THE VALLEYS AND PLACES OF INTEREST
THE SIND VALLEY
The most bold and striking of the side-valleys is undoubtedly the Sind
valley. A fourteen-miles' ride, or a night in a boat, takes the
traveller to Ganderbal at its mouth, from which Sonamarg, the
favourite camping-ground near the head of the valley, is four marches
distant. The lower portion is not particularly interesting, though
even here the pine woods, the rushing river, and the village clusters
are beautiful. But at Sonamarg--"the golden meadow"--the great peaks
close round, glaciers pour down from them almost on to the
camping-ground, and the scenery has all the grandeur of the Alps.
[Illustration: GORGE OF THE SIND VALLEY AT GUGGANGIR]
Sonamarg itself is a narrow grassy flat, 8650 feet above sea-level,
extending for some two miles between the hill-side and the river bank
where another beautiful valley joins in from the south-west. All
the slopes and meadows are covered with alpine flowers. Rich forests
of silver fir, intermingled with sycamore and fringed on their upper
borders with silver birch, clothe the mountain-sides. From each valley
flows a rich white glacier. Grand rocky cliffs encircle the forests
and meadows, and culminate in bold snowy peaks which give a crowning
beauty to the whole. It is an ideal camping-ground and a strong rival
to Gulmarg.
Some fifteen miles beyond Sonamarg is the Zoji-la Pass leading to
Ladak and Baltistan. It was by this pass that I first entered Kashmir
in 1887, and coming thus from the opposite direction, the change in
scenery was most remarkable. For hundreds of miles from the northern
side I had traversed country which though of the grandest description,
was absolutely devoid of forest. The great mountains, sublime in their
ruggedness and in the purity of their snowy mantle, were yet
completely barren. Then, of a sudden, as I crossed the Zoji-la all was
changed in a moment, and I burst into one of the loveliest valleys in
the world with glorious forests clothing every slope. It was a
refreshing and delightful change, a relaxation from a sublimity too
stern to bear for long, to the homely geniality of earthly life, and
the remembrance of it still lies fresh upon my memory.
GANGABAL LAKE
About forty miles from Srinagar, and lying at the foot of the great
peak Haramokh, is the remarkable Gangabal Lake. It is reached by a
steep pull of 4000 feet from the Sind valley. By the side of the path
rushes a clear, ice-cold stream. From the top of the rise are superb
views precipitously down to the Wangat valley leading up from the Sind
and beyond it to a jagged range of spires and pinnacles. The path then
leads over rolling downs, covered in summer with ranunculus and
primulas, to a chain of torquoise and ice-green lakes, above which
grimly towers the massive Haramokh six thousand feet above the water,
and giving birth to voluminous glistening glaciers which roll down to
the water's edge.
It is a silent, solitary, and impressive spot, and is held in some
reverence by the Hindus.
THE LOLAB
[Illustration: THE FROZEN LAKE, GANGABAL]
The Lolab is the western end of the vale of Kashmir, and is remarkable
rather for the homely picturesqueness of its woodland and village
beauty than for the grandeur of its scenery. It is usually reached by
boat up the Pohru River three miles below Sopur. In two days the limit
of navigation at Awatkula is reached. From thence the road leads to
Kofwara, eight miles, and Lalpura, the chief place, twelve miles
farther. The hill-sides are entirely clothed with thick forests of
deodar and pine. In the valley bottom are beautiful stretches of soft
green turf. Dotted over it are villages buried in park-like clumps of
walnut, apple, and pear trees; and numerous streams ripple through on
every side. For forest and village scenery it is nowhere excelled. It
is like a series of English woodland glades, with the additional
beauty of snowy peaks in the background.
THE LIDAR VALLEY
A favourite side-valley is the Lidar, for which the road takes off
from the main valley at Bijbehara. It is not of such wild rocky
grandeur as the Sind valley, but has milder beauties of its own,
charming woodland walks, and in summer a wealth of roses pink and
white, jasmine, forget-me-nots, a handsome spiraea, strawberry,
honeysuckle, etc. By the side of the road runs the cool, foaming
Lidar stream, and everywhere are villages hidden amongst masses of
chenar, walnut, and mulberry.
On the left bank one and a half miles from Islamabad is the famous
spring of Bawan--a great tank under cool chenar trees. The spring is
sacred to Vishnu, and is in the charge of Brahmins, who keep a book in
which visitors have inscribed their names since 1827. The tank is full
of fishes fed by the Brahmins, and thousands dash to catch the bread
when thrown into the water. Altogether the village and the cool spring
welling out of the mountain-side, and the whole shaded by magnificent
old chenar trees, form a most attractive spot well worth a visit.
Twenty-four miles from Bijbehara, or twenty-eight from Islamabad, is
Pahlgam, always the camping-ground of several visitors during the
summer. Here, too, Colonel Ward for many years has resided in the
summer in a small house built by himself, but now taken over by the
State. I fancy life here is dull compared with life at Gulmarg, but
for those who wish to vegetate and lead an absolutely quiet existence
Pahlgam is admirably suited. It is two thousand feet higher than
Srinagar. The camping-ground is in a wood of blue pines, and the
fresh, clear, pine-scented air is refreshing after the stuffy main
valley in midsummer.
