History:
The district headquarters of Udhampur is located in an area that has been traditionally known as "the land of Druva."; Udhampur derives its name from Raja Udham Singh, the oldest son of Maharaja Gulab Singh, who was the founder of the Dogra dynasty and founder of the Kingdom of Jammu and Kashmir. Udhampur was established on a location that was previously very thick forested and was a place that Raja Udham Singh frequented while hunting. Over time, Raja Udham Singh became fond of the area and made it the location for his new town. Udhampur District is located between 32 degrees 34 minutes to 39 degrees 30 minutes north latitude and 74 degrees 16 minutes to 75 degrees 38 minutes east longitude. Udhampur District has elevations ranging from 600 meters to 3,000 meters above sea level. Udhampur District is located in southeast Jammu and Kashmir and is bordered on the northwest by Rajouri District, northeast by Doda District, southeast by Kathua District, southwest by Jammu District.
Rough terrain
District Udhampur has a large area of forests and the total percentage of land that is covered by trees is 51.49%. Sarada belongs to Udhampur district and is included in village Gangara area. Sarada village is located about three kilometres from Udhampur town, on journey towards the Kashmir valley, as you travel on national highway 1A. To get to the village from the national highway, one will need to go through a steep uphill road that will take approximately one kilometre. Sarada village was amongst the first to settle in this area and according to revenue records, it was established about 225 years ago. Sarada village is placed at the top of a hill that has a great view of its fields, railway line, airstrip, Udhampur town and the Tawi river; The view from Sarada village is very magnificent with a beautiful view of the surroundings. The topography around Sarada over three sides has dense trees and shrubs that are highly untrimmed, while there is a large amount of trees around the western side of Sarada that give it great visual appeal. There is a steep pathway, following a route, that extends from the national highway to the Sarada temple.
Tawi valley
The Rural Development Department, under the Nehru Rojgar Yojna, worked with the people of Sarada village to develop this path in 1981. The path has been partly created by putting in steps and partly by putting dressed stones throughout the path until one gets to the temple. A pilgrim only takes approximately one and a half hours to walk up the path and reach the Sarada Temple. The bright sun shining through the silvery pines above and the gurgling River Tawi flowing through the valley below, makes one feel as if they are in a completely different world.
Sarada village consists of 243hectares of land approximately but this includes more than 23hectares which is either wasteland, dryland or shrubland and the area that contains the buildings and spaces occupied by the villagers and everything else that exists in between villages and also contains both the area where temples and schools are, which accounts for around 66hectares. In addition to this, the land that is classified as being habitable and not used for farming, is about 154hectares of grazing land (Sad Mahadev temple).
The temple where the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Temple of Sarada is located at an altitude of 2000ft (609m) in the North Western part of the village, which is currently home to the Goddess of Learning and Fine Arts, (Sardapeeth). The establishment of this temple took place during the boyhood of Sh. Gopal Dass, a resident of the village of Jakhani, who was not interested in attending a local school to pursue education in the three R's, instead frequented this location under the shade of five Blackberry trees that were nearby and had a spring river gushing out of the base of a large tree.
A boy who used to spend his free time sitting underneath the trees used to go home after school hours. Until one day when he was having a dream while resting under the trees, Mother appeared to him and told him that she lived inside of one of the trees. After hearing this, the boy awoke from his dream and returned home with a sense of loss. From then on, he carried a bag of sand every day in order to build a temple at the spot of his vision and it came to be known as a sacred place (Kheer Bhawani) because of the faith of the thousands upon thousands of seekers of the blessings of the Goddess Sarada (Mother Goddess in her three manifestations) who continued to congregate at the site, many from long distances, and to worship at the shrine.
Sarada Mata's abode in Black Berry Tree:
The empty trunk of the blackberry tree that housed the Divine Mother also became the sacred space for the temple that arose here through the tireless efforts of Gopal Dass, who lived as a celibate; he can be found working in or around the temple.
The entrance of the temple is located on the North-East side of the temple. The Divine Mother faces an ancient temple located across the River Tawi, situated in a dilapidated fort, built by Raja Udham Singh, and with an asthapan of Mother Nanda The goddess Nanda of self-realization (joy of self-realization) is bestowed upon by the Supreme through Divine Grace. The ultimate joy comes from the grace of the Devotees, giving them an unexpectedly wonderful surprise. There is also a holy spring, called Bowli, from a branch of the holy tree, about one foot from the ground; the holy water has been collected in a closed tank, which has two large pipes for pilgrims to take a bath under. A village elder told me that in ancient times, after animals drank from the tank, they died; therefore, in later years, the animals of the village have been forbidden to drink from the holy spring.
The temple of Sarada is located in a rectangular courtyard, which is 150 feet long by 40 feet wide. The temple has four black berry trees planted in its compound and they are all completely covered with their dark foliage. Only one of these trees, the one that holds the presence of Mother Goddess Sarada, is full of fruit. The hymn Sarada Varada Devi Mookshadhartri Saraswati means "Mother Sarada bestows you with the gift of freedom through knowledge". In the dark of night, when people sit under the shelter of the black berry trees, they can connect with God at this holy place. During the full moon nights, those who visit Sarada Mata's temple can experience a feeling of spirituality throughout the entire area of the temple.
(Writer: Vivek Koul, owner of this blogger site)
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