Sharda ( ur, ), also known as Shardi, is a small

Tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

Neelam District The district of Neelum (spelt also ''Neelam''; ur, ) is the northernmost of 10 districts located within the Pakistani-administered territory of Azad Kashmir. Taking up the larger part of the Neelam Valley, the district has a population of a ...

Azad Kashmir Azad Jammu and Kashmir (; ), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir, is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee: * * * and constituting the western portion of the larger Ka ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. It is one of the two ''

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

s'' of Neelum district, and is located on the banks of 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 mer ...

at an altitude of .

Etymology and historical sites

"Sharda" is another name of the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

goddess of knowledge,

Saraswati Saraswati ( sa, सरस्वती, ) is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom, and learning. She is one of the Tridevi, along with the goddesses Lakshmi and Parvati. The earliest known mention of Saraswati as a go ...

, and is known for being the site of the ruins of the famous temple and Hindu pilgrimage site

Sharada Peeth Sharada Peeth is a ruined Hindu temple and ancient centre of learning located in the Neelum Valley of Pakistani-administered Kashmir. Between the 6th and 12th centuries CE, it was among the most prominent temple universities in the Indian ...

, dedicated to the goddess Sharada. Sharda Peeth (Sharda, AJK)

Sharada Peeth

Between the 6th and 12th centuries CE, Sharada Peeth was among the most prominent temple universities in the Indian subcontinent. Known in particular for its library, it was associated with Buddhist scholars such as

Kumārajīva Kumārajīva (Sanskrit: कुमारजीव; , 344–413 CE) was a Buddhist monk, scholar, missionary and translator from the Kingdom of Kucha (present-day Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang, China). Kumārajīva is seen as one of the greatest ...

Thonmi Sambhota Thonmi Sambhota (Thönmi Sambhoṭa, aka Tonmi Sambhodha;, Tib. , Wyl. thon mi sam+b+ho Ta; b. seventh cent.) is traditionally regarded as the inventor of the Tibetan script and author of the ''Sum cu pa'' and ''Rtags kyi 'jug pa'' in the 7th cen ...

Rinchen Zangpo __NOTOC__ Lochen Rinchen Zangpo (958–1055; ), also known as Mahaguru, was a principal lotsawa or translator of Sanskrit Buddhist texts into Tibetan during the second diffusion of Buddhism in Tibet, variously called the New Translation School, ...

, as well as Kalhana Pandit and

Adi Shankara Adi Shankara ("first Shankara," to distinguish him from other Shankaras)(8th cent. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya ( sa, आदि शङ्कर, आदि शङ्कराचार्य, Ādi Śaṅkarācāryaḥ, lit=First Shanka ...

. It played a key role in the development and popularisation of the

Sharada script The Śāradā, Sarada or Sharada script is an abugida writing system of the Brahmic family of scripts. The script was widespread between the 8th and 12th centuries in the northwestern parts of Indian Subcontinent (in Kashmir and neighbourin ...

in North India, resulting in the script being named after it, and

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

acquiring the moniker "''Sharada Desh"'', meaning "country of Sharada". Before 1947, a fair was held in Sharda every four years during the leap year (last being 1944) on Sharda Ashtami, the 8th day of the bright fortnight of Badhun (Bhadra in Hindu Panchang calendar), where Kashmiri Pandits would assemble for Shraad rituals and ashes of those who had died during the past 12 months were immersed in Kishenganga (Neelum) river. In non-leap years, the Shraad was performed every year at Haramukh Gangabal located at 14,500 ft in the Kashmir valley.

Nearby locations

Shardi and Nardi are the two mountain peaks overlooking the valley, named after the princesses of legend, Sharda and Narda. Over the right bank, opposite Sharda, the river Neelum is joined by the Surgan Nullah, along which a track leads to the Noori Nar Pass and through it to Kaghan Valley, where boating and jet skiing takes place. Attractions in Sharda include Surgan, Maidaan, Kishan Ghatti, and Sharada Peeth.

Gallery

File:Sharda Neelum Valley Winter.jpg File:Sharda, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan.jpg File:Sharda village.jpg File:The Mountains of Sharda, Azad Kashmir.jpg

References

External links