Sri Sharada Temple in Pakistan

This is the temple where Sri Adi Sankaracharya is said to have been blessed by Goddess Sarawathi and he vanished from this point. There are multiple variations to this story and we will not be going into it. This is a 2000 year old temple in today’s PoK and the area is also known as Sarada. It is located at confluence of the Rivers Kishanganga (known as Neelum in PoK) and Madhumati.

Incidentally, the Kashmiri Script itself is known as Sarada Script and Kashmir was known as Sharda Desh. This neglected temple today has been mentioned in several Kashmiri literature books as the center of learning in the past.

As part of their daily worship, Kashmiri Hindus utter the phrase” “Namastey Sharada Devi Kashmir Pur Vasini Tvam Ham Prartheye Nityam Vidya Danam Che De hi mey” (Salutations to you, O Sharada, O Goddess, O one who resides in Kashmir. I pray to you daily, please give me the gift of knowledge).