spend more time on the houseboat :D
ReplyDeleteGreat images and great video
ReplyDeleteThank for sharing the pics and a good video..
ReplyDeleteBikram's
enjoyed your post!
ReplyDeleteI loved the group of Kashmiri women, it is always so nice to observe the locals and have a glimpse into the culture through them. Beautiful post with wonderful images of an equally beautiful place... looks very peaceful. Many thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWonderfully informative with beautiful images.
ReplyDeleteSuperb as usual..!
ReplyDeleteVery well covered post, glad to read and absorb the information. Your pics are true to your words as well.
ReplyDeleteLovely gathering of women.
ReplyDeleteA fascinating post and great pictures. It's amazing to me how people fight over religion. They can't all be right, so how does one choose? Or does one need to choose? As John Lennon sang, "Imagine...no religion..." :-)
ReplyDeleteInteresting post!Good to see scaffolding,it usually means that necessary repairs are being carried out. Thanks for the tip,I actually didn't know word verification was on.I agree,it serves no purpose.
ReplyDeleteThe song was nice... I didn't know much about this shrine or its history. Good to read about it here...
ReplyDeleteDestination Infinity
What a great place to visit! thanks for these pictures and the story about this great site.
ReplyDeleteNice post with beautiful photos. It is a beautiful place.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the visit.
Thanks a lot PN to keep on stirring the memories of these places I visited long back:)
ReplyDeleteThank you for detailed information on this important historical monument. Now it looks very modernized with recent constructions. Enjoyed the lovely photo of the Kashmiri family gathered on the lawns colorfully attired and seated on a bright chaddar. This is a great post.
ReplyDeleteRegards Ram
ps.Could not find the video though !
After I sent the comment I found that the video had suddenly appeared. The ladies are having a great time clapping & singing and passing the baby around !
ReplyDeleteThanks for a interesting post about Hazratbal. The pictures make it doubly interesting.
ReplyDeleteSo well researched. that's the beauty of reading your articles
ReplyDeletejust love it. what a nice post,.. :)
ReplyDeletewaww,, what a nice post. just luv it :)
ReplyDelete