Land of Kashyapa - Page #1 - Intro

 Land of Kashyapa - Page#1

The "Melodious Land of Santoor" was a beautiful and well curated week of travel to the Land of Kashyapa (Kashmir) by Ms Priya Thyagarajan and Sri Madhusudhanan Kalaichelvan. Soumya and I have earlier travelled with Ms Priya and when the Kashmir plan came up we signed up for it right-away knowing the long hours she would have spent in recce - traveling and talking to the locals and experts while lining up one wonder after another for our experiencing, learning and savoring.
When we flew over the Himalayas and into Srinagar, we were in awe at the beauty of the land. The Valley is bounded between the Pir Panjal and Zanskar ranges and the bowl was a long time ago filled with the glacial waters forming a lake called Satisar (the Lake of the goddess Sati, also known as Durga). Legends say that Sage Kashyapa drained the valley by praying to Lord Vishnu who in the avatar of a Boar dug an opening called "Varhamula" (varaha (boar) and mūla (root or deep)) which is today called Baramulla. The origin of the word Kashmir has its roots in the desiccation of the land / draining of the waters by Sage Kashyapa.
"The Rajatarangini (Sanskrit: “Waterway of Kings”) provides the earliest source on Kashmir that can be labeled as a "historical" text on this region. The Kashmiri poet Kalhana in his epic poem "Rajatarangini" "gives an account of the many royal dynasties that ruled the ancient kingdom of Kashmir from its mythical origins down till the poet’s own time." From the Gonanda dynasty starting 2448 BC till his period, the 12th Century AD he documents the Kings.
Over a few weeks, time permitting, I plan to write a few pages, each about a place, or ruins of Hindu temple or other which we had experienced while in the land.
If there should be errors in my narration please feel free to correct.
Sriram(Hari)








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