Srinagar City, Kashmir

After coming back to Srinagar, we were dropped off at the Hotel Kabo in the heart of Srinagar, near Lal Chowk, where we had planned to stay a few days and check out Srinagar city. We strolled to the nearby Lal Chowk, which was a busy bazaar area.

Since it was getting dark, we decided to go eat dinner at Imran Cafeteria, a renowned eatery located in the bustling Khayam Chowk of Old Srinagar, known as the Barbecue street; Imran Cafeteria was famous for Sheek Tuj, mutton BBQ. We lost touch with Zulfi, so we decided to take a tuk-tuk to Imran Cafeteria. The place is on a busy street with a small eating area inside.

Busy Barbecue Street in Khayam Chowk area of Srinagar and dinner at Imran Cafeteria

After a great meal here, we got hold of Zulfi, who sent had sent his brother to pick us up. So we made it back to the hotel for a good night’s rest.

Early next morning (5:30AM), we were picked up by Zulfi and taken to a Ghat on Dal lake where we took a shikara to visit the floating vegetable market, which is only open till 7AM. Some scenes below from our shikara on Dal Lake

We finally made it to the floating Vegetable market, which was a number of small dugout canoes with lots of fresh local vegetable products on them, changing hands from the farmers to the retailers and restaurants and households. A nice lively scene in the early hours of the morning.

Views

We even got fresh hot kashmiri kahwa and explanations at the floating market from Mushtaq

After a short time at the market, it was time to get back to the Ghat. Some views on the way back

Back at the Ghat, we were picked up by Zulfi and went back to the hotel to have breakfast and rest before going to visit Jamia Masjid (Friday mosque). This mosque was built in 1400, and made from 378 pillars of Deodar trees. It has turrets instead of minarets and looks almost pagoda style. Has space for 33,333 people to pray. Some scenes below

After this, Zulfi took us to check out the Hari Parbat Fort, a fort built on Koh-i-Maran hill overlooking Srinagar. The fort was started by the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1590 who built an outer wall for the fort as part of his plans for a new capital, but was never completed. The present fort was built in 1808 under the reign of the Governor of Kashmir Province of the Durrani Empire, Atta Mohammed Khan. Down the hill, there are 3 famous religious sites; the Sharika temple (Hindu), the Shah Badakhshi mosque & shrine (Muslim) and the Gurdwara Chatti Patshahi (Sikh temple) where Guru Har Gobind, the sixth Sikh guru, stayed for few days while travelling through Kashmir.

After this, we were driving back to the town when we spotted the Gurdwara Chatti Patshahi (Sikh temple); we asked Zulfi to drop us off here and pick us up later.

After offering prayers inside, we were getting ready to call Zulfi when we noticed that Langar was underway next door. Since it was lunch time, we joined in. Langar is the community kitchen of a gurdwara where free vegetarian meals are served free of charge to anyone, regardless of religion, caste, gender, economic status or ethnicity.

After this langar, Zulfi took us to Hazratbal Shrine, a Sufi shrine and mosque said to host hairs (Moi-e-Muqqadas) of the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH), which are only displayed on special occasions. Click here to learn about how the hair got here from Medina. Hazratbal shrine was fairly small, with larger grounds outside. Nothing much to see here; the hairs are only displayed on special occasions.

Some random scenes below around Srinagar city over the several days we were here

There were 1.2 million Indian army soldiers stationed in Jammu & Kashmir state to keep the peace. Srinagar city had multiple checkpoints all over the city, where the army would set up armored carriers & roadblocks that did not stop the traffic completely, but where the traffic had to slow down and weave a zig-zag pattern to cross the checkpoint. This allowed the army to quickly stop traffic when they needed to. We found multiple groups of ~20 soldiers who would be walking from one checkpoint to the next; all designed to give a show of strength and keep the peace. We did meet several soldiers and talk to them and they were from all over India on duty; and were friendly to us tourists at least. We were never stopped at any checkpoints, but if any incident had happened, it would probably not have been a pleasant experience. Zulfi explained that the Kashmiri’s generally don’t want to be “ruled’ by India or Pakistan; they just want to be independent.

Nishat Bagh (Garden of Joy) was another place we visited; it is a terraced garden built during the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan’s time. This was a very busy place being visited by local tourists; many of whom wanted to take pics with Dilshad 😊.

