The Lolab Valley is a

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

n valley located in union territory of Jammu and Kashmir,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The entrance to the valley lies east of

Kupwara Kupwara is a town and a municipal council in Kupwara district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Municipal council Kupwara is an Urban Local Body with 13 elected members (also in Delimitation in progress for wards), which adm ...

, and the centre of the valley lies northwest of

Srinagar Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...

, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir. LOLAB is known as Land of Love and Beauty. It is an oval-shaped valley long with an average width of . Valley is at an altitude of 1,590 metres (5,215 ft) above the Sea level. An under-construction road from Bandipora to Lolab via Anderbugh Nagmarg Meadows will short cut the distance from Srinagar-to-Lolab by 50 kilometers. In Lolab Valley, there are a few tourist huts and many camping sites. It has the potential to become one of the best tourist destinations in Kashmir.

Geography

The Lolab Valley is situated within the jurisdiction of

Sogam Lolab Sogam Lolab is a municipality situated in the Lolab Valley of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (unio ...

, a block of

. Lolab is Sub-District of Kupwara. It is bordered by the

Kashmir Valley The Kashmir Valley, also known as the ''Vale of Kashmir'', is an intermontane valley concentrated in the Kashmir Division of the Indian- union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The valley is bounded on the southwest by the Pir Panjal Range and ...

to the south and the

Neelum River The Neelum River, or Kishanganga River, is a river in the Kashmir region of India and Pakistan. It originates in Bandipora district of northern Jammu and Kashmir in India, flows through the Neelam District of Pakistan's Azad Kashmir and then m ...

to the north, and is separated by Nagmarg meadows from Bandipore to the east. It is formed by the flow of Lahwal River, which flows from east to west. The Lolab Valley is home of many ancient springs, and is covered with dense forests of

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

and fir. Fruit trees such as

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fu ...

apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually, an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

and

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

are common in the valley, which is known as "the fruit bowl of Jammu and Kashmir". The valley has several natural landmarks and tourist spots, such as the caves of Kalaroos and Green Meadows. The main villages in the Lolab Valley are Saiwan, Putushai,Khumriyal, Sogam, Lalpora, Darpora, Cherkoot, Kalaroos, Wavoora, Warnow, Takipora, Cheepora, Goose, etc.

Ecology

Like other valleys in the region, Lolab Valley is also home to many Himalayan wild animals, which include

Himalayan black bear The Himalayan black bear (''Ursus thibetanus laniger'') is a subspecies of the Asian black bear found in the Himalayas of India, Bhutan, Nepal, China, and Pakistan. Description It is distinguished from '' U. t. thibetanus'' by its longer, thicke ...

, Himalayan brown bear,

snow leopard The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia''), also known as the ounce, is a Felidae, felid in the genus ''Panthera'' native to the mountain ranges of Central Asia, Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable species, Vulnerable on the IUCN Red ...

ibex An ibex (plural ibex, ibexes or ibices) is any of several species of wild goat (genus ''Capra''), distinguished by the male's large recurved horns, which are transversely ridged in front. Ibex are found in Eurasia, North Africa and East Africa. ...

markhor The markhor (''Capra falconeri'') is a large ''Capra'' species native to Central Asia, the Karakoram, and the Himalayas. It is listed on the IUCN Red List as Near Threatened since 2015. The markhor is the national animal of Pakistan, where it ...

hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

and

musk deer Musk deer can refer to any one, or all seven, of the species that make up ''Moschus'', the only extant genus of the family Moschidae. Despite being commonly called deer, they are not true deer belonging to the family Cervidae, but rather their fa ...

. Lolab Valley is adjacent to KishanGanga Valley, and separated by the

Line of Control The Line of Control (LoC) is a military control line between the Indian and Pakistanicontrolled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir—a line which does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary, but serve ...

. The Valley has seen many armed combats, which has resulted in the displacement of many wild animals.

