Indian Army renovates 106-year-old Shiv Temple in Gulmarg

Gulmarg, June 02: With the help of the locals, the Indian army battalion at Gulmarg, renovated the structure of the ancient Shiv Temple, built by Maharani Mohini Bai Sisodia, wife of erstwhile Maharaja Hari Singh in 1915.This is the same temple that featured in Rajesh Khanna-Mumtaz's song 'Jai Jai Shiv Shankar'.

The reopening ceremony of the temple was jointly conducted by Army Commander, Imam of Jamia Masjid in Gulmarg, Sikh priest of Gurdwara, and a Christian priest.

Talking about the temple renovation initiative, “The best example of Kashmiriyat is that you will witness a mosque, mandir, gurudwara and a church around this place only. The caretaker of the mandir is a Muslim man Ghulam Mohammad, who has been taking care of it for more than 30 years. A lot of visitors from across the country, locals had desired that this temple be restored to its original state. So with help of civil administration, we took it on ourselves to restore the temple.”

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Ghulam Mohammad who is the caretaker of the temple for the last 30 years said, "The Shiv Temple is a testimony to the pluralistic culture of Kashmir and its proud heritage. Gulmarg community will continue doing community service without any religious prejudice and in the true essence of Kashmiriyat."

The temple was a hot spot for visitors in the 1970s and 1980s. However, since then no renovation or repair work was done on the temple leaving it in a very dilapidated condition.

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This temple g is one of the finest examples of the testimony to the pluralistic culture of the Kashmir valley and its proud heritage and also a symbol of communal harmony and brotherhood.