User:Kohlrabi Pickle/sandbox/Sharada Peeth

As a temple
The Sharada temple played a significant role in Kashmiri Pandit religious practice and culture. As one of the earliest living shrines of goddess worship alongside the Kheer Bhawani and Vaishno Devi temples, it helped develop Shaktism in Kashmiri Pandit religious thought, and the importance of knowledge and education in Kashmiri Pandit religious culture.

The Sharada temple a key part of Kashmiri Pandit religious culture until the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948, which split the princely state of Kashmir into the Pakistani-administered territory of Azad Kashmir, and the Indian-administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It caused large numbers of Kashmiri Pandits to migrated to the Indian-administered territory, with Sharada Peeth remaining in Pakistani-administered territory.

Before the war, a thriving Kashmiri Pandit community lived in the vicinity of the Sharada Peeth teerth (or pilgrimage). These included priests and traders, as well as saints and their disciples. As a religious ritual, Kashmiri Pandit theologians across Kashmir would place their manuscripts in covered platters before idols of the goddess Sharada, to obtain her blessings. They believed that the goddess conveyed approval of the pages of writings by leaving them undisturbed, and disapproval by sifting the pages.

a annual fair would be held at Shardi village, with pilgrims travelling through Kupwara (in present-day Jammu and Kashmir).

Kashmiri Pandits believe that the goddess Sharada worshipped in Sharada Peeth is a tripartite embodiment of the goddess Shakti: Sharada (goddess of learning), Saraswati (goddess of knowledge), and Vagdevi (goddess of speech, which articulates power).