Sharada Peeth

Sharada Peeth (Urdu: شاردا پیٹھ‎; Kashmiri: 𑆯𑆳𑆫𑆢𑆳 𑆥𑆵𑆜 (Sharada) ) is a Hindu temple and ancient centre of learning dedicated to the Hindu goddess of learning, Sharada located in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan. It was one of the foremost temple universities of the Indian subcontinent in Middle Republican and medieval Kashmir, hosting scholars such as Kalhana, Adi Shankara, Vairotsana, Kumarajiva, and Thonmi Sambhota. It played a key role in the development and popularisation of the Sharada script in North India, and Kashmir was sometimes called Sharada Desh because of its influence as a centre of learning.

One of the eighteen Maha Shakti Peethas, Sharada Peeth represents the spiritual location of the goddess Sati's fallen right hand. Sharada Peeth is one of the three holiest sites of pilgrimage for Kashmiri Pandits, alongside the Martand Sun Temple and the Amarnath Temple.

The shrine remains politically significant, with Kashmiri Pandit organisations and leaders from Jammu and Kashmir urging the governments of India and Pakistan to facilitate cross-border pilgrimages. Senior Indian politicians have also called on Pakistan to renovate the temple, and it is discussed bilaterally as part of the Composite Dialogue between the governments of India and Pakistan. In March 2019, Pakistani media reported that Pakistan is exploring the possibility of a corridor for Indian pilgrims, and may be close to approving a plan. However, the Pakistani government has since said that a decision has not been made.

Origins of Sharada Peeth
The origins of Sharada Peeth are uncertain. Some historians believe that it was built under the Kushan Empire (30 CE-230 CE). Others believe that it was built by Lalitaditya (724 CE-760 CE), because of similarities between Sharada Peeth and the Martand Sun Temple. Another school of thought suggests that it was built not at once, but in stages. Some adherents of this school of thought hold that Sharada Peeth was first built more than 5,000 years ago. On this view, the site could not have been first constructed by the Indo-Aryan peoples, who are estimated to have arrived at the Ganges River around 1500 BC. Given the absence of ruins from a supposed educational site, some suggest that Sharada Peeth was only a temple and never a centre of learning. However, Sharda is prone to earthquakes, and debris from a collapsed abandoned centre of learning are likely to have been used by townspeople for other constructions.

Etymology
Sharada Peeth translates to "the seat of Sharada", the Kashmiri name for the Hindu goddess Saraswati. It is located at the confluence of three streams, and as a proto-Nostratic term, "Sharada" could be related to "sarV", which means "flow or stream" and d/a/w (blow, tip or rock).

Ancient and Middle Republican Kashmir
The earliest available references to Sharada Peeth are found in the Nilamata Purana (6th-8th century CE). In the 10th century, Al-Biruni describes the shrine as venerated by both locals and pilgrims. He describes it alongside famous temples of the time such as the Multan Sun Temple and the Somnath temple, suggesting that at that time, Sharada Peeth was among the most revered places of worship in India. In his description of Pravapura (present-day Srinagar), the 11th century poet Bilhana mentions Sharada Peeth, referring to it as the source of Kashmir's reputation as a centre of learning. He describes the goddess as resembling a swan, carrying as her diadem the gold washed from the Madhumati river (present-day Neelum River or Kishenganga). In Kalhana's 12th century CE work Rajatarangini, he describes Sharada Peeth as a site venerated by Hindus.

Medieval Kashmir
The 13th century CE (1277–78) text Prabhāvakacarita contains a story of the Śvētāmbara scholar Hemachandra. As Sharada Peeth was the only place with a library known to have all such works available in their complete form,  Hemachandra requested King Jayasimha Siddharaja to send a team to retrieve copies of the existing eight Sanskrit grammatical texts preserved there. These supported his own text of Sanskrit grammar, the Siddha-Hema-Śabdanuśāśana.

The 15th century historian Jonaraja describes Zain-ul-Abidin visiting the shrine in 1422 CE. Zain-ul-Abidin grew angry with the deity because she did not appear to him in person. However, he then slept in the court of the temple, where he saw her in a dream.

In the 16th century, the Grand vizier Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak described Sharada Peeth as a "stone temple ... regarded with great veneration". He also described the popular belief in miracles at the shrine: "it is believed that on every eighth tithe of the bright half of the month, it begins to shake and produces the most extraordinary effect".

Military references
Kalhana describes an event in Lalitaditya Muktapida's rule (713-755), where a group of assassins from the Gauda Kingdom entered Kashmir under the pretext of a pilgrimage to Sharada Peeth. This shows that in the 8th century CE, Sharada Peeth was visited by people from as far as present-day Bengal. He also describes a rebellion during the reign of King Jayasimha of Kashmir, by three princes: Lothana, Vigraharaja and Bhoja. These princes, pursued by the Royal Army, sought refuge in the upper Kishenganga Valley, in the Sirahsila Castle. Kalhana and Stein believe that the Royal Army took refuge in Sharada Peeth, because the it had the open space required for a temporary military village, and because the area surrounding the Sirahsila Castle was not large enough to host a camp for a siege without the siege force being vulnerable to archers.

