Cultural Heritage of Jammu and Kashmir
Contents: Preface. Contributors. 1. Rock art of \'Northern Areas\'/Muhammad Arif. 2. Kashmir\'s Contribution to Indian aesthetics/S.S. Toshkhani. 3. Buddhist heritage of Kashmir/Advaitavadini Kaul. 4. Promoting and preserving Buddhist tradition in Ladakh/Nawang Tsering. 5. Genesis and development of Kashmir bronzes/Sunil Khosa. 6. Kashmir Shaivism/B.N. Pandit. 7. Kashmir: The Land of Sanskrit Poetry and Poetics/Ved Kumari Ghai. 8. Ancient temples of Kashmir: an architectural study/Virendra Bangroo. 9. Temple architecture of Jammu Shivaliks/Lalit Gupta. 10. Influence of Advaita on Muslim Rishis of Kashmir/T.N. Dhar \'Kundan\'. 11. Sufism and Rishiism in Kashmir/Hamidullah Marazi. 12. Mystic poetry: Lal Ded, a major voice/Neerja Mattoo. 13. Nund Rishi: a brief introduction/A.N. Dhar. 14. Shrines and pilgrimage places of Kashmir/K. Warikoo. 15. Hazratbal: a crescent of faith/Pirzada M. Amin. 16. Sacred springs of Jammu Shivaliks/Lalit Gupta. 17. Cultural vistas in Kashmiri folklore/P.N. Pushp. 18. Shia Muslims of Kashmir: an ethno-cultural study/Ali Mohmmad Rather. 19. The Balti: a marginal tribe of Jammu and Kashmir/B.R. Rizvi. 20. Folk heritage of Gujjars of Jammu and Kashmir/Javaid Rahi. 21. The dying linguistic heritage of Kashmiri literary culture and language/Braj B. Kachru. 22. Role of Dogri Sanstha in promotion of Dogri language, literature and culture/Lalit Magotra. 23. Modern Art Movement in Kashmir/P.N. Kachru. 24. Unrest in Kashmir: Perceptions and reflections in Kashmiri Literature (1980-2000)/R.L. Shant. 25. Kashmiriyat: the mystique of an ethnicity/Riyaz Punjabi. Index.
"Situated at the crossroads of South and Central Asia, the State of Jammu and Kashmir has made lasting contribution to Indian philosophy, arts and aesthetics, historiography and various other aspects, thus becoming an inalienable part of India\'s spiritual and national consciousness. Numerous sacred shrines of Jammu and Kashmir are revered and regularly visited by millions of people. Here powerful cultural movements developed and spread not only to other parts of India but even beyond India\'s borders to Tibet, Central Asia, Mongolia, China and other adjacent countries. It is here that the humanistic and universal philosophies of Buddhism, Shaivism, Sufism and Rishi culture have flowered.
Though the State of Jammu and Kashmir is marked by the heterogeneity of its physiographic, ethnic-religious, linguistic and cultural features, it has evolved over a period of time a common composite cultural heritage. Its indigenous art and culture, language and literature, social formations, festivals in Jammu and Kashmir need to be revived for restoring its composite socio-cultural ethos and providing a positive alternative to the people to articulate their ethno-cultural aspirations. It is in this perspective that this book has come into being so that the traditional social structures, rich and variegated cultural heritage of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and its composite cultural ethos are recorded and highlighted in their true dimensions. Eminent scholars, academics and specialists on Kashmir have contributed to this book, covering different dimensions of the rich and variegated cultural heritage of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh from ancient to contemporary times. As such, this book provides the basic and essential inputs for the study of multi-layered social and cultural edifice of Jammu and Kashmir State thus helping in unraveling the mystique of Kashmiriyat." (jacket)
