Jammu, The City of Temples

Jammu

Jammu & Kashmir

India

Dogri, Hindi, English, Urdu, Kashmiri, Punjabi

August To March

+91-191

Winter Capital of the state

20.36

The southern most important town of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and also the winter capital of the state, Jammu, is the second largest city of this state. Divided into two separate cities, the old town of Jammu is located on a hilltop overlooking the river Tawi while the new town is situated across the river, several kilometers away. Being near to the Himalayas, the city experiences cold winters but hot summers.

Jammu earlier known as Jambupur after the name of its founder, the King Jambu Lochan is famous for its innumerous temples built in typical Kashmiri style that dot the Jammu sky line. But Jammu has more in store for the traveler. A bag of surprises at every turn with romantic green meadows, mystic mountains, beautiful lakes and bewitching valleys, that's what Jammu actually is.
Nestled at the foothills of the Pir Panjal mountain range of the majestic Himalayas, with temple tops glittering and dotting the skyline with the picturesque River Tawi flowing by, Jammu is an ancient land known since the days of Silk route travel.
Legend says that once the brother of King Bahu, Jambu Lochan came across a very weird site. He saw a tiger and a goat drinking water from the River Tawi at the same time. The king was so mesmerized by this peculiar site that he decided to build a city on this soil where no living creature bore enmity towards the other.
Jammu region is home to several ethnic communities which follow traditional life-styles with distinctive cultures of their own. The Dogras and the Gujjars constitute the dominant group. The most interesting however are the Bakkarwals or the shepherd community. Their mainstay the sheep and the goats are their lives. These people are nomads and go looking for the best of pastures for their livestock. They roam al over the Kashmir valleys throughout the year and this lifestyle is followed for centuries since their ancestors.
Jammu was always a prosperous city and was ruled by many. The Afghans and the Mughals also ruled over Jammu ad eventually was handed over to the Sikh chieftain Maharaja Gulab Singh. The huge state was merged in the Indian sub continent post independence.