Sacred Architecture of Kashmir: Language of Identity

The wide swathe of land called Kashmir has, from time immemorial, been imagined as a heavenly setting, a spiritual space with parallels drawn with the ultimate of divine creation, heaven. Located at the crossroads of civilisations like the Aryan, Chinese, Tibetan and Central Asian, it has remained a part of the wider Indian subcontinent with its claim to fame based mostly on its geographical location – the bountiful nature, snow-clad mountains and an agreeable climate. It was this ‘bountiful natural’ setting that helped in evolving a rich spiritual ethos in the Valley. Consequently we find that religion forms an integral part of the day-to-day life of inhabitants of Kashmir and a way of preserving its traditions. The city of Srinagar, the most prominent urban landscape of the Valley, can be seen as a visible representation of this rich and diverse religio-cultural formation. The city came into existence as a centre of Buddhism during the period of King
Ashoka (268–232 BCE).