Access

The Lolab Valley is well connected by road to

, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir, and Srinagar Airport. A bus takes three hours to cover a distance of and leads through the towns of

Sopore Sopore, known as Suyyapur in antiquity, is a city in the Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is north-west of Srinagar, and north-east from the city of Baramulla. Sopore Town has Asia's second largest fruit mandi (wholesale m ...

and

. An under-construction road from Bandipora to Lolab via Anderbugh Nagmarg Meadows will cut short the Srinagar-to-Lolab distance by 50 kilometers. In Lolab Valley, there are a few tourist huts and many camping sites. It has the potential to become one of the best tourist destinations in Kashmir.

Tourism

LOLAB is known as Land of Love and Beauty. Travelers visiting Lolab sometimes visit the resting place of the saint Kashyap reshi, which is located at a distance of 1 km from village Lalpora. A spring called Lavnag can be found nearby. The spring is three feet deep and has crystal clear water. Gauri spring is another major spring in the area. Due lack of intervention by government the place has very poor flow of tourists which keeps it potential for tourism still unexplored. This place still manages to be one of the top most camping sites in Kashmir. Some tourist attractions in the valley include Nagmarg Camping Site, Satbaran Kalaroos, Chandigam, Warnav, Machil, Kairwan Anderbugh, Green Meadows of Diver. New Tourist Site (Kairwan) is under Construction at Diver Lolab.

Poem

Lolab Valley was once visited by the Urdu poet

Muhammad Iqbal Sir Muhammad Iqbal ( ur, ; 9 November 187721 April 1938), was a South Asian Muslim writer, philosopher, Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philoso ...

and he wrote a poem, ''O Valley of Lolab!'' in the honour of Lolab's natural environment which starts with: پانی ترے چشموں کا تڑپتا ہوا سیماب مرغانِ سحَرتیری فضاؤں میں ہیں بیتاب اے وادیِ لولاب اے وادیِ لولاب ''Your springs and lakes with water pulsating and quivering like quicksilver,'' ''the morning birds fluttering about the sky, agitated and in turmoil,'' ''O Valley of Lolab! O Valley of Lolab! گر صاحبِ ہنگامہ نہ ہو منبر ومحراب دیں بندہٌ مومن کے لیے موت ہے یا خواب اے وادیِ لولاب اےوادیِ لولاب ''When the pulpit and the niche cease to re‐create Resurrections,'' ''faith then is dead or a mere dream, for thee, me and for all.'' ''O Valley of Lolab! O Valley of Lolab!''

Notable people

Shah Faesal Shah Faesal (born 17 May 1983) is an Indian bureaucrat currently posted as Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Culture (India) In 2010, he became the first Kashmiri to top the Indian Civil Services Examination. He tendered his resignation fro ...

Adhik Kadam Adhik Kadam is an Indian social entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is on a peacebuilding and peacekeeping mission, working in the conflict zones of Jammu and Kashmir.Kadam has completed a master's degree in political science. He is a co-found ...

Anwar Shah Kashmiri Anwar Shah Kashmiri (known with honorifics as ''Sayyid Muḥammad Anwar Shāh ibn Mu‘aẓẓam Shāh al-Kashmīrī''; 16 November 1875 – 28 May 1933) was a Kashmiri Muslim scholar and jurist who served as the first principal of Madrasa Ami ...

Ghulam Nabi Wani Ghulam Nabi Wani, (also known as: Sogami Sahab, born 1916, Sogam Lolab), was a politician of Jammu and Kashmir. He is the grandfather of Nasir Aslam Wani. He represented Lolab as an MLA from 1951 to 1977. Ministry Ghulam Nabi Sogami was a ...

Nasir Aslam Wani Nasir Aslam Wani (born 31 August 1964) is an Indian politician from the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and belongs to the National Conference party. He has served the State as the Minister of State for Tourism & Culture, Housing & Urb ...

References

External links

Lolab Valley
{{Kashmir Valley Valleys of Jammu and Kashmir River valleys of India Kupwara district