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JAMMU

HISTORY

King,Suryavanshi Jambu Lochan laid the foundation for the establishment of this Paradise on Earth. It so happened that once when he was crossing Tawi, he was very much impressed by a sight of a deer and a tiger drinking water from the same tank. Then he was explained by a group of ministers that because of the features of excellency in that place there was no enimity.This immediately made Suryavanshi Jambu Lochan to build his capital city over here and he also named it as 'Jambupura' which overlooked his brother King Bahu's fort. In 1730 AD it came under the rule of Dogra king, Raja Dhruv Deva after which Jammu became a centre of art and culture. Jammu is also referred as the city of temples for there are number of shrines with beautiful shikhars.

LOCATION

Jammu is the northernmost state of India and takes off majority of the Himalayan mountains. Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south and China to the north and east and the Pakistani administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, to the west and northwest respectively.

BEST TIME TO VISIT

The ideal time to visit the valley of Jammu is between the months of September to April.

FAIRS AND FESTIVALS

Dushhera

Dushhera is another Hindu festival celebrated with same pomp and fun throught out the country.

Lohri

This is basically a harvest festival celebrated in Jammu.It is celebrated with bonfire dancing around and popcorns, nuts and sesame in fire. This is celebrated in the month of January.

Mahashivratri

Devotees of Lord Shiva celebrate this on the amavasya night of Phalgun where they remain awake on the preceding night listening to hymns and sacred texts.

Food and Craft Mela

This Mela is organized by J&K Tourism during Baisakhi every year Held at the picturesque Mansar Lake 62 kms. from Jammu, it is a three day celebration of the local crafts and cuisine, where people from adjoining states also take part.

Baisakhi

Baisakhi is mainly celebrated to commemorate the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh; founder of Khalsa.It is an important day for Sikhs and Punjabi's. They read Granth Sahib perform bangra dance and sing shabad kirtan.Hindus celebrate it as their new year and as a mark of the descant of sacred ganga river. Devotees bathe in Ganga or other rivers.

PLACES OF INTEREST

Raghunath Mandir

Raghunath Mandir is centrally located in the town of Jammu and it takes the pride of being one of the largest temple complexes in northern India. It houses a number of small temples within its complex.

There are statues of huge deities and there is a big lingam within the inner sanctum. This is considered to be one of the rare temples for it houses almost the entire Hindu pantheon.

Bawey Wali Mata Temple

Bawey Wali Mata who is the presiding deity of the town of Jammu and the temple is situated within the complex of the Bahu Fort. There are special poojas on Tuesdays and Sundays during which people throng the temple to offer their prayers. There is also another temple overlooking the river Tawi which is dedicated to Lord Mahamaya, a Dogra heroine who lost her life fourteen centuries ago fighting foreign invaders. Some of the other Shiva temples in this area are Peer Kho cave temple, the Panchbakhtar temple and the Ranbireshwar temple. The shrine of the 'durgah' of Peer Budhan Ali Shah is believed to protect the people and the town from evil spirits. The other temples worth visiting here are Lakshmi Narayan temple, Duda Dhari temple and the Panj Mandir.

Bahu Fort & Gardens

Bahu Fort on the left bank of the river Tawi stands on top of a small rock at a distance of about 5kms away from the city centre. This fort is nearly 3,000 years old and was constructed by Raja Bahulochan.But however the existing structure was done by the Dogra rulers. The fort complex also houses a temple dedicated to goddess Kali. The main attraction of this fort is the Bagh-I-Bahu which is a terraced garden around the fort. The Bagh-I-Bahu garden takes the pride of having the subcontinent's largest underground aquarium which brings in a lot of tourist attention. The aquarium has 24 aquarium caves including 13 small caves for holding freshwater fishes.

Ranbir Canal

Ranbir Canal which is an ideal picnic spot for the people of Jammu is situated at a distance of about 32 kms away from the town in Akhnoor where the river Chenab branches off. This picnic spot also gives a lot of viewpoints.

Peer khoh

Peer khoh is a cave temple which is located at a distance of about 3.5 kms away from the town in the circular road.

The speciality of this temple is the deity of Shiv Lingam which was naturally formed and its origin is not known.

There are also legends which say that this cave temple leads to various other cave temples which are still not explored.


Ranbireshwar Temple

Ranbireshwar Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva was built by Maharaja Ranbir Singh in 1883 AD.

This temple has lot of Shivlingams statues where the one centrally located measures about seven and a half feet in height.

Apart from this there are 12 other shivlingams measuring about 15cms to 38 cms.Ranbireshwar Temple also accommodates a huge gallery with thousands of Shiva 'Lingams' fixed on stone slabs.

