A Visit to Jammu: The City of Temples in India

Jammu is known as city of temples in India and is the summer capital of the State of Jammu and Kashmir. Most of the tourists visiting Kashmir have to pass through this city of Jammu. That is why Jammu is also known as an entry gate to beautiful valley of Kashmir. I have visited Jammu three times in my life and have enjoyed most of the sites seeing spots at and nearby Jammu.

Jammu is well connected by train, and the air from most of the major cities of India like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, and Bangalore. The tourists can easily pass couple of days here at Jammu on their way to Shrinagar. The ruler of Punjab, King Ranjitsingh presented this city to his Rajput follower, Gulabsinh in the year 1832 and was clubbed to the Kashmir kingdom later. The tourists can get the buses or taxis for going to Shrinagar from Jammu. There are many hotels like Hotel Jammu Ashoka, Hotel Asia, Hotel Premier, Hotel Nataraj, and hotel Apsara. Most of these hotels provide three star facilities at the rates of around Rs.3200 ($80) per day for a nice double room. The government tourists reception center is also available for all tourists to stay. It provides decent double room at around Rs.400 ($10) per day. I always have stayed at this tourists reception center as it is located at a very convenient location in the center of the city. All the tourists must arrange to book their bus tickets for Shrinagar and the hotel reservation at Jammu for their return trip at Jammu to avoid hassles later.

The famous ancient temple of Lord Raghunathji is the first spot to be visited. This temple of Lord Ram was built by King Gulabsinh and his son Ranbirsinh. The large and impressive statue of Lord Ram, built by the black marble, is placed in the temple. The temple is spread in a vast area of around four acres. The morning and the evening artis are really worth attending at this temple. The next place to visit is the Lord Shiva temple of Ranveshwar. The Lord Shiva lingam at this temple is made of white transparent crystal. The art lovers would like to visit Dogara art gallery, which has a very large and rare collection of the paintings of the eighteenth century.

The fort of Bahu is also an ancient historical fort having deep valley on all its sides for the enemy protection. The ancient temple of Goddess Kali is also worth visiting at Jammu. The Ranvir canal is a lovely picnic spot in the city of Jammu. The tourists can enjoy half day lavish picnic here. There are many excursions near Jammu, which attract many visitors. The Mansar Lake, Suransar Lake, Patnitop, and Batot are some of them. The ancient Budha Amarnath temple of Lord Shiva is located in the Punch district, around 50 miles away from Jammu. All the pilgrims going for Amarnath pilgrimage visit this temple first on their way to Lord Amarnath cave. The state Transport buses are regularly plying to this temple from Jammu.

Jammu is quiet and clean city. It offers lots of varieties of food delicacies to all the tourists. The traditional North Indian food is the most popular here. Shrinagar is around 180 miles away from Jammu and the buses take around twelve hours to reach Shrinagar. This journey is also very enjoyable in view of the most beautiful spots like Patnitop, Udhampur, Batot, and the Ramvan coming on the way. Most of the tourists also visit the famous temple of Vaishnodevi from here as it is situated only around 25 miles away from Jammu.

Jammu is a historical and religious city of India and has lot to offer to the tourists. Hence, I would personally advise all the visitors to Kashmir to arrange to stop for at least two days at Jammu to view all historical and religious site seeing spots.