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GULMARG: ENCHANTED MEADOW
This scenic valley has much to offer besides winter sports — hikes, gondola rides, horse trails and excursions to Baba Reshi and Buta Pathri are just some of the experiences you can explore
Every winter, Gulmarg’s snowy slopes transform int world-class skiing destination boasting the highest ski slopes in Asia. I spring, the frozen landscap thaws in preparation for th summer splendour of daisie forget-me-nots, buttercups, lupins and wild flowers dotting the grassy knolls. Unlike other tourist spots in the Kashmir Valley, Gulmarg remains open all year round. Immortalised by Bollywood, it was on these pastures that Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz crooned ‘Jai jai shiv shankar’ (Aap Ki Kasam; 1974) while Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia sang ‘Hum tum ek kamre mein band hon’ in the film Bobby (1973). Yet, Gulmarg’s romantic tryst is nothing new.
Local shepherds called it Gaurimarg, the enchanted meadow of Gauri, or goddess Parvati, Lord Shiva’s consort. In the 16th century, Sultan Yousuf Shah of the Chak Dynasty, who frequented the heavenly hill resort with his queen, Habba Khatoon, fondly renamed it Gulmarg (Meadow of Flowers). Mughal emperor Jahangir collected 21 varieties of wildflowers from here for his gardens. A temple dedicated to the divine pair, Shiva-Parvati, was built in 1915 by Mohini Bai Sisodia, wife of Maharaja Hari Singh of Kashmir.
Located in a cup-shaped valley in the Pir Panjal Range of the Western Himalayas, Gulmarg is perched at 8,694 ft. Pink and blue flowers rebel against the blanket of green as horses graze unfettered in the meadows.
Oddly, the credit of ‘discovering’ Gulmarg goes to a Croat architect! Around the mid-1800s, Michael Adam Nedou sailed to Lahore from the port city of Ragusa (Dubrovnik) to construct a palace for a maharaja in Gujarat. While travelling from Murree (in present-day Pakistan) to Kashmir in 1880, he stumbled upon Gulmarg. He introduced it as a holiday destination to British aristocrats, civil servants and royalty, who would spend the summer fishing, hunting and hiking here.
A radial road encircles Gulmarg’s central green, part of which forms the world’s highest golf course at 8,690 ft. Gulmarg Golf Club was conceived as a six-hole course in 1890-91 by Colonel Neville Chamberlain, the man who invented snooker in Ooty. Three golf courses were established in Gulmarg, including one exclusively for women. Golfing here was so hectic that all three courses had to be used simultaneously — Upper course, Lower course and Rabbit’s course. Only the first of these survives.
Abutting the course is the 1890s Anglican St Mary’s Church, surrounded by clumps of wild flowers. Made of austere grey stone, the green-roofed Victorian edifice has beautiful stained glass windows. On the other end atop a grassy bank, the red roof of the Shree Mohineshwar Shivalaya, or the Maharani Temple, can be spotted from afar.
A signboard proudly announces ‘Gondola, a masterpiece of French technology’. Built by the French company Pomagalski, the Gulmarg Gondola is indeed an engineering marvel. One of the highest in the world, the two-stage ropeway ferries 600 people every hour from Gulmarg to Mary’s Shoulder (3,979 m) on Apharwa ft) via Kongdoori. After enjoying the stupendous views of the Nanga Parbat and Harmukh mountains, we returned to our room to relax with almond detoxifying massages at the spa and appleflavoured sheeshas at the lounge.
The next day, walking past pretty flowerbeds, we reached the famous ‘Bobby’ cottage, where a still from the movie graced the wooden wall. Six of Rishi Kapoor’s films have been shot here. Shah Rukh Khan, Anushka Sharma and Yash Chopra stayed here in 2012 during Jab Tak Hai Jaan. Gulmarg’s brush with Bollywood continues, as Haider (2014) and Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani (2013) were also filmed here. We paddled across to the upholstered lounge lined with old lanterns, colonial-era paintings, hunting trophies and funny ‘Rules of Golf’ illustrations. The brandy toddy and chilli chicken seemed perfect for the chilly weather.
We drove 12km to aba Reshi, the enerable shrine of aba Payam-ud-Din, courtier of 15th entury Kashmir King Zain-ul-Abidin. enouncing his worldly ossessions o serve the people, he Sufi saint lived editated here. A three-storey monument with lofty minarets was built in 1480 in Mughal and Persian styles with the devout flocking to the Noor Khwan (holy grave) for blessings.
Gulmarg has no dearth of adventures. Enjoy mule rides to the meadows of Khilanmarg; bite into freshly plucked Kashmiri apples inside an orchard in Tangmarg; go on an excursion to the Pandav Pathri ruins at the eco-village of Drung, or try fishing in wild mountain streams. At the remote Buta Pathri or Nagin Valley near the international border, we were warmly welcomed into hutments of nomadic Gujjars and Bakkarwals. Men with flowing beards smoked hookahs, sending up smoke trails that diffused into the mist. An unending procession of sheep posed a roadblock as we patiently allowed them to pass. The mist stirred ever so gently…