Kishtwar

Template:Infobox Indian jurisdiction Kishtwar is a town and a notified area committee in Kishtwar District in Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of India.

Geography

Kishtwar was located at 33.32°N 75.77°E / 33.32; 75.77. It has an average elevation of 1638 metres (5374 feet).

Kishtwar,the upland valley in the north-east corner of Jammu region, lies ensconced among the picturesque folds of the Pir Panjal and the Great Himalayan Ranges.Bakkarwals move through the streets of the valley.

The area is drained by the Chenab river system which, flowing in from neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, enters the area through Paddar, home of the famous sapphire mines.

Paddar, Dacchan,Marwah, Wadwan and Cahtroo are major valleys of Kishtwar. It is along these valleys that the trans-Himalayan Trekking trails leading to the Suru and Zanskar valleys of Ladakh pass amidst breathtaking mountain sceneries.

Kishtwar town occupies a central plateau set amidst sylvan surroundings of forested hills. It is famous for the fine saffron grown here. Several waterfalls provide enchanting contrasts to the lush green landscape. The nearest of these is only 3 km away from the town and drops down from a height of over 700 m in a series of seven cascades. Other local attractions include the highly revered shrines of two Muslim Sufi saints to which thousands of devotees and pilgrims throng from far and wide.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census, Kishtwar had a population of 15,806. Males constitute 61% of the population and females 39%. Kishtwar has an average literacy rate of 74%, higher than the Indian national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 82%, and female literacy is 62%. In Kishtwar, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Location

Kishtwar, situated on a central plateau set amidst sylvan surroundings of wooded hills, is a beautiful town located 216 km from Jammu, at an altitude of 1640 meter above the sea level, in Doda District. It is an upland valley in the north-east corner of Jammu region and is just 107 km from the national highway resort of Batote. Kishtwar branches off in Marwa-Wadwan valley, Paddar valley, Chhatroo valley and is flanked by lofty Himalayas from all sides. The monsoon hardly reaches this part of the State which makes it a drought prone area and insufficient in food grains in particular the Marwah-Wardwan area which remains cut off for 5–6 months in a year due to snowfall in winter. In order to avoid any starvation death sufficient stocks of food grains and other essential commodities are stored well in advance in these areas so that the public may not suffer on this account. Kishtwar has a lot of potential for generation of Hydro Electric Power. One of the major projects implemented in Kishtwar is Dul-Hasti which was commissioned in April 2007. Kishtwar is popularly known as 'Land of Sapphire and Saffron' is also very rich in forest products. The richest forests in Jammu and Kashmir are found on the high mountains and hills of Kishtwar. Kishtwar is linked with other parts of the state by an all weather road, National Highway 1-B, which remains open throughout the year. Kishtwar is also connected with Kashmir Valley by Chhatroo-Synthan road, which is being upgraded into National Highway.

Places of interest

Nagseen

Nagseen, full of scenic beauty, is located on the east of Kishtwar town, which is surrounded by forests. This place has been named after the Budhist Preacher Nagseen.

Cherhar

Cherhar is beautiful village 4 km from main area Kishtwar.The most famous river "Chenab" flowing its north side. Name "Cherhar" is combination of two kashmiri words "Cher" and "Har" Cher means Apricot and Har means summer. In early time Cherhar was famous for Apricot in summer season.

Dachhan

Is a part of Marwah Niabat. From here, the route originates for high mountains of Bramah, Vaishno, Mahesh,Hudh Mata Shrain, and Sickle North. It is rich in trout fish. Mathralla is the most beautiful spot which has springs and a rock statue of a cow. It is from the feet that the water gushes out. There is a national park also.anoopkumar

Warwan

Is a beautiful valley adjoining Dachhan. It spreads from villages Hanzi and Inshan. The valley has good spots like Tuiller, Nopachi, Marwah, Tata Pani, Dashbal and Inshan and it is connected with Kashmir via Margan top (13,000 feet) which leads to village Inshan from a track that also goest to Pahalgam. These areas are rich in trout fish, having unique rainbow colour, each weighing 2 kg to 6 kg Nopachi could serve as a base camp for expeditions to Nunkun via Tata Pani which has a hot water spring and is good to have bath in sulphur containing water for skin diseases and rheumatic pains. Marwah river passes just in the centre of the valley, which otherwise contains meadows. These meadows are used for grazing the cattle by nomadic Bakarwals.

Mughal Maidan

About 24 km from Kishtwar is named Mughal Maidan as it is claimed that Mughals had suffered heavy casualties at this place when they attacked Kishtwar via Synthan and Singhpora. One of the beautiful treks starts from here which go to Kashmir valley via Singhpora. It passes through at a height of 11,570 feet and culminates at Wello near Kokarnag. Mughal Maidan is situated on the bank of Chhatroo river. The slopes adjacent Mughal Maidan are full of thick forests which are rich in wild-life.

