SRINAGAR TOURISM Location : 876 Kilometers North of Delhi Established By : Praversena ­ II Over 2,000 Years Ago Popular As : Summer Capital of Jammu and Kashmir, City of Lakes Major Attractions : Dal Lake, Houseboats, Mughal Gardens, Cuisine and Adventure

Historical Synopsis

Getting There

Monuments

Srinagar ­ A City of Lake

The summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir State, Srinagar is the most beautiful city located in the heart of Kashmir valley at an altitude of some 1730 meters above sea level. What makes this city more special is the abundance of nature's endowments in the form of Lakes, rivers, hills, mountains, monuments, gardens, pilgrimage, animal sanctuary, bird watching and every thing tourists fancy for. This place has not only been admired by the Mughal's but everyone who had visited this city remained spellbound by its charm. Make a tour to this place and you will cherish the memory whole life.

Tourist Attractions In Srinagar

Saffron Holiday

Hotels

House Boats

Hotels

The alluring beauty of Kashmir gives you a reason to live and visit this place again and again. The famous Dal lake where you can stay in houseboats, a five star luxury beyond the hotels that offers you the options to choose your cuisine according to your own taste and enjoy your meals while looking at the hustle and bustle of the Dal. The shikars with the loads of vegetables, flowers and other daily necessity goods will be knocking your door whenever you will felt the need. Even you can experience the phone booths in shikaras pondering the service of tourists staying in the house boats and yes it will be surprising to know that you can shop for Kashmiri handicrafts like shawls, wood carving , paper machie, dried fruits, honey and saffron and many other things from these shikaras. Come and stay in the houseboat and you will see that how complete is the life in Dal lake.

Mughal Gardens ­ Beads of Love

Mughal Gardens

Hill Stations

Mughal gardens are actually the gardens built by the mughals during there rule in Kashmir and most of them where constructed by Jahangir. Today Nishat Bagh, Shalimar Gagh, Cheshnashahi, Parimahal and Harwan are the famous mughal gardens located around the Dal lake. The Nishat and Shalimar gardens have one thing in common that both the gardens are facing the Dal lake and have mountains in their backdrop. Once inside the marvelous entrances to these gardens you will be flanked by the essence of the fresh flowers that blooms on the both sides of path. In the shade of chinar trees and music of chirping birds, the cool breeze from the lake and moisture of fountains that play with your imagination makes a dream come true of every tourist. Come and enjoy your picnic in these gardens and know more about these gardens and flowers from the gardeners who work there to keep these gardens ever blooming.

A Way to Spirituality ­ Pilgrimage in Srinagar

Pilgrimage

Vaishno Devi Yatra

Amarnath Yatra

This land has been home to many religious saints and sages and came to be known as Reshwar or abode of saints. In this city you will find the pilgrimage destinations of all religions. The Hazratbal shrine is the most revered for the Muslims where the sacred hair of beloved prophet (peace be upon him) is preserved and displayed on various occasions related to prophets life. The architecture of this mosque is awesome and built of white marble and accompanying lush green gardens and with many chinar trees inside makes it the best place to pay your penance to almighty. Jama Masjid is the oldest mosque located in the heart of the city and is famous for its architectural marvel. Its foundation was laid down on 1398 AD by Sultan Sikandar. This mosque has the capacity of 30,000 people to offer their prayers at a time.

The Shankaracharya temple is the oldest temple built in the city and dates back to 371 BC . Located on top of the Shankaracharya hill this Shiva temple commands the magnificent panoramic view of the whole city. The Khir Bhawani temple in Tulmulla and Shakira Devi temple on the foot hills of the Hari Parbat Hill are other places of worship for Hindus while there is Chattipadshahi a famous gurdwara for sikhs in Srinagar. Have a pilgrimage tour to this city and enjoy the spiritual nirvana.

Lakes and Rivers In Srinagar

Lakes

This lake city has a splendid river called Jehlum that divides the city into two parts and the eight bridges over this river connects these two banks on different parts of the city. Jehlum is the tributary of the river Indus and is famous among the tourists for its houseboats and erstwhile 'The Bund'. During the times of water transportation this river was the main link with the city. The Dal lake, Nigeen lake and Anchar Sar are remarkable lakes in Kashmir all serving the distinguished purpose. The Dal is known for shikara ride, houseboats and The Boulevard Road around Dal. Nigeen lake little away from the Dal is the calm and quiet place for the tourists and close to city as well. The houseboats in this lake are economical and most suitable for big groups. Anchar Sar has some thing very unique to other lakes, in this lake you will find floating vegetable gardens, migratory birds, abundant lotus flowers and most of all this is the most suitable place for fishing.

Shopping Extravaganza In Srinagar

Shopping

Art and Crafts

If you are in Srinagar and you don't shop for the Kashmir handicrafts it seems as bizarre as visiting Agra and not seeing Taj. In Srinagar you can shop for Kashmir art at any place from the famous handicraft showrooms to the street vendors around Boulevard Road and there are also Shikarawallas who sell the handicraft items. The Pashmina shawls, woolen blankets, silken carpets, embroidered suits and saris, zari embroidered traditional Kashmir pherans, shawls and suits and wood craft and paper machie items are the most looked for items in the city. The other things that are famous of Kashmir are dried fruits, honey and saffron. This paradise is waiting for you, come and enjoy the fruits of heaven and shop for the handicrafts in Kashmir and it will be the best souvenir you will take to your home.

Cuisine in Kashmir – Taste That Matters

Cuisines

General Info

You can find the elegance of Kashmir even in its cuisine. Famous for the non vegetarian dishes the Kashmir cuisine are prepared in the exotic spices unique to this valley. The Waza (cook) toils painstakingly for hours together to prepare the dishes like Kebab, Rista, Tabakhmaz, Roganjosh and Gushtaba that are taken with steamed rice. Locally the Kashmir cuisine is called wazwan and is served on special occasions like marriage. The Kashmir pundits have a little different cuisine as compared to Muslims their famous dishes are satta ras, khashur muss, pachchin nadur. And dum aloo is all time favorites. The Kashmiris are not too much fond of sweets so after their meals there are not feast of sweets but you can find a plate or small bowl of kong firni or halwa their only after meal dessert. The green tea or Kahwa flavored with cardamoms, cinnamon and saffron always rounds off each meal so get a taste of Kahwa and you will feel fresh as never before.

Adventure In Srinagar

Adventure Rafting

Trekking Aerosports

Skiing Golfing

For all the adventure lovers Srinagar is a heaven where you can indulge in as much adventure as you can like. The 18 hole golf course in the heart of city and the upcoming international lake view golf course are the best adventure sport in the city. The other adventure activities are fishing in Dal lake or Jehlum, Water skiing, mountaineering, hiking, trekking, canoing, boating and many other activities that took place in the Dal lake. Swimming across the Dal is a craze among Boys if you are an ace swimmer you can make a try. Come and enjoy what you only read and listened about visit and enjoy in the heaven of adventure sports.

Reaching 'The Switzerland of East'

The Srinagar city is well connected and easily accessible from all the major cities of India. The Srinagar airport is connected to Delhi, Jammu, Chandigarh, Kargil, Mumbai etc by all the major airlines like Jet, Indian Airlines, Sahara, Spice, Air deccan , Kingfisher and you can hire a taxi from the airport to the city center. The railway service is only limited to Jammu that is approximately 300 Kilometers from the city and you can take J and K State Road Transport Corporation from Jammu. The Sumo and taxis are also available from Jammu that you can reserve or share with other passengers.