Cultural Heritage of Jammu and Kashmir

Situated at the crossroads of South and Central Asia, the State of Jammu and Kashmir has made lasting contribution to Indian philosophy, arts and aesthetics, historiography and various other aspects, thus becoming an inalienable part of India’s spiritual and national consciousness. Numerous sacred shrines of Jammu and Kashmir are revered and regularly visited by millions of people. Here powerful cultural movements developed and spread not only to other parts of India but even beyond India’s borders to Tibet, Central Asia, Mongolia, China and other adjacent countries. It is here that the humanistic and universal philosophies of Buddhism, Shaivism, Sufism and Rishi culture have flowered. Though the State of Jammu and Kashmir is marked by the heterogeneity of its physiographic, ethnic-religious, linguistic and cultural features, it has evolved over a period of time a common composite cultural heritage. Its indigenous art and culture, language and literature, social formations, festivals in Jammu and Kashmir need to be revived for restoring its composite socio-cultural ethos and providing a positive alternative to the people to articulate their ethno-cultural aspirations. It is in this perspective that this book has come into being so that the traditional social structures, rich and variegated cultural heritage of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and its composite cultural ethos are recorded and highlighted in their true dimensions. Eminent scholars, academics and specialists on Kashmir have contributed to this book, covering different dimensions of the rich and variegated cultural heritage of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh from ancient to contemporary times. As such, this book provides the basic and essential inputs for the study of multi-layered social and cultural edifice of Jammu and Kashmir State thus helping in unraveling the mystique of Kashmiriyat.