Kashmir Heritage & Culture

Shalimar, Nishat and Chashme Shahi — terraced gardens laid out above Dal Lake in the 1600s.

The white marble shrine on the western shore of Dal Lake, and the valley's most visited place of worship.

A fourteenth-century mosque in the old city, its prayer hall carried on hundreds of deodar pillars.

A stone temple on the Zabarwan hill, reached by a long stair, with the whole city below it.

Eighth-century Karkota ruins on an open plateau, looking out across the valley floor.

The shrine of Sheikh Noor-ud-din Noorani, built in timber and shingle in the Budgam hills.

A seven-terraced garden palace built by Dara Shikoh on the Zabarwan slope, lit up over Dal Lake at night.

An eighteenth-century Durrani fort on the hill above the old city, ringed by Akbar's earlier wall.

Hand-spun from Changthangi goat fleece; Kani shawls are woven with small wooden spools, one pattern taking months.

Silk and wool carpets knotted to a talim — a coded pattern the weaver chants as they work.

Boxes, vases and ornaments moulded from paper pulp and painted in fine floral detail.

Screens, tables and boxes carved in deep relief from the valley's own walnut.

Needle and hook embroidery on shawls, stoles and pherans.

Geometric ceilings fitted together from small pieces of pine without nails.

A multi-course feast prepared by a vaste waze, served on a shared trami.

Lamb slow-cooked in a red gravy coloured with Kashmiri chilli and ratanjot.

Mutton in a yoghurt gravy scented with fennel and dried mint.

Pounded meatballs in a white yoghurt gravy — traditionally the final dish.

Small potatoes fried and cooked slowly in a spiced yoghurt sauce.

Green tea with saffron, cardamom and almonds, and the pink salted tea taken with bread from the kandur.

A timber shrine on the Jhelum, among the oldest mosques in the city, with a carved and painted interior.

The shrine of Sheikh Hamza Makhdoom on the slope of Hari Parbat.

A temple set in a spring whose water is said to change colour.

The hilltop shrine of Sheikh Zain-ud-din Wali, a disciple of Nund Rishi.

A high cave shrine reached on the summer yatra through Chandanwari and Sheshnag.

The long woollen gown worn through winter, with a wicker fire-pot held underneath it.

Classical Sufi music played on the santoor, saz-e-kashmir and tabla.

Women's line dance sung at festivals, and the rabab-led folk songs of weddings.

The fourteenth-century mystic and the sixteenth-century poet-queen, still sung across the valley.

The karewa fields turn purple and the crocus is picked by hand at dawn.

Asia's largest tulip garden opens below the Zabarwan hills.