User:Yasir Yousuf Ahanger/sandbox

Ladhoo, a mystical village

Ladhoo is the name of a very beautiful village of district Pulwama and is one among the largest villages of Tehsil Pampore. This village has got a deep history of its existence and is full of surprises, stories & mysteries. It is spread over an area of 9 sq.kms including a long stretch of very famous trekking spot known as WASTURWAN. This hill is also referred as VESHRIVAN by some scholars  and is said to be a store house of many myths and truths for the people living in its vicinity. Considering the topology nature has designed this village so adequate that it had remained the seat of learning for many saints and Sufis and  get spiritual enlightenment, one among them is one  of the valleys  highly praised  sufi saint popularly known as Nund Rishi orAlamdare Kashmir Hazrat Sheikh-ul-Aalam r.a has spent an ample amount of time here (around couple of years), other saints visited here include   Mir Syed Ali Hamadani r.a, Baba Raqam ud din r.a and Jeevan  Sahib including their spiritual sites as Lopan pal, bank of sanz haer nag, ghope bal and Gousen nar. The topography of Ladhoo includes all the major forms of land ranging from  mighty mountain  ranges (Ruswat, Gousen nar, mir hajan etc) to terraced table land (Karewas) &  also hosts the most important fountains of the whole valley like Sanz Haer nag (a pond in which the famous archaeological monument is located) and Dader nag. Unveiling the natural treasures of Ladhoo the first name that comes is  Gousen nar. It is a beautiful health resort and the most diverse region located in the skirt of the famous and centrally located hill known as Wasturwan. once was a lush green forest and considered to be the parental home for bears. And the Kashmiri stag (now critically endangered) used to roam freely in these forests. People used to visit the region for collecting the forest products like GUCCHI (Morels), medicinal herbs, firewood, timber and eatables like Himalayan primrose 9wopal hak), Malva (sochel) etc  . Shepherds used it for grazing their herds and cattles.  Moreover it is the region which envelopes the LOPEN PAL , a boulder on which Sheikh-ul-Aalam r.a  offered  prayers and ate the wild food  i.e,  taraxacum officinale (Hand) and Dipsasus inermis (Wopal Hak). SANZ HAER NAG & DADER NAG , The actual praise and  the importance of these two refreshing ponds/ fountains is  reflected in the poetry of  famous sufi saint Wahab Khar r.a as; “ Dader nags aab che muooth Sue gousenis ghare buooth” Meaning that how sacred and pious the fountain (DADER NAG) is that saints come to get benevolence from it. “Sanz Haer nag kya chu mashoor  haz  Ameer (r.a) tath buooth Alamdaran (r.a)  tataey   su   duooeth” Meaning  that its is the sacredness of the pond (Sanz Haer nag ) which brought the Mir Syed Ali Hamadani r.a  here and to seek its reason there came the Hazrat Sheikh-ul-Aalam r.a. The word “Dader Nag” is also mentioned by  Sir George Abraham Grierson in his book “A dictionary of Kashmiri language”, where he translates it as ; “Name of a fountain in the Vihi pargana near the village Khrew” It is necessary to mention that here the name KHREW is used as the reference not as the actual landmark. Sanz Haer Nag is still present in its original shape and is currently under the maintenance of archaeological department of India, circle Srinagar as there in the middle of the pond is builded an Ancient Temple. But unfortunately the DADER NAG, once used as the prime source of portable water for the whole community because of its crystal clear and appeasing water quality is now damaged and the flow has reduced and limited to a confined area. The reason being said is a cloudburst and people still believe that this happen due to the profaned attitude of people towards that very sacred fountain.