[Illustration: EARLY MORNING NEAR PAHLGAM, LIDAR VALLEY]
Above Pahlgam the valley bifurcates, one branch going to Aru, by which
a road leads over a troublesome pass into the Sind valley; and the
other leading to Shisha Nag and to the famous caves of Amarnath, the
resort of many hundreds of pilgrims in July and August. Immediately
beyond Pahlgam, on this latter route, the path leads through beautiful
woods with fine views of rocky heights and snowy peaks. Numerous
maiden-hair and other ferns, primulas, crane's bill, gentians, and
many other well-known flowers line the road-side. Above the wood line
are fine grassy uplands frequented by Gujars with their cattle,
ponies, buffaloes, sheep, and goats. Lidarwat is a lovely
camping-ground in a green lawn fringed by a deep belt of trees. Beyond
is the Kolahoi glacier, the road to which leads over a wide and
treeless valley, and in places crosses snow bridges. The
camping-ground is 11,000 feet above sea-level, and is set in a circle
of stately peaks. The end of the glacier is of grey ice, and so strewn
over with fragments of grey rock as hardly to be recognisable as ice,
though the ice is, in fact, two hundred feet thick. Above it rises
the bold peak of Kolahoi, so conspicuous in its sharp needle form from
Gulmarg, and six thousand feet above the glacier.
The cave of Amarnath is about 41 miles from Pahlgam, and is about
13,000 feet above sea-level. It is therefore above all tree
vegetation, and is set in wild and impressive scenery. The cave itself
is of gypsum, and is fifty yards long by fifty broad at the mouth, and
thirty at the centre. Inside is a frozen spring which is the object of
worship, and beside it is a noble glacier and bold and rugged cliffs.
MARTAND
Of all the ruins in Kashmir the Martand ruins are both the most
remarkable and the most characteristic. No temple was ever built on a
finer site. It stands on an open plain, where it can be seen to full
advantage. Behind it rises a range of snowy mountains. And away in the
distance before it, first lies the smiling Kashmir valley, and then
the whole length of the Pir Panjal range, their snowy summits mingling
softly with the azure of the sky. It is one of the most heavenly spots
on earth, not too grand to be overpowering, nor too paltry to be
lacking in strength and dignity, and it is easy to understand the
impulse which led a people to here raise a temple to heaven.
[Illustration: THE RUINS OF MARTAND]
The temple of Martand is the finest example of what is known as the
Kashmirian style of architecture, and was built by the most noted of
the Kashmir kings, Lalataditya, who reigned between the years 699 and
736 A.D.
Apart from its site it cannot be considered one of the really great
ruins of the world; but yet there is about it a combination of
massiveness and simplicity, and of solidity combined with grace, which
have earned it fame for a thousand years. There is something of the
rigidity and strength of the Egyptian temples, and something of the
grace of the buildings of Greece. Yet it is neither so Egyptian nor so
Grecian as the one or the other. Though Hindu, it differs from the
usual Hindu types; and is known distinctively as Kashmirian. It is,
however, decidedly Hindu, and not either Buddhist or Jain, and owes
much to the influence of Gandhara, while the sculptures show,
according to Marshal, a close connection with the typical Hindu work
of the late Gupta period.
ACHIBAL
At the eastern end of the valley is another of the Moghal gardens, at
the spot where quite a little river comes gushing straight out of the
mountain-side. Leaving the house-boat at Kanibal, near Islamabad, we
ride through a charming country, not so flat and swampy as the lower
portion of the valley. We approach the semicircle of mountains which
bound the valley on the east. Numerous streams rush down from the
mountains. The valley is divided up into rice-fields, and is
everywhere dotted over with hamlets hidden among chenar, mulberry,
walnut, and pear or apple trees. Passing through one of these
villages, which is alive with running water, and completely
overshadowed by massive chenar trees, we enter a garden of the usual
Moghal type, with a straight line of fountains and waterfalls, and an
avenue of chenars. At the head of the garden is the mountain-side
covered with deodar forest, and welling out of the mountain is a
rushing stream of clean, clear water. It is a delicious and remarkable
sight; but I think the spot would be more beautiful if the natural
conditions had been preserved, and the artificial garden and
unsightly buildings had not been constructed round it. For they only
serve to hide the magnificent prospect right down the length of the
Kashmir valley and the snowy mountains on either hand.
[Illustration: A SRINAGAR BAZAAR]
It is, however, in spite of this a fascinating spot, and the camp
which the Maharaja pitched here for the entertainment of Lord Minto
was the prettiest I have ever seen, for the lines of the tents
accorded with the formality of the garden, and the running water, the
fountains, and the waterfalls gave a special charm to the encampment.