Actress Sara Ali Khan in Gulmarg
Bollywood’s new heartthrob, Sara Ali Khan daughter of Saif Ali Khan, spent days holidaying in Kashmir with mother Amrita Singh and brother Ibrahim Ali Khan. Before flying home, she shared a video of Baba Reshi shrine to extend Ramzan wishes to her fans. Sharing a glimpse of a
dargah in Gulmarg, surrounded by the snow-capped mountains, the
Kedarnath actress took to her Instagram stories, and wrote, “Ramadan Kareem.” The video is shot during twilight as the evening prayers can also be heard in the video. Earlier, in a hilarious video, the actress was seen with her mother Amrita riding in a ropeway car amidst a snow-capped Gulmarg. As Sara was interacting with her fans, her mom seated beside her was scared as the rope car scaled up the mountains. The post was captioned as,
Mehru N Nisa
SRINAGAR: Following outrage on the decimation of the age-old wall murals (Naqashi) of the Khanqah-e-Muala by the Tourism Department, the government came into action on Monday to stop the work.
Director of Archives, Archaeology and Museums, Muneer-ul-Islam visited the heritage shrine to halt the repair work on the walls.
“This art is rare and people are very much concerned about it. We need to maintain its originality. Whatsoever damage has been done, we need to minimise it,” Islam said.
Islam said that he has contacted the Tourism Department to discuss the mater
“We are stopping the work till we find a better alternative to renovate the monument. We will try to go for natural colours instead of these chemical ones,” Islam added.
SRINAGAR: The Tourism Department Kashmir is allegedly destroying the oldest surviving wall murals (
Naqashi) at the Khanqah-i-Mualla by plastering entire walls with Plaster of Paris thus obliterating all old traces.
The issue was brought to the fore by Design Director INTACH Kashmir Hakim Sameer Hamdani who tweeted on the issue.
Most unfortunate. As they say, Neem hakeem khatrai jaan. Wish they consulted and relied on domain experts.
“Today happened to see how in the name of preservation, the oldest surviving example of painted wall murals (
naqashi) has been obliterated at Khanqah-i Maulla. Though textual evidences indicate this art form was well established during Mughal rule in Kashmir, yet the oldest surviving example dates from early 19th century on the exterior walls of
Cast In Stone
Khalid Bashir Gura
Pather Masjid in the heart of Srinagar is the only living monument f Mughal architecture in Kashmir. KL Image: Bilal Bahadur
Pathar Masjid (The Stone Mosque) is one of Srinagar’s key infrastructures of faith and culture. Built by Nur Jahan, the queen wife of Mughal emperor Jahangir, in 1623 AD, the mosque is also known as
Naev Masjid (New Mosque) and Shahi-i- Masjid (Royal Mosque) as well This is perhaps the only mosque other than Jamia Masjid that is mentioned in history, repeatedly.
The mosque may escape ones attention as it is fenced and shaded from public view by a shop line, security checkpoints and spools of barbed wire. As one step into the lawns of the mosque, through a labyrinth of alleys, the towering silence engulfs, and the crimson leaves from the Chinars fall silently on its four rectangular gardens,
A papiermâché craftsman at work in Srinagar
| Photo Credit: NISSAR AHMAD
Militancy, a flood, the pandemic Kashmir s ancient art of papier-mâché is at its lowest ebb now, but there may be a ray of hope for the future
Sometime in the 12th century, Omar Khayyam, the Persian poet and astronomer, wrote these lines about love and longing: “Come, fill the cup, and in the fire of spring / The winter garment of repentance fling: The bird of time has but a little way / To fly and Lo! the bird is on the wing.”
Khayyam could never have imagined that his words would be depicted, nearly a millennium later, in a far-off place called Kashmir, on four-foot-high, intricately designed, papier-mâché vases. His poems continue to inspire the masters of papier-mâché art, who live in the narrow bylanes of Srinagar’s Zadibal-Alamgari Bazaar. They have, for centuries, striven to bring to life the literary works of poets, Iranian kings and Mughal emperors, adding their familiar, local