Sharada Peeth is a ruined Hindu temple and ancient centre of learning located in the Neelum Valley of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. Between the 6th and 12th centuries CE, it was among the most prominent temple universities in the Indian subcontinent. Known in particular for its library, stories recount scholars travelling long distances to access its texts. It played a key role in the development and popularisation of the Sharada script in North India, causing the script to be named after it, and Kashmir to acquire the moniker "Sharada Desh", meaning "country of Sharada".
Ruins of Sharada Peeth
A photograph of Sharada Peeth in 1893 by the British archaeologist Aurel Stein with a Kashmiri Pandit standing at the entrance
Four-armed statue of the goddess Sharada from Kashmir, c. late 9th century AD
View of the Neelum Valley from Sharada Peeth
Neelum is
a district of Pakistan-administered Azad Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. It is the northernmost of 10 districts located within the Pakistani-administered territory of Azad Kashmir. Taking up the larger part of the Neelum Valley, the district had a population of around 191,000 people. It was among the worst-hit areas of Pakistan during the 2005 Kashmir earthquake.
Photograph showing the heavily-forested landscape of the Neelum Valley in April 2015
Dosut
