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     JAMMU AND KASHMIR TRAVEL GUIDE

                               JAMMU      LEH         LADAKH             SRINAGAR

Jammu and Kashmir  is the northernmost state of India. Situated mostly in the
Himalayan mountains, Jammu and Kashmir shares a border with the Indian states
of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab to the south, Pakistan to the west and the People's
Republic of China to the north-east and east. It is a disputed territory between
Pakistan and India and is referred as Indian occupied Kashmir by Pakistan.

ammu and Kashmir consists of three divisions: Jammu, the Kashmir valley and
Ladakh. Srinagar is the summer capital, and Jammu its winter capital. While the
Kashmir valley is famous for its beautiful mountainous landscape, Jammu attracts
tens of thousands of Hindu and Muslim pilgrims every year. Ladakh, also known as
"Little Tibet", is renowned for its remote mountain beauty and Buddhist culture.

The Valley of Kashmir was once the great lake Satisar. According to Hindu texts, the
Hindu sage Kashyapa drained a lake lying north of the Pir Panjal range by cutting the
mountain near Varamulla. The sage then encouraged people from India to settle in
the valley that was formed after the lake was drained. The locals named the valley
Kashyap-Mar and Kashyap-Pura in honour of the sage. The name Kashmir is
derived from ka (the water) and shimeera (to desiccate).[citation needed] In other
words, the word Kashmir implies land desiccated from water.

Kashmir was one of the major centres of Sanskrit scholars in ancient times.
According to Mahabharata evidence , Kambojas had ruled over Kashmir during epic
times and it was a Republican system of government under the Kamboj. The capital
city of Kashmir (Kamboj) during epic times was Rajapura  e.g.
Karna-Rajapuram-gatva-Kambojah-nirjitastava. Epic Rajapura is the same as
Ho-lo-she-pu-lo of Yuan Chawang and has been identified with modern Rajauri .
Later, the Panchalas are stated to have established their sway. The name Peer
Panjal, which is a part of modern Kashmir, is a witness to this fact. Panjal is simply
a distorted form of the Sanskritic tribal term Panchala. The Muslims had prefixed the
word " peer " to it in memory of one Siddha Faqir and the name thence-after is said
to have changed into Peer Panjal.


GENERAL INFORMATION

Time zone          IST (UTC+5:30)
Area                    222,236 kmē (85,806 sq mi)
Capital               Jammu (winter)
                     Srinagar (summer)
Largest city       Jammu
District(s)          14
Population        10,069,917 (18th)
Density              45.31/kmē (117/sq mi)
Language(s)         Urdu