Ranbireshwar Temple is situated near the Secretariat on Shalimar road.

Patnitop

Patnitop is a resort situated at an altitude of about 2024 metres high. This is an ideal picnic spot surrounded by thick forest of woods. One can get breath taking view of the Chenab basin from here. Various snow games are also conducted here during the months of winter for in this period the area will be fully covered with a thick mantle of snow. There are lot of resorts and tourist bungalow in this area which is under the maintenance of the J&K tourism department.

Sudh Mahadev

This holy spot close to Patnitop is thronged by pilgrims during the full moon night to offer their prayers to the Trishul and the mace which is said to belong to Lord Shiva.Sudh Mahadev is situated at a distance of about 120kms from Jammu and at an altitude of 1225 mtrs.It is here in Sudh Mahadev one of the popular Devak stream originates.

Salal Dam and Lake

From Jammu to the west of the Holy Shrine of Vaishnodeviji is the Salal Dam and Lake. With an installed capacity of 400 mw of electricity, this is the largest Hydroelectric Project commissioned in the state so far. The lake formed behind the Dam is 33 kms long. The Dam site can be visited with the permission of the Project Authorities.

Mansar Lake

Mansar Lake noted for its scenic beauty is surmounted by hills of thick dense forest. This is also an ideal place fro boating. The J&K tourism department organizes a major food and crafts mela every year in this place at the time of Baisakhi.

Baba Dhansar

Baba Dhansar located on the way to Salal Dam is a noted picnic spot. The main attraction of this place is the number of waterfalls which is formed as a result of the spring here gushing out of the mountain. These waterfall finally meet up at the Holy Banganga.This place witnesses a huge mela during the time of Shivratri.Another interest of the people here at Baba Dhansar is the naturally formed Shivling on which droplets of water fall naturally all the year round.

SHOPPING

Shopping in Jammu may involve woolen garments, handmade woolen shawls, the carpets, stone jewelry and silver products like cutleries and utensils are famous in the Kashmiri market. Wooden products like hand curved swings and baby cots are also quite famous here. Shopping in Jammu might also comprise of the wooden hand curved swings and baby cots for the children back home. Shopping here must include the pashmina scarves and shawls which are supposed to be one of the most expensive fabrics in India.Vir Marg, Raghunath Bazaar and Hari Market in Jammu are best places for shopping.

EAT OUTS

1.Falak Revolving Restaurant
Jammu, Jammu City, Jammu and Kashmir

2.Pizzahut
Jammu, Jammu City, Jammu and Kashmir

3.K.C. Residency
Residency Road

4.Hari Niwas Palace Hotel
Palace Road

5.Hotel Asia
near Nehru Market

6.Premier Hotel
Residency Road

7.Kailash Cafeteria
Raghunath Bazaar

8.Ziyafat
Residency Road

9.Mughal Darbar
Standard Residency Road

10.New Naz
Residency Road

ACCOMMODATION

  1.Hari Niwas Palace Hotel
Jammu, Jammu City, Jammu and Kashmir

2.Hotel Asia
Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir

3.Jhelum Resort
Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir

4.KC Residency
Reasi Road, Katra (Vaishno Devi),
J&K - 182301 India
Telephone: +91-1991-234-622 to 624

5.Vardaan resort
Near Gen Bus Stand, JP Chowk,
Jammu 180001
91 191 2573212, 2547414

6.Fortune Inn Reviera
Place page
9 Gulab Singh Marg
Jammu, 180001
0191 2561666

7.Jammu Ashok Hotel
Opp. Amar Mahal
P.B No. 60
Jammu Tawi 180001
Jammu & Kashmir , India
0191-2543571

8.Hotel Pushkar Dee Pee Residency
NH1 Jammu Road Malikpur1450025,
Pathankot Distt. Gurdapur

9.Hotel Asia Sripati
Place page
Katra Vaishno Devi
Katra, Jammu & Kashmir 182301
01991 233264

10.The Oasis Resort
Panchot, Patnitop
(J&K)
09797309599

Travel Guide

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Travel Information

Airlines   Buses   Railways   Hotels   Eat Outs   Cabs

GETTING THERE

By Air

The state has three airports, namely: Srinagar, Jammu and Leh. Major airlines like: Indian Airlines, Jet Airways operate regular flights to these airports.

By Rail

The most important railways station is Jammu Tawi, which is served many important trains and is so well connected with the rest of the country.

By Road

The state has good road network connecting important neighbourhood cities Delhi, Amritsar Ambala, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Pathankot, Shimla and Manali.