I knew that India was a spritual state and I kept on wondering weather Kashmir is also rich in relgious activities till the date I found out that it was. It had few of the very famous pilgrimage places that included Vaishno Devi, Shankracharya temple, Hazaratbal Shrine and very popular Amarnath temple.

The first place that I visited to was Shankarcharya Temple. It was included in my sightseeing tour. The temple is located at 1100ft.above surface level of the main city on the Takht-e-Suleiman hill. The shiva temple, was constructed by Raja Gopadatya in 371 B.C.and as such is the oldest shirne in Kashmir.In 1925, the temple was electrifed. The temple, besides a prominent religious place of Hindus, is of great archaeological importance. The temple commands a magnificient panoramic view of the Srinagar city.

I also explored the famous Hazratbal Shrine in Kashmir, situated on the left bank of the famous Dal Lake in Srinagar. This unmatched reverence is anchored in the love and respect for the Prophet Mohammad, whose Moi-e-Muqqadas, the sacred hair, is preserved here. In the shrine, I came to know about many names of the shrine that included Hazratbal , Assar-e-Sharief, madinat-us-Sani,Dargah Sharief and Dargah.

A guide over there told me that garden was laid by Sadiq Khan, and he also constructed a palacial building, Ishrat mahal or Pleasure House, in 1623. The construction of the present marble structure was started by the Muslim Aquaf Trust headed by Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in 1968 and completed in 1979.

I also trekked the famous Vaishno Devi. Though I am not very religious by nature but out of curiosity I advanced towards the holiest destination in Northern India. The shrine is located 61 km north of Jammu at a height of 5,200 feet above the sea level in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The holy cave shrine of Vaishno Devi is nestled in a beautiful recess of the Trikuta Mountains forming a part of the lower Himalayas. In the cave there are images of three deities viz. the Mahakali, Mahalakshmi and Mahasaraswati.

I also came to know about the famous Amarnath Yatra, organized every year by the J&K Govt. during the month of July and August. The dates may vary every year looking at the weather conditions and according to Indian Festival- Purnima or the Raksha Bandhan in the month of Sharavan or the Vikrama Samwat. For performing this Yatra, one is required to get registered . The registration is done by J &K Govt. Tourist Offices, located at Delhi , Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Jammu and Srinagar. It is not easy to trek this route as the temple is at height of about 14,500 ft.