Sharada Peeth
Encyclopedia
Sharada Peeth located near Sharda, was the famous temple of the goddess Sarasvatī (Sharda) in Northern Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...

 on the banks of what is known as the Neelum River
Neelum River
The Neelum River , or Kishanganga , is a river in the Kashmir region of India and Pakistan. The Neelam River enters Pakistan from India in the Gurais sector of the Line of Control, and then runs west till it meets the Jhelum River north of Muzzafarabad.- Neelum Valley :The Neelum Valley is a...

 in Pakistan (referred to as Kishenganga river in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

). Its ruins are now in the Neelum District
Neelum District
Neelum District is one of the eight districts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan. Until recently it was part of Muzaffarabad District. It is bound by the Gilgit to the North, with Kupwara, Baramulla and Bandipore Districts of Indian-administered Kashmir in India to the South and Southeast,...

 of Pakistan Administered Kashmir near the Line of Control (LoC) and Gurez
Gurez
Gurez or Gurais, also pronounced Gorai in the local Shina language, is a valley located in the high Himalayas , about from Bandipore and from Srinagar in northern Jammu and Kashmir, India. At about above sea level, the valley is surrounded by snow capped mountains. It has diverse fauna and...

, India. Shina
Shina
Shina can refer to:* Shina , a Japanese term for mainland China* Shina , Shina Gado, a character from the Bloody Roar video game series* Shina people, Dardic people of Pakistani Kashmir* Shin of Hindukush...

 and Kashmiri language
Kashmiri language
Kashmiri is a language from the Dardic sub-group and it is spoken primarily in the Kashmir Valley, in Jammu and Kashmir. There are approximately 5,554,496 speakers in Jammu and Kashmir, according to the Census of 2001. Most of the 105,000 speakers or so in Pakistan are émigrés from the Kashmir...

s are mostly spoken in the area. Kashmir was sometimes called Sharada Desh because of this temple.

The place was once a celebrated centre of learning headed by Kashmiri Brahmins. It is at this temple that Sankaracharya received the right to sit on the Sarvanjnanapeetham (Throne of Wisdom). It was a centre of great Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 scholars and Kashmiri Pandits and was a famous centre of Buddhism and later Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

. Sharada script and Takri (from which Gurmukhi is derived). According to the Prabhāvakacarita, a Jain historical work dated 1277-78, the Śvetāmbara scholar Hemacandra requested grammatical texts preserved here so he could compile his own grammar, the Siddhahema. The Vaishnava saint Swami Ramanuja
Ramanuja
Ramanuja ; traditionally 1017–1137, also known as Ramanujacharya, Ethirajar , Emperumannar, Lakshmana Muni, was a theologian, philosopher, and scriptural exegete...

 traveled all the way from Srirangam
Srirangam
Srirangam , Old name is Vellithirumutha gramam and Tamil name is Thiruvarangam , is an island and a part of the city of Tiruchirapalli , in South India....

 to refer to Bodhayana's vritti on Brahma Sutras
Brahma Sutras
The Brahma sūtras , also known as Vedānta Sūtras , are one of the three canonical texts of the Vedānta school of Hindu philosophy. A thorough study of Vedānta requires a close examination of these three texts, known in Sanskrit as the Prasthanatrayi, or the three starting points...

 preserved here, before commencing work on writing his commentary on the Brahma sutras, the Sri Bhasya
Sri Bhasya
The Sri Bhasya is the most famous work of Sri Ramanuja, . It is his commentary on Sri Badarayana's Vedanta Sutra. It was completed when he was around a hundred years old...

. The Śāradā image at Shringeri Sharadamba temple
Shringeri Sharadamba temple
Sri Sharadamba Temple is a famous Hindu temple dedicated to goddess Saraswati in the holy town of Shringeri in Karnataka, IndiaThe Sharadamba Temple at Shringeri...

 was once said to have been made of sandalwood, which is supposed to have been taken by the Sankaracharya
Adi Shankara
Adi Shankara Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (IAST: pronounced , (Sanskrit: , ) (788 CE - 820 CE), also known as ' and ' was an Indian philosopher from Kalady of present day Kerala who consolidated the doctrine of advaita vedānta...

 from here.

Kalhana
Kalhana
Kalhana , a Kashmiri, was the author of Rajatarangini , an account of the history of Kashmir. He wrote the work in Sanskrit between 1148 and 1149. All information regarding his life has to be deduced from his own writing, a major scholar of which is Mark Aurel Stein...

 mentions that in Lalitaditya's reign (8th century AD), some followers of a king of Gauda (Bengal), come to Kashmir under the pretence of visiting the shrine of Śāradā.

The temple was last repaired by Maharaja Gulab Singh
Maharaja Gulab Singh
Maharaja Gulab Singh was the founder and first Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, the second largest princely state in British India...

 of Kashmir.

See also

  • Sharada script
  • Kashmir Shaivism
    Kashmir Shaivism
    Among the various Hindu philosophies, Kashmir Shaivism is a school of Śaivism consisting of Trika and its philosophical articulation Pratyabhijña...

     Philosophy
  • Adi Shankara
    Adi Shankara
    Adi Shankara Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (IAST: pronounced , (Sanskrit: , ) (788 CE - 820 CE), also known as ' and ' was an Indian philosopher from Kalady of present day Kerala who consolidated the doctrine of advaita vedānta...

  • Ramanuja
    Ramanuja
    Ramanuja ; traditionally 1017–1137, also known as Ramanujacharya, Ethirajar , Emperumannar, Lakshmana Muni, was a theologian, philosopher, and scriptural exegete...

  • Ancient Universities of Pakistan
  • Ancient Universities of India
  • Nalanda
    Nalanda
    Nālandā is the name of an ancient center of higher learning in Bihar, India.The site of Nalanda is located in the Indian state of Bihar, about 55 miles south east of Patna, and was a Buddhist center of learning from the fifth or sixth century CE to 1197 CE. It has been called "one of the...

  • Swami Lakshman Joo
    Swami Lakshman Joo
    Swami Lakshman Joo Raina was a famed mystic and scholar of Kashmir Shaivism. He was known as Lal Sahib by followers and considered by them to be a fully realized saint.- Family :...

     Raina
  • Taxila
    Taxila
    Taxila is a Tehsil in the Rawalpindi District of Punjab province of Pakistan. It is an important archaeological site.Taxila is situated about northwest of Islamabad Capital Territory and Rawalpindi in Panjab; just off the Grand Trunk Road...

  • Vikramshila
    Vikramshila
    University was one of the two most important centers of Buddhist learning in India during the Pala dynasty, along with University. was established by King Dharmapala in response to a supposed decline in the quality of scholarship at Nālandā...


External links

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