South Indian Brahmins
Sharada Peeth figures in a number of South Indian Brahmin traditions, such as the ritual prostration in the direction of Sharada Peeth at the beginning of formal education. Saraswat Brahmin communities in Karnataka are said to perform a ritual of moving seven steps towards Kashmir before retracing their steps during the Yagnopavit ceremony. Brahmins also include the Sharada stotram in their morning prayers: "Namaste Sarada Devi Kashmira mandala vasini. I bow to the Goddess Sharada, who lives in Kashmir."

Music
In the Carnatic music song kalavathi kamalasana yuvathi, 19th century composer Muthuswami Dikshitar refers to Sharada Peeth as Saraswati's abode. Set in the raga yagapriya, the song praises Saraswati: "Kashmira vihara, vara sharadha. The one who resides in Kashmir, Sharada."

Adi Shankara
It is at this temple that Sankaracharya received the right to sit on the Sarvanjnanapeetham (Throne of Wisdom). The first verse of 'Prapanchsar' composed by Adi Shankaracharya is devoted to the praise of Sharada. The Sharada image at Shringeri Sharadamba temple in South India was once said to have been made of sandalwood, which is said to have been taken by Sankaracharya from here.

The Vaishnava saint Swami Ramanuja traveled all the way from Srirangam to refer to Bodhayana's vritti on Brahma Sutras preserved here, before commencing work on writing his commentary on the Brahma sutras, the Sri Bhasya.

As a temple
Kashmiri Pandits believe that Sharada in Kashmir is a tripartite embodiment of the goddess Shakti: Sharada (goddess of learning), Saraswati (goddess of knowledge), and Vagdevi (goddess of speech, which articulates power).

Hindu legends
A key source of mythological knowledge about the shrine is the Sharada Sahasranama manuscript, written in the Sharada script, and communicated by Prakash Swami, the last Purohit (or chief priest) of the Sharada temple before the Partition of India. According to the script, the rishi Shāndilya performed tapasya (or strict meditation with austerities) at the base of the mountain Harmukh, to win the favour of the gods. In this period, he was served by local siddhas and gandharvas. He attained desirelessness, and acquired control of his senses and body through strict meditation. To please the gods, he performed a grand Yajna, or ritual offering, in the Sharda area, involving the local men, women and children. Hundreds of worthy priests were invited to participate in reciting the Vedas and performing the offerings in the sacrificial fire. In the middle of the Yajna, a beautiful woman appeared and approached him, and introduced herself as a Brahmini, who had accepted his invitation to participate in the Yajna. She said that she and her companion had come a long way and wished for food. Shandilya welcomed her and bowed apologetically, saying that the rules of the Yajna forbade him from giving her the food: the Yajna had to be completed, and the Purohits fed first to sanctify the food. The Brahmini grew angry and declared herself to be Vāc, the Vedic goddess and Divine Mother, and said that it was she that the offerings were being made to. She told him that the Paramatman (or Supreme Soul) he worshipped was the essence of the goddess. In her anger, she transformed before him into the divine Neela (or blue) form of Saraswati, with ornaments, weapons and clouds in the form of a blue lotus, and declared that she would absorb the world, the humans, forests, trees and everything in the Yajna. In shock, remorse and fear, Shandilya collapsed and died. Seeing his remorse, the goddess asked her companion to revive him with Amrita, the elixir of life. Shandilya awoke and looked around at the destruction wrought from the goddess's fury sorrowfully, and believed himself to be responsible. The goddess transformed into a different, graceful form of Saraswati. Addressing him as "son", she told him that she was pleased with his devotion and compassion and would grant him whatever he wished. Shandilya, addressing her as the Divine Mother, asked her to restore revive the dead and restore the village and forest. Saraswati accepted, and instructed him to build his ashram at the base of the hill near the Madhumati river (present-day Neelum River). She took her abode there at Sharada Peeth and blessed Shandilya.

An alternative account holds that Shandilya prayed to the goddess Sharada with great devotion, and was rewarded when she appeared to him and promised to show him her real, divine form. She advised him to look for the Sharada forest. His journey was filled with miraculous experiences. On his way, he had a vision of the god Ganesha on the eastern side of a hill. When he reached the Neelum river, he bathed in it and saw half his body turn golden. Eventually, goddess revealed herself to him in her triple form of Sharada, Saraswati and Vagdevi, and invited him to her abode. As he was preparing for a ritual, he drew water from the Mahāsindhu. Half of this water transformed into honey, and became a stream, now known as the Madhumati stream.

