Sharada Peeth

Sharada

Sharda, Sharda, Neelum district, Pakistan-administered Kashmir · Shakta tradition

It is the eighteenth and last seat in the Ashtadasa Shakti Peetha Stotram, which closes its list with 'Kashmire tu Sarasvati' — Sarasvati in Kashmir.

Read the story
Directions

At the gate

Walking and access
The temple stands on a hill reached by a stone stairway (Dawn, 2018). Access for Indian visitors is restricted by permit, as above. No other accessibility information has been found.
Getting there
Muzaffarabad

Not yet confirmed: darshan hours, dress code, phone rules, entry for visitors of other faiths. Ask at the temple office or enquiry counter — and if you know, tell us. hello@aalayakatha.com

Full visiting details

Sthala purana

The story of this place

2 accounts are recorded. Each is told separately, in the words of its own tradition — they are never merged.

Family note: this story includes violence or death.
Told in: The Ashtadasa Shakti Peetha Stotram; the Devi Bhagavata Purana, Book 7, ch. 30 (the Sati frame)

Sarasvati in Kashmir

The frame is the one every Shakti Peetha shares. In the Devi Bhagavata Purana, Sati, daughter of the Prajapati Daksha, is given to Shiva. Daksha later reviles Shiva, and Sati burns herself in a fire of yoga. Shiva destroys the sacrifice, takes her body on his neck and wanders from country to country until Vishnu cuts the body into pieces with his arrows. The places where the pieces fall become seats of the goddess.

The Ashtadasa stotram is a short hymn that names eighteen of those seats in a fixed order, beginning in Lanka. Its last line turns north: "Kashmire tu Sarasvati" — and in Kashmir, Sarasvati. That line is the whole of the stotram's account of the place. It gives the goddess's name and the region; it does not name a temple, a village or a part of Sati's body.

The Devi Bhagavata Purana's longer list of seats also reaches Kashmir, but with a different name: "Medha in Kashmiramandala". Medha means intelligence or wisdom. The two names point in the same direction — Sarasvati is the goddess of learning — but they are not the same name, and the Purana's list is not the stotram's.

The temple at Sharda village is named for the goddess Sharada, and this encyclopedia places it in the stotram's Kashmir slot. The stotram itself does not name the village.

The account explains why a ruined temple in the far north of Kashmir is counted among the eighteen: the stotram's list closes with the goddess of learning in Kashmir, and this is the shrine that carries her name there.

Where this account comes from

  • Hymn: Aṣṭādaśa Śakti Pīṭha Stotram, line 'Kāśmīre tu Sarasvatī'. Traditionally attributed to Adi Shankara; attribution unverified. hindupedia.com · seen 2026-10-09
  • Purana: Devi Bhagavata Purana, Book 7, ch. 30 — 'as Medha in Kashmiramandalam', tr. Swami Vijnanananda sacred-texts.com
Told in: Al-Biruni and Abu'l-Fazl, as summarised by Salman Rashid (Dawn, 2018)

The wooden goddess and the temple that shakes

Two historians preserve what pilgrims believed about the shrine. Al-Biruni, writing from hearsay, recorded a much-venerated temple with a wooden image of the goddess Sharada. Centuries later Abu'l-Fazl, historian of Akbar's court, reported that on a certain day the temple shakes, and identified the shrine as sacred to Durga or Devi. Both are reports of belief, not eyewitness accounts of the image or the tremor.

Read this account

The oldest description of the shrine that a reader can follow today comes from Al-Biruni. He listed it among the famous temples of the Hindus and wrote that it housed a wooden image of the goddess Sharada and drew pilgrims who held it in great veneration. Salman Rashid, writing in Dawn, points out that Al-Biruni never travelled that deep into Kashmir. What he set down was what he had been told.

The second description is Abu'l-Fazl's, written at Akbar's court. He knew the shrine as sacred to Durga, or Devi, and recorded a belief about it: that on a certain day the temple shakes, with what Rashid quotes as "a rather extraordinary effect".

Neither account, as Rashid presents them, rests on having seen the image or felt the tremor. Their value is that they record what was believed about the shrine by the people who went there, at two points centuries apart.

The wooden image matters for a later argument. In 1892 the archaeologist Aurel Stein found no debris at the site and concluded that the temple had never been finished. Rashid disagrees: a shrine that Al-Biruni could report as famous, with an icon at its centre, was a working temple, and the stone that should have been lying about had, in his reading, been carried off by villagers and reused.

The accounts explain how the shrine was known before the ruin: as a goddess's seat with a wooden image at its heart, famous enough to be described by people who had never seen it.

