Hanji’s of Kashmir

Hanji’s were living in simple Doonga boats for centuries calling it home yet the term houseboat as we now understand in relation to tourism can be assigned to this boat built on order of Akbar. We are still centuries away from story of houseboats as we see them today in between we read about Aurangzeb’s […]

Kashmiri Muslims

Kashmiri Muslims by Ahanger HOBO Islam came to Kashmir in the very beginning through the Ladakh king Rinchen(widely known as Rinchen-Shah) who, ultimately impressed by the simple teaching of Sufi Islam from Bulbul shah, beloved poet of Kashmir and the first Muslim faqir to visit the valley, converted to Islam to consolidate his reportedly otherwise […]

Kashmiri People

“Kashmiri” is a wide term, which has loosely been applied for several streams of immigrants from Turkey, Iran, Central Asia and Afghanistan. Other settlers have been claimed from anywhere as far as Greece, where it is claimed Alexander “The Great’ troops were captivated both by the beauty of the landscape and the women, stayed on […]

Chinar Kashmir

Chinar “Atanus orientalis”Bouin”, is the most gigantic tree found everywhere in the valley. Its growth to a full size (over 100 feet)takes hundreds of years. Known for palm shaped leaves of up to 10 inche sin length with pendulous burr likes pherical flowers. The shade of Chinar provides cool breeze during Summers, its shade has […]

History of Handicrafts

History of Handicrafts by Ahanger HOBO. Emperor Zain-ul-Abidin introduced art of papier mashie, wood carving, stone cutting & polishing, and also developed the silk, shawl and carpet weaving in valley. It is said that art and craft developed under the patronage of Sultan who brought in the master artisans from Samarqand and Bukhara, he provided […]

Kashmiri Language (Koshur)

Kashmiri Language (Koshur) by Ahanger HOBO Kashmiri has a very large phoneme inventory: 32 vowels and 62 consonants, giving that vowel nasalization and consonant palatalization are phonemic and not phonetic Mixture of Aryan and Naga script gave rise to Sharda script which in course of time changed into Sanskrit with a mixture of Dardic and […]

Boulevard Road Kashmir

Boulevard, plush road along the banks of Dal Lake separated by a cozy parapet, houses almost every tourist facility from internet cafes to vegetarian dhabas. It is a favorite route of joggers and cyclists. The area starts from the Dalgate and ends at the Nishat garden. Having some of the best hotels, restaurants and other […]

Burzahom or Buzahama “The Archaeological Site”

Burzahom or Burzahama Kashmir “The Aarchaeological Site” in Kashmir, India by Ahanger HOBO The Burzahom or Burzahama an archaeological site is located in the Srinagar district of the Kashmir Valley in Jammu and Kashmir, India. Evidences of wheat were found.[1] Archaeological excavations have revealed four phases of cultural significance between 3000 BCE and 1000 BCE. […]

Houseboat in Kashmir

Houseboats in Kashmir, India were built in the early 1900s and are still being rented out to tourists. These houseboats are made of wood and usually have intricately carved wood paneling. They are of different sizes, some having up to three bedrooms apart from a living room and kitchen. Houseboat was modernized by Europeans along […]

Dal Lake Kashmir

Dal Lake Kashmir a fresh water lake in J&K by Ahanger HOBO. A fresh water lake situated in Srinagar, Summer capital of Jammu & Kashmir. With a shoreline of 15 km, Dal lake has a total area of 18-22 sq km, surface elevation of 1583 m, length7.5km, width 3.5 km, depth 4.5ft to20ft. Seperated into […]