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Gurez: The Crown Of Kashmir

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This website and all my work is dedicated to my Father, Late Hajji Abdul Aziz Samoon, Who passed away on Friday 20thJanuary 2012. It was he, who guided me all these years and Inshallah his life is an inspiration for me.

I request all of you to pray for the departed soul and offer fateh in his name. Allah bless you all.

Dear viewers,,, It gives me immense pleasure to introduce Gurez/ Gurais Valley to you. This site is not a commercial website and does not belong to any political or commercial organization. This website is only meant to dissipate all possible information on Gurez Valley. Being the administrator of this website I will like to thank all those contributors who have extended all possible support to make this site a success. Everyone among you who wants to contribute his experiences or photos or videos of Gurez Valley is most welcome. Those organizations or individuals who want to use information provided in this website are requested to mention the author and website address in their bibliography as a token of acknowledgement. Gurez Valley has recently been opened up for international tourists. Jammu and Kashmir Government is serious in developing this Valley as an international tourist resort. So don't miss out the unique beauty of this heaven. Make a trip to Gurez Valley and experience the raw beauty of Mother Nature.
With Best regards

Zahid Samoon

9419003183

“ …. The valley is extremely picturesque, as the river comes dashing along through a rich meadow, partly covered with lindens, walnut and willow trees, while the mountains on either side present nothing but a succession of most abrupt precipices, and Alpine lodges, covered with fir trees….”

" Sir Charles Ellison Bates, 1872 AD "

Introduction:
Nestled high among towering peaks, including the awesome Habba Khatoon Mountain, Jammu and Kashmir's one of the beautiful treasures; Gurez Valley is located at an altitude of 8000 feet above sea level. Because of its remote nature, the majestic Gurez Valley has found little mention in the popular tourist literature written about Jammu & Kashmir. However, some explorers of the 19th Century have written briefly about the Gurez Valley. But whoever visits the Gurez Valley has been awe-struck by its natural beauty, diverse fauna, and wildlife. For More info, Click Here...

Tourism:

Gurez Valley has a huge potential for tourism sector as well as for various adventurous sports. Besides this it has a vast unstudied material in case of its wild life and medicinal plants. Gurez Valley has huge forests that add to natural resources of Jammu & Kashmir State.
For important tips to tourists. Click Here.

Archaeological sites:

The archaeological investigation of the Gurez Valley is sure to reveal further insights into the history of the Dard people and the general history of Kashmir. The Gurez Valley is likely to yield many other archaeological discoveries. Significantly, the Gurez Valley falls along the section of the ancient Silk Route, which connected the Kashmir Valley with Gilgit continuing further to Kashgar. Archaeological surveys in valleys north of the Gurez Valley along the Silk Route, particularly in Chilas, have uncovered hundreds of inscriptions recorded in stone. Inscriptions in Kharoshthi, Brahmi, Hebrew, and Tibetan have all been discovered. In particular, the findings reveal insights into the origins of the Kashmiri people and the early history of Buddhism which took a different shape in Kashmir, over a series of Buddhist Councils held between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD; in the 6th Century Buddhism spread across the borders to Tibet by missionaries. Also, the ancient capital of the Dards, Dawar, is located in the Gurez Valley and is an important archaeological site.

Other archaeological sites of importance in the Gurez Valley include Kanzilwan where the last council of Buddhism is believed to have been held and, further down stream, the ruins of the ancient Sharada University are preserved along the Kishenganga River.For more info on Silk Route .Click Here. .

Location:

Gurais stretches from "Sharda Peeth" in west to "Minimarg" in east and "Drass" on another side. Presently Gurais is divided into three regions
From Baghtor to Sharda Peeth. (This part is under the occupation of PaK-Pakistan Occupied Kashmir under the name of Neelum Valley. For more info on Sharada Peeth. Click Here.
From Baghtor to Abdullae Tulail. (This part is under Indian Occupation under the name of Gurez Valley). From Chorwan (Sandyaal) to Burzil pass. (This part is under direct control of Pakistan as a part of "Northern Areas".
During the course of journey to Gurez Valley one has to traverse through the Bandipora. In earlier days one had to drop down the Jehlum River by boat and cross the Wular Lake to Bandipora.But these days one can cover this distance through Road in a Hour. While leaving Bandipora one gets a glimpse of Madhumati River near Sonarwani. This river is very famous among the Kashmiri Pandits and has a religious value for them. From Sonarwani the path Zigzags up a spur for a rise of some thousands of feet and then comes to a part where the slope is more gradual; here the ground is varied, being broken into sweet little flowery dells surrounded by fir-trees.

Important Suggested Links:
Gurez Videos
Gurez Photogallery
Shina Songs
Comments By some visitors/tourists to Gurez
Articles on Gurez by some Writers
Contact the Administrator:- Zahid samoon

Recently, the world renowned Scientific Magazine “Royal Geographical Society, of London since -1935" published a photo story on Gurez Valley and evil effects of Kishenganga Dam on it. Photographer - Michael Benanav and Writer Olivia Edward contributed in it. I provided the necessary information to them. Published in May issue of “Geographical” I am attaching the ‘pdf’ file to this page as well as creating a new page for the viewers. Go directly to the "Geographical" website. Click Here....Dammed if you do

Click below for Gurez Photos on TrekEarth and Facebook.

© copyright-Zahid Samoon

zaidi_abraham	Latest page update: made by zaidi_abraham , Mar 16 2012, 5:38 AM EDT (about this update About This Update Edited by zaidi_abraham view changes - complete history)
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Attachments

GE022-029_Photostory#38CC72.pdf (Adobe Portable Document Format - 1,443k)
posted by zaidi_abraham Jun 19 2010, 1:08 PM EDT

Photostory on Gurez in world renowned magazine, "Geographical"