Category: Kashmir

Saving The Green City: Srinagar, Kashmir

In 1895 Sir Water Lawrence wrote about Srinagar and the Dal lake: ‘The willows change from green to silver grey and delicate russet, with a red tone on the stems and branches, casting colours on the clear water of the lake which contrast most beautifully with the rich olives and yellow greens of the floating …

The Silent Royal

I grew up amongst a handful of plane trees that looked like giants to a small kid. We played daily in front of our home on the grass square, that had nothing else but six of these trees. We used the trees as goalposts when kicking a ball, and when resting in the shade. These trees were …

Contaminating India’s Largest Freshwater Lake: Garbage Dumping and Landfilling at Wular Lake, Kashmir

In May 2017 an article was published in Kashmir by Owais Farooqi to raise the problem of landfilling and contamination through garbage dumping at Wular Lake, Kashmir. Wular Lake is India’s largest freshwater lake. I personally see this, and the wider issue of garbage dumping in Kashmir, as incomprehensible and decided to republish the link to Farooqi’s …

Watching the Royals Die: The plight of the Chinar Tree in Kashmir

Greater Kashmir, one of the main newspapers in Kashmir, published the article ‘Watching the Royals Die’ by Jaasindah Mir and Jan Haenraets about the plight of the endangered Chinar trees in Kashmir. To view the full text as Pdf, go to this LINK (790 KB). These royals are the Chinar trees, the booyn, of our Kashmiri land. …

Save the Chinar: The Endangered Heritage of the Oriental Plane Trees of Kashmir (Intro)

The Chinar, the Oriental (Eastern) Plane tree (Platanus orientalis), is living heritage of Kashmir. It is a majestic tree that can be found throughout the landscape of the valley, hillsides and cities. The oldest found Chinar is thought to have been planted in the year 1374. Their number has since the 1970s been in a steady decline with over 25,000 trees …

Mughal Gardens of Kashmir: Towards the UNESCO World Heritage Nomination (Book Proceedings)

The International Seminar on ‘Mughal Gardens of Kashmir: Towards the UNESCO World Heritage Nomination’ was held in Srinagar at the University of Kashmir from 14 to 16 May 2011 and was the first international seminar on these famed gardens. The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, Jammu and Kashmir Chapter (INTACH J&K), in …

Paradise in Conflict: Reexamining and Safeguarding the Genius of the Mughal Gardens of Kashmir

The Landscapes Research Record journal published the article on ‘Paradise in Conflict: Reexamining and Safeguarding the Genius of the Mughal Gardens of Kashmir’ by Jan Haenraets, Melissa Hollingsworth and Alyssa Schwann.  To read the full abstract on a full-width page, see this LINK. The pdf of the full article as published in the Landscape Research Record …