Where this account comes from

  • Press: Salman Rashid, "Heritage: Goddess of the Mountains", Dawn (EOS), 1 April 2018 dawn.com · seen 2026-10-09

In one minute

Why Sharada Peeth matters

Each line says who it comes from and how settled it is. What the labels mean

  1. It is the eighteenth and last seat in the Ashtadasa Shakti Peetha Stotram, which closes its list with 'Kashmire tu Sarasvati' — Sarasvati in Kashmir.

    Source for: It is the eighteenth and last seat in the Ashtadasa Shakti Peetha Stotram, which
    • Hymn: Aṣṭādaśa Śakti Pīṭha Stotram, line 'Kāśmīre tu Sarasvatī'. Traditionally attributed to Adi Shankara; attribution unverified. hindupedia.com · seen 2026-10-09

  2. Al-Biruni recorded the shrine as a much-venerated place of pilgrimage housing a wooden image of the goddess Sharada, though he never travelled that far into Kashmir himself.

    Source for: Al-Biruni recorded the shrine as a much-venerated place of pilgrimage housing a
    • Press: Salman Rashid, "Heritage: Goddess of the Mountains", Dawn (EOS), 1 April 2018 dawn.com · seen 2026-10-09

  3. The temple survives as a roofless stone ruin on a hill above Sharda village, in the Kishanganga valley — now called Neelum — where the Madhumati joins it.

    Source for: The temple survives as a roofless stone ruin on a hill above Sharda village, in
    • Press: Salman Rashid, "Heritage: Goddess of the Mountains", Dawn (EOS), 1 April 2018 dawn.com · seen 2026-10-09

  4. The site has been under Pakistani administration since 1947; visiting from India requires special No Objection Certificates, and a pilgrimage corridor has been proposed but, as of reports in 2019, not approved.

    2 sources for: The site has been under Pakistani administration since 1947; visiting from India
    • Press: Anas Mallick, "Pakistan foreign ministry submits proposal to PM Imran Khan to open Sharada temple for Indians", WION, 25 March 2019 wionews.com · seen 2026-10-09
    • Press: Yusuf Jameel, "Kashmiri Pandits want reopening of Sharda Peeth in PoK, plan to approach PM", Deccan Chronicle, 16 July 2017 deccanchronicle.com · seen 2026-10-09

Shilpa

When you visit, look for…

Architectural style not yet identified

None of the standard style labels fits a Kashmiri stone temple, so no style is given. Salman Rashid (Dawn, 2018) describes a plain conical shikhara (now fallen), a trefoil archway to the sanctum under a half vault, and mock pillars he calls poor copies of the Doric, and compares the building to the Martand sun temple.

  • Detail

    The stone stairway

    A stone stairway climbing the hill past a military post to the temple enclosure.

  • Enclosure

    Enclosure wall and gateway

    A thick boundary wall that once enclosed a rectangle aligned to the cardinal directions, entered through a ruined gateway.

  • Detail

    The plinth and west door

    The temple in the middle of the enclosure on a square plinth, with its doorway facing west at the top of a short flight of steps.

    steps up to the temple doorway: 5 steps
    • Press: Salman Rashid, "Heritage: Goddess of the Mountains", Dawn (EOS), 1 April 2018 dawn.com · seen 2026-10-09

  • Sanctum

    The trefoil arch and open sanctum

    A trefoil archway leading into the sanctum, which is now open to the sky.

  • Sculpture

    Relief copies of the facade

    Reliefs on the outer walls that repeat the temple's own front elevation, with mock pillars.

Yatra

Plan your visit

Darshan times

We could not confirm the opening times from the temple’s own notice, so we are not printing any. Please check with the temple office or the devasthanam before you travel.

Before you go

  • Indian nationals need special No Objection Certificates to visit, per WION (March 2019).
  • As reported in 2017, the cross-LoC permit system covered only divided families and trade, so the site was closed to Hindus from Jammu and Kashmir (Deccan Chronicle).
  • The temple is a ruin; no published source describes regular worship there.

Walking, steps and access

The temple stands on a hill reached by a stone stairway (Dawn, 2018). Access for Indian visitors is restricted by permit, as above. No other accessibility information has been found.

Getting there

  • By road: MuzaffarabadAbout 150 km by road, per the Deccan Chronicle (2017). Entry for Indian nationals is restricted; see the entry rules.

Routes are general guidance and not yet checked against an official source.

The order of darshan

No published source gives the order in which to visit the shrines here, so we have not invented one. Follow the queue and the temple staff.

