Winter is a season of countless sufferings. When I think of it, the images of grey sky in perpetual gloom and dense fog that shrouds the frozen valley of Kashmir in winter flicker against the closing lines of ‘Ode to the West Wind’, the iconic poem by P. B. Shelley – ‘If winter comes, can spring be far behind?’
A rosary of eight hopeful words embodying the certainty of the unsympathetic winter’s departure! It has a Kashmiri, and a word more economical variant, too: ‘Wande tchali, sheen gali, beyi yee bahaar’ by Peerzada Ghulam Ahmad ‘Mehjoor’, Kashmir’s national poet for some, which loosely translates to: ‘Spring’s advent shall kick out the winter’.
Soon, a million tapestries of greens and greys and crimsons and turquoises should embrace the girdle of alps and mountains cradling the many valleys of Kashmir.
Kashmir – Travels in Paradise on Earth by Romesh Bhattacharji. Publisher: Harper Collins
A new book by Romesh Bhattacharji (Kashmir – Travels in Paradise on Earth by Harper Collins) has shined a broad and bright spotlight on this scenic and unspoilt landscape of Kashmir, and the countless possibilities it offers for nature lovers.
The book is an impressive achievement because it is perhaps a first-of-its-kind comprehensive guide on the easy, moderate and difficult mountain traverses along the complete portion of the Himalaya and Pir Panjal range surrounding Kashmir. Bhattacharji confesses that he has not hit them all.
One such trail skirts two splendid alpine lakes in the upper reaches of Sonamarg to approach the difficult Lakhath gali (4375m). It is a heady trail which was taken by Ernest Neve and Kenneth Mason to make the first ascent of Mt Kolahoi (5425m), Kashmir’s second highest peak, in 1912.
A hundred and ten years later, on a cold September morning in 2022, Gulzar Ahmed, a man of mountains and our guide, I and Riyaz Lone (of Kashmir Hikes) woke up near the steep, scree-filled slopes of Lakhath gali in a half-pitched tent strung to mountain boulders.
After a difficult night, we were truly fortunate and blessed by the sight of the first golden rays of sun embracing the northern face of Mt Kolahoi which resembled a sleeping Buddha. It was a truly jaw-dropping moment which every mountain lover should experience.
Bhattacharji’s book is divided into 21 easy chapters which speak admiringly about the “charm of Kashmir’s nooks and crannies, the splendour of its lakes and meadows, and the beauty of its valleys and peaks”.
Of these, 18 chapters list out meticulous details about the endless trails skirting up and down a range of “friendly mountains” which are studded with a “necklace of extravagantly beautiful” oligotrophic lakes and tarns. As the author points out, some of these nature’s wonders are only a day’s hike away.
The imposing northern face of Mt Kolahoi seen from the difficult Lakhath gali which sits at the confluence of Sindh and Lidder valleys in the upper reaches of Sonamarg. Photo: Jehangir Ali
The book begins across the Banihal gali where the new railway line and the old national highway burst into Kashmir through the Pir Panjal mountain range. Down on the right side of the highway is Verinag, a jewel of a massive spring set in an octagon of sculpted stones.
A hike to Halan gali from Verinag and beyond offers stunning views of the Himalayas including the Nichang (5444m), Kashmir’s highest peak, and Kolahoi or Gwashe Bor running west from the Great Himalayan Crest, and the distant Nun-Kun massif in Ladakh among other Himalayan alps.
Using Verinag as a starting point, Bhattacharji takes the reader on the complete traverse of mountains circling the Kashmir Valley which has “so much grandeur in every square mile” with nearly every village serving as a “base for memorable walks to meadows and tarns”.
The 242-page book has a lovely, turquoise-coloured Gangbal lake seen from the Gadsar pass on its cover with the mighty Mt Harmukh looming in the background.
Gangbal is the largest among several dozen oligotrophic lakes and tarns hidden in the alps of Kashmir, some of which are described by the author with great love and fondness. British missionary and surgeon Ernest Neve remarked that these are “most impressive pieces of mountain scenery, not only in Kashmir, but in the world”. Bhattacharji says Kashmir is a Shangri-la “lavishly gifted with glamour and beauty”.
Three other chapters map some important cultural landmarks, Mughal Gardens and other historical sites in Srinagar and elsewhere which are poignant illustrations of Kashmir’s syncretic past – a confluence of civilisations which has sadly turned into a source of international troubles.
Bhattacharji writes, citing Charles Girdlestone’s recherché book ‘Memorandum of Cashmere and Adjacent Territories’: “Turks brought tea, silver and horses; Chinese brought earthenware, shawl wool and the ‘produce of trans-Himalayan looms’; Baltistanis brought dry fruits; ‘Hindustanis’ brought chintzes, brocades; Russians brought guns, vessels and tea urns. They took away pashmina, iron, zafran and rice (from Kashmir).”
Burdened by a bureaucrat’s limitations, Bhattacharji believes that it is impossible to describe the beauty of Kashmir in words. But with his book in hand, one can experience a beautiful journey in the mind-boggling mountains cradling the virgin valleys of Kashmir which have been the historical gateways of redemption and solitude for the great Sufi saints and scholars, continent-cruising travellers, inspiration-seeking writers, curious surveyors and occasional alpinists.
Priced at Rs 599, Kashmir – Travels in Paradise on Earth is a must-read for travellers yearning for a tranquil few days away from the chaos of ‘civilisation’. After ‘Beyond the Pir Panjal’ by Neve and Garry Weare’s ‘A Long Walk in the Himalaya’, the book is an important addition to the sparse literature available on Kashmir’s rich natural landscape that can give Switzerland a run for its money.
