Awantipora Ruins
Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Nearby attractions
Pampore Saffron Fields
Pampore, Jammu and Kashmir
The saffron capital of India — late-autumn plateaus turn lilac with crocus bloom, picked at dawn for the world's most precious spice.
Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip Garden
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
Asia's largest tulip garden — 1.7 million blooms in ribbons of colour under the Zabarwan hills for three dazzling spring weeks.
Chashme Shahi & Pari Mahal
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
The 'royal spring' garden of famed digestive waters, and above it Dara Shikoh's seven-terraced Pari Mahal — a Sufi school glowing over Dal at dusk.
Aishmuqam Shrine
Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir
The hilltop cave-dargah of Sufi saint Zain-ud-Din Wali on the Pahalgam road — torch processions at Urs, film-famous stairways, valley views.
Char Chinar Island, Dal Lake
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
A tiny Mughal island of four sentinel chinar trees mid-lake — Murad Baksh's 17th-century folly, reached only by shikara.
Shankaracharya Temple
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
A 9th-century stone Shiva shrine on the 1,100-ft Takht-e-Suleiman hill — the oldest surviving temple in Kashmir, with the whole valley at its feet.
Charar-e-Sharief
Budgam, Jammu and Kashmir
The hill-town shrine of Sheikh Noor-ud-din Noorani (Nund Rishi), Kashmir's patron saint — rebuilt in carved wood, the heart of the valley's Rishi order.
Srinagar Houseboat & Shikara Experience
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
Sleeping on carved-cedar Victorian houseboats and waking to the floating vegetable market — the definitive Kashmir ritual on Dal and Nigeen.
Dal Lake
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir
Srinagar's mirror — shikaras glide past floating gardens, lotus beds and carved cedar houseboats moored since the Raj, with the Pir Panjal reflected in glassy water. Mornings bring a floating vegetable market; evenings, saffron kahwa on your houseboat deck.