Fort Hari-Parbat / Koh-i-Maran | by Ahanger HOBO

Visible from everywhere in the city is this central fort that overlooks all. According to legend, the Koh e Maran hill was once a huge lake inhabited by the demon Jalobhava. The inhabitants called on the goddess Parvati for help. She took the form of a bird and dropped a pebble on the demon’s head, which grew larger and larger until it crushed the demon. Koh e Maran is revered as that pebble, and is said to have become the home for all the gods of the Hindu pantheon. On his first visit to Kashmir (1597) Emperor Akbar fortified this hill to provide waged labour to a flood besieged Valley. The present fort was completed in the early 1800s.

Unfortunately, the fort is closed to the public but living in the streets underneath the fort are some colorful and itinerant communities, take a stroll through their streets for great faces and photographs!