Festivals

The temple’s festival calendar has not been sourced yet.

Itihasa

Through time

Two registers, kept apart on purpose: what the Puranas tell, and what the historical record shows. They answer different questions and we do not force them to agree.

In the Puranas and tradition

No events in this register have been sourced.

In the historical record

  1. c. 699–735

    Built in the Karkota period, and finished

    Salman Rashid dates the temple to around the 8th century and suggests Lalitaditya Muktapida as its likely builder, from its resemblance to the Martand sun temple. He argues that it was completed, since Al-Biruni could report a venerated wooden icon there. No inscription is cited for either point.

    Disagrees with: Stein's view: the temple was never completed

    Source for: Built in the Karkota period, and finished
    • Press: Salman Rashid, "Heritage: Goddess of the Mountains", Dawn (EOS), 1 April 2018 dawn.com · seen 2026-10-09

  2. 1946

    Last recorded pilgrimage

    WION reported in 2019 that the site was last the destination of a pilgrimage in 1946. The area has been under Pakistani administration since 1947.

    Source for: Last recorded pilgrimage
    • Press: Anas Mallick, "Pakistan foreign ministry submits proposal to PM Imran Khan to open Sharada temple for Indians", WION, 25 March 2019 wionews.com · seen 2026-10-09

  3. 2017

    Kashmiri Pandit groups ask for the site to be reopened

    The Save Sharda Committee Kashmir met Minister of State Vijay Sampla to ask that Hindus from Jammu and Kashmir be allowed to visit under cross-LoC permits, which then covered only divided families and trade.

    Source for: Kashmiri Pandit groups ask for the site to be reopened
    • Press: Yusuf Jameel, "Kashmiri Pandits want reopening of Sharda Peeth in PoK, plan to approach PM", Deccan Chronicle, 16 July 2017 deccanchronicle.com · seen 2026-10-09

  4. 2019

    Corridor proposal sent to Pakistan's prime minister

    WION reported that Pakistan's foreign ministry had sent the prime minister a proposal to open a corridor for Indian Hindu pilgrims. The report describes it as a proposal only, with no official approval given.

    Source for: Corridor proposal sent to Pakistan's prime minister
    • Press: Anas Mallick, "Pakistan foreign ministry submits proposal to PM Imran Khan to open Sharada temple for Indians", WION, 25 March 2019 wionews.com · seen 2026-10-09

  5. Stein's view: the temple was never completed

    Aurel Stein surveyed the site in 1892 and, finding no debris, concluded that the building had never been finished. Rashid attributes the missing stone to later reuse by villagers instead.

    Disagrees with: Built in the Karkota period, and finished

    Source for: Stein's view: the temple was never completed
    • Press: Salman Rashid, "Heritage: Goddess of the Mountains", Dawn (EOS), 1 April 2018 dawn.com · seen 2026-10-09

Around here

Worth the detour

Nearby places have not been added yet.

Sources

Where this page comes from

  • Hymn: Aṣṭādaśa Śakti Pīṭha Stotram. Traditionally attributed to Adi Shankara; attribution unverified. hindupedia.com · seen 2026-10-09
  • Purana: Devi Bhagavata Purana, Book 7, ch. 30, tr. Swami Vijnanananda sacred-texts.com
  • Press: Salman Rashid, "Heritage: Goddess of the Mountains", Dawn (EOS), 1 April 2018 dawn.com · seen 2026-10-09
  • Press: Yusuf Jameel, "Kashmiri Pandits want reopening of Sharda Peeth in PoK, plan to approach PM", Deccan Chronicle, 16 July 2017 deccanchronicle.com · seen 2026-10-09
  • Press: Anas Mallick, "Pakistan foreign ministry submits proposal to PM Imran Khan to open Sharada temple for Indians", WION, 25 March 2019 wionews.com · seen 2026-10-09
Corrections made to this page (2)
  • 2026-10-09: changed “Azad Jammu and Kashmir” to “Pakistan-administered Kashmir”. The region's own official name was used as if it were a neutral label, and it appeared beside Indian states in browse lists. The descriptive term used in international reference works is neutral to both governments' positions; country stays PK.
  • 2026-10-09: changed “traditional” to “canonical”. A dated modern event reported by a dated documentary source; "traditional" presented it as folklore. No source disputes it.

Cite this page

Aalaya Katha Foundation, “Sharada Peeth”, Aalaya Katha, version last reviewed 2026-10-09. https://www.aalayakatha.com/temple/sharada-peeth (accessed ).

Last reviewed 2026-10-09. How we label sources and confidence