One evening, Zulfi took us to the Mughal Darbar restaurant for some more authentic wazwan food. A little about wazwan; it is a lavish multi-course meal (up to 36 courses for ultimate formal banquets or royal events); cooked by a master chef in large copper pots over firewood. The preparation by the master chef is a meticulous, overnight process. Most of the dishes are meat, though they do have some vegetable dishes and desserts. More than just a meal, it is a symbol of Kashmiri hospitality, community and Kashmiri identity. Check out the dishes served and the etiquette at ultimate wazwan formal banquets here; its very interesting.

After a nice meal at Mughal Darbar, we walked along the Jhelum river next door to digest the meal, and as we were walking along, we heard some hindi/urdu music coming from a covered bridge across the Jhelum river. We went there and saw a group of young men sitting and singing; turns out they were local University of Kashmir students just enjoying the lovely evening. So, we sat and chatted with them and they sang a few of our favorite songs; what a wonderful way to spend a nice evening outdoors.

Pasoori

Classic Rahat Fateh Ali Khan

By this time, Zulfi had come by looking for us and saw where we were; he sat a discrete distance away, making sure we were good and keeping an eye on us. Very nice hospitality; giving us enough room to explore but always being nearby just in case. We asked Zulfi if he knew of any Kashmiri wedding going on that we could attend; and he said that his friend’s sister was getting married and would get us invited. So next day, off we went shopping to Lal Chowk near our hotel to get some wedding clothes

That evening, we went to where the wedding was supposed to be and for some reason, we were late as it looked like they were winding down. I guess something got lost in translations.

Wazwan kitchen at the wedding, outside the home. Note the cooking pots over the log wood fires

It turned out that this was a wedding “in absentia” so to speak; the groom (from a different town) had done his Nikah (traditional Muslim wedding) at his own home, signed the marriage contract, the then his relatives had brought the document over to the bride’s home, and the bride also had a Nikah and had signed in the same marriage contract, in the presence of the same witnesses and same wakil’s. So they were married “in absentia” and later that night, the groom was going to arrive and formally take the bride home.

In the next room, were a group of women singing the praises of the bride; of course, Dilshad had to join in

Thoughts on Srinagar area in Indian Kashmir: the best part was the people and their hospitality; the wazwan food and the natural beauty. For the senses, it was a feast for the eyes with the lakes, mountains and natural beauty; for the taste buds and smell, another feast for the wonderful and tasty wazwan food and the huge variety available. For the heart, hearing, and sensory touches, it was the warm and hospitable Kashmiri people that stole the heart.

The only thing I did not like was the large scale of tourism here; but it is something that is the economic lifeblood for most Kashmiri’s and so a necessity. The large military presence and checkpoints could have become very uncomfortable should any incident have happened while we were there.

All in all, a great trip and wonderful experiences.

I have been asked to compare the Indian Kashmir to the Pakistani Kashmir (Hunza Valley, Gilgit-Baltistan) we had visited several years before. In both cases, the people were most hospitable and welcoming and made the trips wonderful for us. The natural beauty in Northern Pakistan was much more enticing than on the Indian side; it was raw beauty with lots of huge mountains that we felt was more untouched. Also, the Northern Pakistan side was much less populated and have less than 1% of tourists that we witnessed in Srinagar; and that also added to the charm for us for Northern Pakistan. Just our thoughts and feelings; not meant to disparage any side.

Malaysia next

Our trip so far

This entry was posted in Asia, Delhi India June 2022, Delhi-Kashmir June 2022, India

• 2022
• Badamvari Gardens
• Barbecue street
• floating market
• floating post office
• floating vegetable market
• Gurdwara Chatti Patshahi
• Hari Parbat Fort
• Hazratbal Shrine
• houseboats
• India
• Jamia Masjid
• June 2022
• Kashmir
• kashmiri kahwa
• kashmiri kehwa
• Kashmiri wedding
• Khayam Chowk
• Koh-i-Maran
• Lal Chowk
• Langar
• Moi-e-Muqqadas
• Nishat Bagh
• Sheek Tuj
• Sheek Tujj
• Srinagar
• wazwan
• wazwan food