Anantnag · Lalitaditya Muktapida · 8th century CE
Martand Sun Temple
Deity · Surya
Ruins · publicly accessible
Lalitaditya's masterpiece. Built atop a plateau, the colonnaded courtyard once enclosed 84 shrines around the central sanctum to Surya.
Cultural Continuity · Sacred Sites
Kashmiri Temples
Eight thousand years of devotion carved into the valley's stone · from the Sun Temple at Martand to the spring at Tulmul that changes colour. The baseline below is editorial · the community adds more each week.
Editorial baseline plus community additions · the list grows · Add a temple
The editorial baseline
Srinagar · Pre-8th century · attributed to Adi Shankaracharya's visit
Shankaracharya Temple
Deity · Shiva
Open · active worship
The oldest shrine in the valley, named after Adi Shankara who meditated here in the 8th century. The view from Gopadri keeps the city humble.
Tulmul, Ganderbal
Kheer Bhawani
Deity · Mata Ragnya (Kheer Bhawani)
Open · active worship
Mata Ragnya's spring at Tulmul · its waters change colour through the year. KP families return on Zyeth Atham every summer.
Teetwal (Neelum Valley · line of control)
Sharada Peeth
Deity · Sharada Devi
Open · restrictions apply
One of the eighteen Maha Shakti Peethas. The patroness of the Sharada script and of every Pandit who ever picked up a pen.
Srinagar
Hari Parbat
Deity · Sharika Devi
Open · active worship
The hill that holds Srinagar in its lap. Sharika Devi's shrine on its slope · the city's mother, watching.
Pahalgam · Lidder Valley
Amarnath
Deity · Shiva (Amareshwar)
Open · restrictions apply
The ice lingam of Shiva, formed naturally each summer in a cave that sits above the clouds. The pilgrimage of pilgrimages.
Srinagar · c. 10th century CE · King Partha's reign
Pandrethan Temple
Deity · Shiva (Meruvardhanaswami)
Open · restrictions apply
A tenth-century Shiva temple of a single-chamber square plan, standing in a tank fed by a cold spring · one of the valley's last intact stone shrines of its era.
Awantipora, Pulwama · King Avantivarman · 9th century CE
Avantipora (Avantiswami + Avantisvara)
Deity · Vishnu + Shiva
Ruins · publicly accessible
The twin temples of King Avantivarman. Avantiswami to Vishnu, Avantisvara to Shiva · stone courtyards along the Jhelum that outlived the city that built them.