Maharani Temple Gulmarg Gutted

The 106 year old iconic Maharani Temple , popularly known as the Rani Temple located atop a hillock in Gulmarg, Kashmir was gutted in a blaze on Wednesday. The temple was built by Maharani Mohini Bai Sisodia,wife of the last ruler of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in 1915.The temple has a Shiva Lingam. Lord Shiva is the presiding deity of this temple. This temple is also known as the Mohineshwar Shivalaya. This temple acquired the national and international gaze due to the picturisation of It in the Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz starrer hit movie “Aap Ki Kasam”.It is pertinent to mention that this temple was restored and refurbished by the Indian Army with the local involvement in 2021.It enabled the people to visit this temple and a spiritual destination was added to their itinerary. This temple was mainly made of wood and as such it had a unique architectural style giving it an immense heritage value. Destruction of this temple raises many questions and it gives rumour mongers enough space to run their rumour mill. The administration must act fast and set up an inquiry to ascertain the cause of this unfortunate incident that has led to the destruction of another valuable religious heritage of Kashmir. Due to the ethno-religious conflict that has destabilised the social fabric and vandalised various religious sites there has been a considerable loss of valuable cultural heritage of Kashmir. Moreover there is an urgent need to frame a policy to sensitise the masses and especially the young generation that was born after 1989-1990 about the rich religious heritage and civilizational values of Kashmir. Our youth must know what their legacy is and what they have inherited from their forefathers. So that they are not only proud about their legacy but equipped to safeguard it. Kashmir cannot afford to lose its place consciousness and aesthetics that has given it its cherished place in the annals of history as the destination akin to heaven. Destruction of the Maharani temple in Gulmarg must make us all ponder that negligence of any kind will make us paupers when it comes to heritage. All rich civilisations in the entire world preserve and restore their religious heritage with modern techniques without compromising on the originality of the heritage structures and monuments. Every place develops its architecture that emerges from the building material that is easily available in the area. As such Kashmir is no exception. Wood has been used as the building material in Kashmir from times immemorial. And fire incidents in Kashmir have mostly been due to the vulnerability of the wooden structures to major and minor fires. The cause of the fire in the temple has not been identified so far. Only speculation is doing the rounds. There is a need to end these speculations. So that the situation is not exploited to give it a spin. It will serve no one’s cause. As of today, one thing is clear that in the devastation of the Maharani Temple in Gulmarg, Kashmir has lost its valuable heritage. It is a loss of every Kashmiri who are the custodians of Kashmir’s heritage, be it tangible or intangible. The Rising Kashmir has always stood for the conservation, preservation and restoration of Kashmir’s heritage. Heritage is the crystallisation of the culture of a society over the centuries. And we are well aware that any element of heritage that is lost to natural disasters or man-made disasters is an immense loss that can’t be recovered at any cost. So the need is to sensitise the society and develop a community involvement approach that makes people sentinels of heritage.