A third account holds that during a fight between good and evil, the goddess Sharada saved a mythical container of knowledge and hid it in a hole in the ground. She then transformed into a structure to protect this container. This structure is now Sharada Peeth.

Local legends
There are two popular local legends explaining Sharada Peeth. The first holds that there were two sisters, Sharada and Narada, who ruled the world. The two mountains overlooking the valley, Shardi and Nardi, are named after them. One day, Narada saw, from her abode on the mountain, that Sharada had died, and that giants were fleeing from her body. In her fury, she summoned them and ordered them to build her a tomb, which became Sharada Peeth. The second legend says that there one was a giant who loved a princess. She desired a palace, and so he began work. At the time of morning azan, by which time he was supposed to have finished, the roof remained incomplete, and for that reason, Sharada Peeth today remains without a roof.

As a "Shakti Peeth"
Shakti Peethas are shrines of Shakti which are said to derive their divinity from the fallen body parts of the goddess Sati, when Shiva carried it and wandered throughout Āryāvarta in sorrow. There are fifty-one Shakti Peethas, one for each of the fifty-one alphabets in Sanskrit, and each one has shrines for Shakti and Kalabhairava. Sharada Peeth is one of the 18 Maha Shakti Peetha, and is where Sati's right hand is said to have fallen. The form of Shakti worshipped here is Sharada.

Pilgrimage
The Sharada Peeth pilgrimage parallels Shandilya's journey. The act of bathing in the confluence of the Neelum River and Madhumati stream is said to cleanse the pilgrim of their sins. During the Dogra rule, the temple emerged as a regular pilgrimage site for the Kashmiri Pandits. In 1947, Swami Nand Lal Ji of Tikker Kupwara moved the stone idols from Sharda to Tikker, some of which are preserved Devibal in Baramulla and in Tikker in Kupwara.

Present day
Religious tourism to Sharada Peeth has declined considerably since the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948. Most Kashmiri Pandits remained on the Indian side of the Line of Control, and travel restrictions discouraged Indian Hindus from visiting the shrine. No Objection Certificates are required for Indians seeking to visit. Furthermore, its close proximity to the Line of Control discourages tourism from within Pakistan. For tourists that do visit, the ruins of the shrine are often overshadowed by the natural beauty of the surrounding valley.

In 2007, a group of Kashmiri Pandits who were permitted to visit Azad Kashmir were denied permission visit the temple. In September 2009, the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies recommended increased cross-border religious tourism between India and Pakistan, including allowing Kashmiri Pandits to visit Sharada Peeth, and Pakistani Muslims to visit the Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar. Pakistani Hindus rarely visit the temple, preferring to visit sites farther south in Sindh, Balochistan, and Punjab provinces. As such, restoration of the temple is not considered a priority in the manner that Katasraj Temple was regarded by the Pakistani government.

In 2019, Pakistan government opened the Kartarpur Corridor to allow Sikh pilgrims in India to visit the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur across the border. This has prompted calls by Kashmiri Pandits to the Pakistan government to open a corridor to Sharada Peeth site (Neelum valley, 30 km from Kupwara). The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, and Omar Abdullah have requested Indian PM Narendra Modi to pursue this request.

Location
Sharada Peeth is approximately 150 kilometres from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 130 kilometres from Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir. It is about 10 kilometres from the Line of Control, which divides the Pakistani and Indian-controlled areas of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, which may explain its reduced prominence as a tourist destination. It is situated 1,981 metres above sea level, along the Neelam River in the village of Sharda, in the valley of Mount Harmukh, believed by Kashmiri Pandits to be the abode of Shiva.

Architecture
The temple is built of a local red sandstone, constructed in a classical Kashmiri style of temple architecture. It sits on a hill, and is approached via a stone stairway to the remains of a thick stone wall and ruined gateway. The ruins appear to enclose a rectangular area, which at one point would have had its corners aligned with the cardinal points of the compass. The temple is square in plan, and sits on a square plinth, with its doorway facing west. There are five steps between the ground and the entrance, which at one point would have had a half-vaulted ceiling, behind which lay a Trefoil arch leading to the inner sanctum. Today, this area is exposed to the sky. The facades are repetitive, possibly because architects disliked plain outside walls, or else possibly so that even if the spire collapsed, a visitor would be able to tell what the temple originally looked like. The design is simple, with a plain conical Sharada spire. Possibly, the simplicity of the design means that the temple was designed (or more likely, later reconstructed) as a plainer architectural second to the Martand Sun Temple for local worshippers. Both the Martand Sun Temple and the Malot Fort are designed similarly, but more ornately.

Significance
Although the Sharada script did not originate in Kashmir, it was used extensively in Kashmir, and acquired its name both through Kashmiri veneration of the goddess Sharada and through its extensive academic use in Sharada Peeth. This has fed the popular belief that Sharada was developed in Kashmir.