Religious, Spiritual sights in Srinagar
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A
Pir Dastgir Sahib
The large, fanciful green-and-white Sufi shrine Pir Dastgir Sahib has a spired tower and wooden filigree work outside. The colourfully faceted interior has some beautiful papier-mâché work around a series of graves that flash gaudily with fairy lights.
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B
Khanqah of Shah-i-Hamadan
With frontage and interiors covered in elaborately coloured wood carvings and papier-mâché reliefs, this distinctively spired 1730s Khanqah of Shah-i-Hamadan is Srinagar’s most beautiful historic building. Non-Muslim visitors can peek through the door but may not enter. The building stands on the site of one of Kashmir’s first mosques, founded by Persian saint Mir Sayed Ali Hamadani. Nicknamed ‘Shah’, Hamadani had arrived in 1372, one of 700 refugees fleeing Timur’s conquest of Iran. He is said to have converted 37,000 people to Sufi Islam, and it’s also likely that his retinue introduced Kashmiris to the Persian art of fine carpet-making.
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C
Makhdoom Sahib Shrine
Hindus believe that towering Hari Parbat Hill was the island where Sharika (Durga) defeated the lake demon Jalodabhava, while Muslims pay homage at the vast Makhdoom Sahib Shrine, dedicated to a Sufi saint who helped the spread of Islam in Kashmir. A flight of stone steps climbs up to the shrine and descends towards Dal Lake, passing the ruined mosque of Akhund Mulla Shah, built by Shah Jahan's son Dara Shikoh in 1649.
The hill is topped by the imposing Hari Parbat Fort, now occupied by the Indian Army. Around the base of the hill are the remains of the old city walls, built by Akbar in the 1590s.
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D
Jama Masjid
Srinagar’s principal mosque, the mighty 1672 Jama Masjid has room for 33,000 devotees. Each of the 378 roof-support columns was fashioned from the trunk of a single deodar tree. Monumental brick gatehouses mark the four cardinal directions. Bags and cameras are prohibited.
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E
Hazratbal Mosque
On the lakeshore north of the Old City, the modern Hazratbal Mosque was the setting for a notorious standoff between armed militants and Indian police in the 1990s. Today it has returned to its peaceful purpose - enshrining a hair of the Prophet Mohammed.
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F
Naqshband Sahib
The beautifully proportioned but uncoloured 17th-century shrine Naqshband Sahib was built in Himachal Pradesh style with alternating layers of wood and brick to dissipate the force of earthquakes.
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G
Pathar Masjid
Facing Shah-i-Hamadan on the opposite side of the river, the peaceful Pathar Masjid is a more conventional stone mosque built by Jehangir's wife Nur Jahan in 1623.
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