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The Shrine of Sultan Sahib (Sultan Darvesh) at Hakura Badasgam, Anantnag

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A 20th century Sufi known as Sheikh Muhammad Sultan used to live in a small village in Anantnag, the Kashmir valley called Hakura Badasgam. He has achieved miraculous status throughout the Kashmir area as well as outside of it as one of its prophets. Baba Sultan is classified as a Qalandar (one of 4 categories of Sufis). The Qalandars lived their lives wholly devoted to God by following Him alone and not following social customs (that is, the accepted rules of society) as a matter of course, except where doing so might violate the Shari'ah (that is, the universal law of God). (The differences in behaviour, dress, and objects carried by Qalandars has been used as an excuse to consider Qalandars to be separate from others.) There exists a considerable amount of literature concerning Qalandars in languages other than English such as Urdu (the principal native language of Pakistan), Persian (the principal native language of Iran), and Arabic (the principal native language of Saudi Arab...
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A tribute to Gazal Maestro Shyam Talib

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                                        Shyam Talib was a contemporary literary figure. He was an Urdu poet and was popular in the literary community in Jammu. He was the founder president of a cultural organization called Adbi Kunj and he nourished this literary organization with his blood, sweat and tears and continued to serve it most of his life. While an Urdu poet and writer principally, he had similar respect for other languages and specifically, Shyam Talib had a feeling of reverence and love for the language of Dogri and Kashmiri languages. In Adbi Kunj as a literary organization weekly Mushara's were organized in all the languages of Jammu and Kashmir and Shyam Talib was always at the head of this literary organization right up to his death, which indeed was his child. Shyam Talib had a teaching career and was a public servant teacher and regarded his profession as noble and divi...
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Badrakali Mandir, Thalwal Mandal: A Sacred Pillar of Kashmiri Pandit Faith in Exile

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                       It has been thirty-five years since the Kashmiri Pandit community was exiled from their native land and they've kept alive their customs, culture and traditions. The Kashmiri Pandit population was driven from their ancestral home in the early 1990s, has built replicas of their sacred shrines and temples in many locations in Jammu and beyond. These buildings are not just places of worship; they are links of emotions and spirituality to their ancestral land, which they were forced to leave behind. Kashmiri Pandits have the dream of a Kashmir homeland called Panun Kashmir and have stated as far back as 1991, in a resolution called the Margdarshan resolution, that Panun Kashmir should be created for seven lakh Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir where the Pandits should be settled as original inhabitants of Kashmir. The original Bhadrakali shrine temple is in Handwara North Kashmir, and even today devotees pay their ...
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Premanand Ji Maharaj: The Voice of Divine Love in Modern Times

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                          Photo Source: Internet  In an era where technology is advancing at unprecedented pace and materialism is growing increasingly prevalent, there is a hunger for voices that speak to the soul - voices that are transmitting ageless wisdom, but expressed in our contemporary language. Among such voices is Premanand Ji Maharaj who is emerging as a venerated saint, and spiritual guru; and who resonates with millions of people in India, and around the world. His teachings, which literature on Bhakti Yoga and the path of divine love, naturally resonate with seekers from all backgrounds, marking him as one of the significant spiritual figures of modernity. Born in a small Indian village, Premanand Ji Maharaj has been spiritual in nature from a young age. In fact, as a child, he had greater interest in devotional songs, stories of saints, and temple activities than on worldly distractions. Unlike several...
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Lord Buddha’s message of non-violence, compassion, love and peace

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Like other major religions, Buddhism embodies non-violence in thought and deed, compassion, love, peace and most importantly encourages a lifestyle of compassion towards all beings including animals and of being content with what we have. Buddha Purnima also known as Vesak or vesakha is considered the most sacred festival for Buddhists. This sacred day for Buddhists is a general holyday in many countries including Sri Lanka, India and Nepal. Buddha Purnima is celebrated in 2023 on the 12th of May or Monday.  The middle path as avoidance of the extremes as taught by Buddha brings the truth and avoids conflict, reconciles different opinions, and seeks consensus. Buddha did talk to the people of the world and give them the message of peace and non violence and though he talked about it then his message and teaching is relevant more so today in this materialistic world. Buddha means one who is enlightened and who has awoken with an intention to develop a peaceful, harmonious and just s...
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Suryaputri Tawi of Jammu

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                                                                    With justification, Jammu, which is known as the city of temples, is located on the banks of River Tawi, which according to Hindu mythology and scriptural texts is called the Suryaputri Tawi, hence it holds great religious, spiritual and cultural significance. The river Tawi is the daughter of the Sun God and is the line and pride of duggerland and it is revered and looked upon with great esteem by the people, who perform many religious rituals and ceremonies on its banks, which is considered very holy. Known as Suryaputri-Daughter of the Sun, Tawi River has great religious, spiritual and cultural significance for the people of Jammu. It is revered as a sacred river with healing and restorative powers. The river is mentioned in ancient Hindi texts and i...
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Honoring the Legacy of Sarwanand Premi

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                                             I pay my homage and tribute to Sarvanand Koul Premi on his 35th death anniversary on 1st May 2025 (Thursday) and I am short of words to describe him and his contribution to secularism, pluralism, progressivism, social reform, Hindu-Muslim unity, mutual brotherhood and what not? Premi’s was a multifaceted personality and it cannot be penned down in a small space in paper. Sarwanand Koul Premi, Son of Gopi Nath Koul–the first matriculate in his village and Omarvati Koul, was born in a farming family of Anantnag district in the year 1924. Premi was a renowned freedom fighter, a philanthropist, literateur and what not? Premi had good knowledge and proficiency in Hindi, Urdu, Kashmiri, Sanskrit, Persian, English etc and wrote with ease in all these languages. Sarvanand was a great teacher, educationist, poet, reformer, doyen of Hindu-...
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Traffic congestion: A major issue

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              One of the most common and irritating problem that one faces in the Jammu city is getting caught in traffic jams. The daily commuting on the roads of Jammu is becoming worrisome and more grueling day by day, depicting the failure of the public transportation infrastructure to keep pace with the growing developing activities in the Jammu city. Traffic congestion is a burning issue in our city now a days’.  Due to burgeoning traffic congestion the life becomes totally out of gear and has come to stand still. Traffic rules, lane driving, red lights are not being followed honestly which lead to traffic congestion in our city. It has also led to the increase in the number accidents and fatalities on the roads. The irony is that everyone is in hurry but nobody reaches on time. The system of traffic in our city is worsening and deteriorating with each passing day. Now a day’s Jammu city is witnessing the worst traffic congestion problem and...
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