Bhandarkot

An ideal place for rock climbing, is also the confluence of the rivers Chander and Bhaga coming from Paddar, Marwah and Chhatroo. From this place downwards, Chander Bhaga is called as Chenab river. This spot serves as a take off point for trek to Dachhan, Nunkun, Bramah, Marwah and Warwan. anoopthakur lopara dachhan

Zumum Palmar

Zumum Palmar located five km on hill-side from Kuriya Palmar, is a beautiful spot amidst natural scenery, lushgreen meadows and dense forests. Ziarat Sharief of Zen Shah Shaib is situated near this spot which is visited by a large number of devotees from the district. "Palmar is situated about 20 km from Kishtwar town. The famous spot on Palmar is also Kulna it is also known as Kashmir of Palmar. If Traveler tourist visit in Palmar they visit Kulna, Zumun, Balander, Newkond, Neelthot, Foaran is the remembering place of this area. We easily see Kishtwar town BhandarKot and Dool area in front of eyes from Foran you remembering every in life when you visit on these spots.

Paddar

Paddar, the area with rich wild-life is full of natural beauty. The famous sapphire/ruby mines are located in this area. It has hot springs and a river which is ideal for cannoing. One trek goes to Zanskar via Machail.

Chatroo/Passerkoot

Chatroo is a small village on the bank of a small river, name not known. The place is located in between the two hills. It is a steep valley which opens from three sides. One way goes to Chingam one goes to Kishtwar and one goes to Passerkoot. This route is very famous right from the beginning.The way was the old and main route for the people of the entire region to enter Kashmir Valley. In the olden times the samll mobile traders used to come to the Kishtwar region from Kashmir through this route.this is a hilly track which goes up and down in to purely Himalayan tertian.The people also relied on this route for selling their agriculture products and animals.On this track a famous village named Passerkoot comes, the village is famous for its natural resources like Apple,wallnut, Rajmah and Guchis. Pt Mann Chand Sharma was a famous personality of the Village, who worked a lot locally against social evils like Dowery, Castism, etc.

From Chatroo route one of the famous routes is connected to Kashmir is known as Sintantop route this route also good traveling of transport and now recently Govt. of India and State Govt of J&K start project of Viloo Tunnel (about 5 km long) to reduce the distance of about 60 km from Kashmir to Kishtwar. presently the distance from LalChowk Kashmir to Kishtwar is only 202 km, so after completion of this tunnel the distance is just near about 140 km.The spot of Sintantop is very good for tourist and one of the famous spot is AlloForm. one the best spot is Fammer by foot travelling near about 10 km from Sintantop the famous dish is there is trout fish. The enjoy is then that when you visit on that spots.

Chingam

Chingam is en-route to Kashmir, middway between Sinthan Top and Kishtwar/Chatroo. Chingam is most beautiful small valley picturesque spot, with lush evergreen forest surrounding the corners from Top to bottom hills merging into crystal clear river flowing at the foot. Chingam valley has amazing array of Terraced Paddy fields, can well remind of you famous Bali (Ubud). This is a must visit place. A number of small villages surrounding Chingam are deep embedded into forests, just awesome. Chingam is connected to Jammu via Kishtwar all around the year but Srinagar route shuts down in winter due to heavy.

History

District Kishtwar in the past used to be an independent hill principality the present name, related with "Kishat Rishi" who stayed here, is the modified version of earlier name of Kishaswar. Located about 232 km from Jammu at a height of 5,360 feet, Kishtwar in its ancient form Kashthavata, is first referred to in the Rajatarangini during the reign of Raja Kalsa of Kashmir (1063–1089), when "Uttamaraja", the ruler of Kashthavata visited the court of Kashmiri king in company with several other hill chiefs to pay their respects to the Raja.The Mehta Family was gifted the lands of Kishtwar by the King of Kashmir. Their family temple "Hatta Wali Mata" and their Heritage can still be tracked back to Kishtwar. The founder of this family was the Commander-in-Chief of the Kashmir Army "Sip-E-Salar Sri Jiya Lal Mehta". Known for his Bravery and valour he fought the Mughals and Northern raiders who invaded the land.

Kishtwar endowed with dense forests of deodar, fir and pine is treasure of scenic beauty. There are high altitude mountains ranging between 20,000 feet to 21,000 feet like Num Kum, Burmah and Barnag. It offers tremendous scope for pilgrim tourism also as some important shrines are located in the area. These include Ziarat Zain-Shah-Sahib, Farid-ud-Din Sahib, Hazrat Asrar-ud-Din Sahib, Athara Bhuja Devi temple, Chandi Mata temple and Hatta Wali Matta.

Kishtwar merged with the State of Jammu and Kashmir in 1821, A.D. With the passage of time Kishtwar became a Tehsil of District Udhampur and remained its part till 1948, when it became part of newly created District Doda in the wake of first re-organization of the state during the post-independence period.

In 1941, Kishtwar had a population of 3,235.