Amarnath Temple is a Hindu shrine located in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, India. A cave situated at an altitude of 3,888 m (12,756 ft), about 168 km from Anantnag city, the district headquarters, 141 km (88 mi) from Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, reached through either Sonamarg or Pahalgam. The shrine represents an important part of Hinduism. The cave, located in Sind Valley, is surrounded by glaciers, snowy mountains and is covered with snow most of the year, except for a short period in the summer, when it is open to pilgrims. In 1989, pilgrims numbered between 12,000 and 30,000. In 2011, the numbers reached a peak, crossing 6.3 lakh (630,000) pilgrims. In 2018 pilgrims numbered 2.85 lakh (285,000). The annual pilgrimage has varied between 20 and 60 days.
Kishtwar is a town, municipality and administrative headquarter of the Kishtwar District in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The district was carved out of the Doda district in 2007. and is located in the Jammu division. The town of Kishtwar is situated at a distance of 211.5 km (131.4 mi) from the winter capital of Jammu. A large ground locally called as Chowgan ground is located in the heart of the town. Kishtwar is bordered by the Anantnag and Doda districts in the west and northwest, by the Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh in the south and the Kargil district of Ladakh in the east and northeast.
The Rathayatra of Mahesh is the second oldest chariot festival or Rath Yatra in India and oldest in Bengal, having been celebrated since 1396. It is held in Mahesh, a historical locality within Serampore in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a week-long festival and a grand fair is held at that time. People throng to have a share in pulling the long ropes (Rosshi) attached to the chariots of Lord Jagannath, Balarama and Subhadra on the journey from the temple to Mahesh Gundicha Bari and back within 8th day.
In Hinduism, the yatra (pilgrimage) to the tirthas has special significance for earning the punya needed to attain the moksha (salvation) by performing the darśana, the parikrama (circumambulation), the yajna, the Dhyana, the puja (worship), the prarthana, the dakshina, the seva, the bhandara, etc. These sacred places are usually located on the banks of sacred waters, such as sacred rivers or their tributaries, the kundas, the ghats, or the stepwells, or the temple tanks.
Jammu and Kashmir is home to several valleys such as the Kashmir Valley, Chenab Valley, Sindh Valley and Lidder Valley. Some major tourist attractions in Jammu and Kashmir are Srinagar, with its renowned Dal Lake and Mughal Gardens, Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Bhaderwah, Patnitop and Jammu. Every year, thousands of Hindu pilgrims visit holy shrines of Vaishno Devi and Amarnath which has had a significant impact on the state's economy.
Yātrā, in Indian-origin religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, generally means a pilgrimage to holy places such as confluences of sacred rivers, sacred mountains, places associated with Hindu epics such as the Mahabharata and Ramayana, and other sacred pilgrimage sites. Visiting a sacred place is believed by the pilgrim to purify the self and bring one closer to the divine. The journey itself is as important as the destination, and the hardships of travel serve as an act of devotion in themselves.
Kishtwar district is a district of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. As of 2011, it is the largest and the least populous district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Parner taluka is a taluka in Ahmednagar district in the state of Maharashtra, India.
Machail chandi Mata temple is a Goddess Durga shrine popularly known as Machail Mata. It is in the village Machail of Sub Division Paddar, from where it derives its name, in Kishtwar District of Jammu region in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It may be noted that Goddess Durga is also known by the name Kaali or Chandi.
Paddar, also spelled Padar, is a Sub-District and remote valley in the Kishtwar district of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It falls in the Jammu division. It consists of two tehsils namely Machail and Atholi Paddar The valley covers the entire southeastern portion of the Kishtwar district. It borders Zanskar (Ladakh) in the north and east, Pangi in the south and the rest of Jammu and Kashmir in the west. The valley is known for its sapphire mines. Albeit Sapphires are located in the valley of Padder in Jammu division, they are known as kashmiri sapphires which is a misnomer. It lies along the Chandrabhaga river (Chenab) in the Great Himalayas. Paddar is among one of the most remote regions of Jammu and Kashmir. There are various small valleys within Paddar, such as Machail, Gandhari, Kabban, Ongai, Bhuzunu, Barnaj, Bhuzas, Kijai Nallah, and Dharlang, among others.
Ratha Yatra, or Chariot festival, is any public procession in a chariot. The term particularly refers to the annual Ratha Yatra in Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal and other East Indian states, particularly the Odia festival that involve a public procession with a chariot with deities Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshana Chakra on a ratha, a wooden deula-shaped chariot. Ratha Yatra processions have been historically common in Vishnu-related traditions in Hinduism across India, in Shiva-related traditions, saints and goddesses in Nepal, with Tirthankaras in Jainism, as well as tribal folk religions found in the eastern states of India. Notable Ratha Yatras in India include the Ratha Yatra of Puri, the Dhamrai Ratha Yatra and the Ratha Yatra of Mahesh. Hindu communities outside India, such as in Singapore, celebrate Ratha Yatra such as those associated with Jagannath, Krishna, Shiva and Mariamman. According to Knut Jacobsen, a Ratha Yatra has religious origins and meaning, but the events have a major community heritage, social sharing and cultural significance to the organizers and participants.
The 2013 Kishtwar Riots, which claimed three lives and injured 80, was a conflict between Muslim and Hindu communities in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir. The riots occurred in the aftermath of the Eid festival on 9 August 2013, and provoked a significant government lockdown in the Jammu region. Despite that, the government was criticized for not preventing the riots.
The Chenab Valley is a river valley formed by the Chenab River. The term is also used collectively for Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts of Jammu Division in Jammu and Kashmir, India. These districts were formerly part of a single district, called Doda.
Sinthan Top is a mountain pass, a popular tourist destination located between South Kashmir's Breng Valley in Anantnag district and Kishtwar district of Chenab Valley in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Majority of the area lies on the Kishtwar side. The top acts as a sort of base camp to several alpine lakes in the region.
The Jammu division is a revenue and administrative division of the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. It is bordered by the Kashmir division to the north. It consists of the districts of Jammu, Doda, Kathua, Ramban, Reasi, Kishtwar, Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur and Samba. Most of the land is hilly or mountainous, including the Pir Panjal Range which separates it from the Kashmir Valley and part of the Great Himalayas in the eastern districts of Doda and Kishtwar. Its principal river is the Chenab.
Mata Sarthal Devi Mandir is an important Hindu temple at Sarthal of Kishtwar district in Jammu and Kashmir of India. This temple is famous for annual pilgrimage known as Sarthal Yatra.
Yatra (transl. Journey) also marketed as YSR: Yatra is a 2019 Indian Telugu-language biographical film starring Mammootty in the role as Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy. Directed by Mahi V Raghav, the film is based on padayatra of Reddy who served as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh from May 2004 to June 2009 representing Indian National Congress. The film is produced by Vijay Chilla, Shashi Devi Reddy under 70mm Entertainments and music composed by K. Principal photography commenced on 20 June 2018 in Hyderabad.
Jammu and Kashmir is a region administered by India as a union territory and consists of the southern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and between India and China since 1959. The Line of Control separates Jammu and Kashmir from the Pakistani-administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan in the west and north. It lies to the north of the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab and to the west of Ladakh which is administered by India as a union territory.
Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, also known as G. M. Saroori, is an Indian politician and the former legislator of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, who represented Inderwal constituency of Kishtwar district from 2002 to 2018 until the coalition government was ended in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
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