RELAXING AT GARDENS

After Amarnath Darshan, our next destination led us to the local sightseeing tour of Srinagar which we started with the famous Mughal Gardens, "Shalimar Bagh" made by Shah Jahan, richly lined by fountains and its door gives you the tradition Mughal impression, there were some ramps made in between and entirely cultured by the wide varieties of richly species of flowers rare to be seen. In the gardens, one can find the local crowd enjoying with their families and friends, the well managed and well furnished plants all around gives you a relaxing experience all over.

Some views of Shalimar Garden

After relaxing there for sometime, our taxi drove us out through the lining of Foreshore (referred as Mumbai's Marine Drive by locals) to the Pari Mahal, constructed by Dara-Shikoh, the eldest son of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan for her queens in order to view the entire Dal Lake from there. It is a six storeyed building and from each storey, one could observe the entire Dal Lake. 

View of Pari Mahal from Dal Lake

Inside view of Pari Mahal

The beauty of Dal Lake can be seen from its terrace

Beautiful sunset from its corner

Shades of the evening

From the Pari Mahal, we headed towards Chashm-e-Shahi, the place where water from natural spring emerges, much pure than our normal mineral water and it is chilled enough too. One could observe the small kashmiri boys playing there so childishly giving you unending joy. It was really amazing to feel proud that there still exists a state in India where parents are so willing to let their children play with nature which helps in building their confidence, otherwise in plains, we only have big malls, supermarkets, PS3, etc to entertain our children from where they could only feel gadgets, there is nothing natural or evergreen for us to show them.

Entrance view of Chasm-e-shahi 

Source of Natural Spring

From there, we met Shahid and his brother Faisal, this was going to be our last yet memorable meet  in a week's stay of ours in Srinagar. They drove us to the highly respected Hazratbal, my sister Pooja eagerly wanted to be there and by her wish, we got to listen the last closing prayer of the day. It is believed, whatever you wished there, you got that thing. From there, Shahid took us to the shop from where we purchased a woollen jacket for our father. Throughout the time, we let his car windows opened as we want to sublime that fresh and unpolluted air of Srinagar in our souls. He then dropped us to the hotel. Its time to say goodbye to our friend who cared for us more than a family member in the unknown city making Kashmir really an unforgettable experience for us urging our minds to stay more in this heaven.

After having our dinner, we did not talk much, might be, we want to occupy our minds only with all  the unsaid experiences we felt in the Jannat.  

The next morning we went to Shankracharya temple, it was located on highest range, with around 289 stairs for climbing up. The cameras and mobile phones are not allowed there so have no good picture of inside view of temple. It was the oldest temple having shrine of Lord Shiva, the temple was built by Adi Guru Shankracharya where he did his penance(tapasya). Some of his purest remains were still remain preserved by the authorities.

View of Shankaracharya temple from Dal Lake

The immensity of the temple can be judged from the fact that when you stand on its roof, you can observe the view of entire Srinagar. After coming from the temple, we took our breakfast in the famous Krishna Dhaba in the Dal Market which is the only yummiest source of delivering vaishno (pure vegetarian) food to the tourists.

Having our stomachs so deliciously full, we boarded our flight from Srinagar to Delhi storing pleasing memories in our heart about the rich culture of Kashmir and its people.