Sir,
Hari Parphat becomes Koh-i-Maran, Anantnag becomes Islamabad, Srinagar becomes Shehar-e-Khas and now the Shankracharya hill becomes Takth-e-Suleiman—What a distortion of historical facts!
History has it that the Shankracharya Temple which is located on the top of the Gopadhari Hill in the heart of Srinagar was constructed by Maharaja Gopadhari and was later renovated by Maharaja Lalitaditya in the second half of the first millennium. The locality around the hill is still called Gopkar after Gopadhari.It is a matter of great concern that the Archeological Survey of India has given the name Takh-i-Suleman (Throne of Solomon) to it replacing the earlier plaque that called it the Shankracharya. How the ASI has come to this conclusion, warrants an answer? Besides this, the ASI informs the people that the roof of the temple was constructed by Shah-e-Jahan the Mougal Emperor in 1644 AD. The monumental change in the information provided by the ASI clearly indicates towards a conspiracy to subvert the correct history of the temple. This is the information carried by the signage installed by the ASI in the compound of the temple.
The historical records say that during the construction of the temple the Gopadhari hill was surrounded by water from all sides and boats were used to ferry the material to the base of the hill. It is also said that a staircase connecting the temple with the Ghat of the River Jhelum presently near Amar Singh Club Srinagar existed that was got destroyed under the orders of Noor Jehan,the wife of Jahangir the mogul Emperor and out of those stones the Pathar Masjid at Srinagar was raised.
It was some decades back that illegal quarrying of stones was done at the hillock side and the earth reclaimed there was christened Suleiman complex. Shops and malls too were raised including a tourist restaurant. It is said that Sultan Sikander, the iconoclast who is known to have destroyed majority of temples in Kashmir did not destroy this temple but removed the Shiva Lingam from there which was later restored during the Dogra rule. Since Adi-Shankracharya had stayed at the site it was dedicated to him.
It is better that the record is set right.
Yours etc…..
Predhuman K Joseph Dhar,
Jammu (Tawi)
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