Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his reverence to the Shankaracharya Hill and the temple atop it during his Kashmir visit.
About Shankaracharya Temple:
- The Shankaracharya Hill, also known as Gopadri, Sandhimana-parvat, Koh-e-Suleman, and Takht-i-Sulaiman, shrines Kashmir’s oldest temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva.
- “The Shankaracharya Temple is the oldest temple in Kashmir, both in appearance and according to traditions,” according to Alexander Cunningham’s 1848 “Essay on the Arian order of Architecture, as exhibited in the Temples of Kashmir”.
- The Shankaracharya Temple is also revered as the most sacred shrine in Kashmir and is flocked by pilgrims and devotees, especially during festivals such as Mahashivaratri, locally known as Herath.
Historical context:
- The temple got its name from the visit of the 8th-century philosopher and saint Adi Shankaracharya, who visited the Kashmir valley, according to local legends.
- It is believed that Shankaracharya, to revive Hinduism and unify various schools of thought, visited Kashmir to advance Vedantic knowledge.
- The Shankaracharya Hill and the temple, since then, have been a symbol of his teachings and philosophy.
Construction:
- The erection of the temple is attributed to Jaloka, the son of the Mauryan Emperor Asoka, according to Alexander Cunningham.
- The earliest written references to the hill trace back to Kalhana, a 12th-century scholar, who called it ‘Gopadri’ or ‘Gopa Hill’.
- King Gopaditya (426-365 BC) granted land at the foot of the hill to Brahmins from “Aryadesa”, establishing an agraharam called ‘Gopa Agraharas’, according to Kalhana.
- Agraharam in Sanskrit refers to land donated to Brahmins without a lease.
- The temple itself has a storied history and is believed to have been constructed around 371 BCE as a shrine to Jyesthesvara, a form of Lord Shiva, by King Gopaditya, according to Kalhana’s book, ‘Rajatarangini, a chronicle of the kings of Kashmir’.
Ref:Source
| UPSC IAS Preparation Resources | |
| Current Affairs Analysis | Topperspedia |
| GS Shots | Simply Explained |
| Daily Flash Cards | Daily Quiz |