- Harmukh
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Mount Harmukh
Harmukh Elevation 5,142 m (16,870 ft) Translation mouth of Lord Shiva (Sanskrit) Location Location India Range Himalaya Coordinates 34°24′N 74°54′E / 34.4°N 74.9°ECoordinates: 34°24′N 74°54′E / 34.4°N 74.9°E 
Practices
Harmukh is a mountain in Jammu and Kashmir in the Himalayas. It has a height of more than 5300 m above sea level.[1]
It is known as Harmukh meaning thereby that the peak appears same from all sides.[2]
Location
Harmukh peak dominates the lower Kashmir Valley. It is situated between river Jhelum and Kishan Ganga Valley on the Ganderbal-Sonamarg road[3] towards North-East of Srinagar city.
The nearest towns to Harmukh mountain are Kishtawar, Srinagar and Anantanaag.[4]
There are two more lakes on the northern slopes of the Harmukh mountains Tarsar and Marsar.
Religious traditions and beliefs
Gangbal, also called Harmukut Ganga, is situated in the hills of Harmukh rangeand and it is believed that this place is pious as Haridwar where Hindu pilgrims perform prayers and immerse ashes of the dead.[3]
A traditional three-day-long yatra has been revived as part of efforts to restore historic religious places which are of importance to Kashmiri Pandits and preserve their cultural and religious history, by All Party Migrant Coordination Committee (APMCC). A batch of over 40 Kashmiri Pandits performed ancient Harmukh-gangbal yatra to the sacred lake in Kangan belt of Ganderbal district in 2009. The return journey is from a different route via Narannag on the banks of a rivulet called Krenk nadi where beautiful temples are located. Larakota king Laltaditya Muktapida had expanded and beautified the Jyestha and Bhutesha temples at Narannag.[3]
According to tradition, the region is also the abode of Lord Shiva from whose hair locks the holy river Gangabal flows down forming the lake.[3]
It is said[by whom?] that no poisonous snakes exist in parts of the valley from which the peak of Haramak can be seen and on the other hand, the peak is not visible the serpents of the locality are poisonous and their bites are fatal. In Illaqa Pulwama where the peak is visible the snakes are quite harmless and at village Lar where it is invisible the serpents are poisonous.[2]
According to the legend of "Hurmukhuk Gosoni"[2]
- Once a hermit tried to reach the summit of the Harmukh to see Lord Shiva face to face. For twelve years long he tried to scale the summit, but failed until one day he saw a gojar descending the summit. When the gojar approached him, the hermit enquired as to what he saw there. The gojar whose goat had strayed and for whom he had been searching, said that he saw a couple milking a cow and drinking the same in a human skull. They had offered some milk to him, which he refused to drink and when they departed they rubbed a little of the milk on his forehead. As the gojar indicated the spot on his forehead where the milk was rubbed, the hermit was extremely joyful and rushed to lick his forehead. It is said that the hermit got Nirvana and diasppeared from the place, to the entire surprise of the gojar.
References
Categories:- Mountains of Jammu and Kashmir
- Mountains of India
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