On March 23, 2023 honorable home minister Amit Shah Ji inaugurated the Maa Sharda temple through video conferencing and assured to work for the opening of pilgrimage to Sharda Peeth in PoJK (Pakistan occupied Jammu & Kashmir) on the pattern of Kartarpur Corridor in Punjab.

A Maa Sharda temple and a gurdwara were opened at Teetwal in the frontier district of Kupwara near the Line of Control on one of the base camps en route the traditional Sharda Peeth, an ancient Sanatani temple in Neelam Valley in Pakistan-occupied-Jammu-&-Kashmir, which has been out of bounds since 1947.

The temple construction was made possible owing to the campaign of Ravinder Pandita, a Kashmiri migrant pandit and head of Save Sharda Committee Kashmir (Regd) with the help of local residents in Kupwara.

When we came here in 2021, nobody would have thought that we would have some land here and then we could construct a temple and gurdwara burnt in 1947. There was divine intervention in Kashmir.

This is a matter of happiness for all Kashmiris. The way people are enthusiastic and there are celebrations, this has to be counted. This is not just a temple but heritage and Sharda civilization.

Our university used to be the oldest, even older than Nalanda. The goal of our committee would be to strive for opening of roads from both sides, a confidence-building measure. Till pilgrimages are started from both sides we won’t stop.

~ Ravinder Pandita

Sharada Peeth is a sanatani temple and ancient center of learning located in the Neelum Valley of Pakistan occupied Jammu & Kashmir (POJK). 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 popularization 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“.

As one of the Maha Shakti Peethas, sanatanis believe that it represents the spiritual location of the goddess Sati’s fallen right hand. Sharada Peeth is one of the three holiest sites of pilgrimage for Kashmiri Pandits, alongside the Martand Sun Temple and the Amarnath Temple.

Sharada Peeth is located approximately 150 kilometers (93 mi) from Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-occupied Jammu & Kashmir, and 130 kilometers (81 mi) from Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir. It is 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) away from the Line of Control, which divides the Pakistani- and Indian-controlled areas of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is situated 1,981 meters (6,499 ft) above sea level, along the Neelum River in the village of Sharda, in the valley of Mount Harmukh, believed by Kashmiri Pandits to be the abode of Shiva.

In the 14th century text Madhaviya Shankara Vijayam, there is a test, unique to Sharada Peeth, known as the Sarvajna Peetham, or Throne of Omniscience. These were four thrones, each representing an entrances of the temple corresponding to one of the points of the compass, which only a learned man from that direction could symbolically open. Adi Shankara, being from South India, took it upon himself to pass this challenge, because although the other doors had been opened, no one from the south of Kashmir had yet been successful. He was said to be welcomed by the common people, but challenged by the scholars of the region. As he approached the southern door, he was stopped by various learned men from the Nyaya school of philosophy, Buddhists, Digambara Jains, and the followers of Jaimini. Engaging with them, he managed to persuade all of them of his proficiency in philosophy, and they stood aside to let him open the entrance. Finally, as he was about to ascend the throne, he heard the voice of the goddess Sharada challenging him. The voice said that omniscience was not enough if one was impure, and that Shankara, who lived in the palace of King Amaruka, could not be pure. Shankara replied that his body had never committed a sin, and the sins committed by another could not blemish him. The goddess Sharada accepted his explanation and permitted him to ascend.

In the Carnatic music song kalavathi kamalasana yuvathi, the 19th century composer Muthuswami Dikshitar refers to Sharada Peeth as Saraswati’s abode. Set in the raga yagapriya, the song praises Saraswati:

Kāśmīra vihāra, vara śāradā.
The one who resides in Kashmir, Sharada.

Today, Sharada Peeth continues to figure in Sanatani traditions. At the beginning of formal education, some sects of Brahmins ritually perform Dandvat Pranaam in the direction of Sharada Peeth. Saraswat Brahmin communities in Karnataka are also said to perform a ritual of moving seven steps towards Kashmir before retracing their steps during the Yagnopavit ceremony, and include the Sharada stotram in their morning prayers.

Namaste Sarada Devi Kashmira mandala vasini.
I bow to the Goddess Sharada, who lives in Kashmir.

The only available photograph of a Goddess Sharada Devi temple (Sharada Peeth) from Pakistan Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (POJK) before its destruction. A Kashmiri Pandit stands at the entrance, taken in 1893.

In ancient India, this temple cum monastery (Peetha) was famed as a great center of learning and it attracted students from all over India.

Goddess Sharada is worshiped by 1 Billion Hindus and temples built in her honor from Kashmir in the North to Tamil Nadu in the South. But her original place of residence was in Kashmir. 1 Billion Hindus chant the famous verse नमस्ते शारदे देवी काश्मीरपुरवासिनि (” Salutations to mother Sharada, she who resides in the land of Kashmir” )

The temple was first destroyed by Sikandar Butshikan – sixth sultan of the Shah Miri dynasty (c.14th century). It was rebuilt and again destroyed. The cycle continued until it was finally bombed by Pakistani army in 1948.

This picture was taken by Mark Aurel Stein in 1893 when the temple was still intact.

It is of great civilizational importance that the temple has been rebuilt and re-opened for locals. Government of India also plans to construct a corridor like Kartarpur Sahib in Punjab to allow public access of the temple to all devotees.