Sharada Peeth - The abandoned Hindu temple and ancient centre of learning.

 Sharada Peeth - The abandoned Hindu temple and ancient centre of learning.

 Sharada Peeth – It is an ancient Hindu temple located in the Pakistani administered territory of Azad Kashmir. Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK).

Kashmir always belong to Hindus for thousands of years, it is said to be an abode of Devi Saraswati.There is an ancient Sanskrit prayer to Saraswati as follows:

नमस्ते शारदे देवि काश्मीरपुर-वासिनि ।

त्वामहं प्रार्थये नित्यं विद्यादानं च देहि मे ॥

namaste śhārade devi kāśhmīra-pura-vāsini ।

tvāmaham prārthaye nityam vidyādānam cha déhi mé ॥

"Obeisance to Thee, O effulgent Sarada, worshipped in the City of Kashmir, I always be seech Thee to vouchsafe to me Pure Knowledge".

Heart breaking to see such a powerful place in pitiful condition. These are human heritage. Pakistan government should at least look after this.

Sharada Peeth – a temple of Goddess Sharada – was

one of the three principal shrines of J&K before the Partition.

Namastey Sharada Devi Kashmir Pur Vasini Tvam Ham Prartheye Nityam Vidya Danam Che De hi Mahi. (Salutations to you, O Sharada, O Goddess, O one who resides in Kashmir. I pray to you daily, please give me the charity of knowledge.

On 25^th March,

2019 the Pakistan government approved proposal to establish a corridor that will allow Hindu pilgrims from India to visit Sharada Peeth.

The Sharada Peeth corridor, when opened, will be the second religious tract after Kartarpur corridor in Pakistan-controlled land that will connect the two neighbouring countries.

Sharada Peeth is situated in the Neelum river valley of Mount Harmukh in Azad JK , Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). The temple is at a height of 1,981 meters above sea level. It is located 150 kilometres from Muzaffarabad, which is the capital of PoK.

Sharada Peeth was one of the three top shrines of the region, along with the Martand Sun Temple and the Amarnath Temple, before the Partition of India and Pakistan. After the 1947- 48 war between the two countries over Jammu & Kashmir, the sanctum was abandoned as it fell into PoK.

The temple complex formerly housed the Sharada University, one of India’s oldest universities with over 5,000 scholars and a library.
As per Ravinder Pandita, it was one of the most remarkable centres of learning till the 12th century with sages like Adi Shankara, Kalhana and Virotsana.
The shrine, religiously and politically significant, lies nearby to the LoC in Sharda hamlet atop Mount Harmukh.

In a noteworthy step, the inhabitants of Teetwal Village in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district have returned back a patch of land to Kashmiri Pandits to construct a temple and Sharda Peeth Yatra base camp.

Until now the land was with a Muslim family who were doing crop cultivation. Now when Kashmiri Pandits decided to construct a temple here, the residents welcomed them and returned this patch of land.

Ravinder Pandita, the head of “Save Sharada Committee Kashmir” said that the villagers supported and encouraged them to jump start the construction of Sharda temple. Support of the locals was very vital. Without their support the construction of temple will be impossible. The construction of a Gurdwara and temple will be done simultaneously on this land on the same lines both religious places existed before 1947.

Ravinder Pandita termed the construction of the temple and Sharda Peeth Yatra base camp as the first step towards achieving their goal which he said was re-starting decades old Sharda Peeth Yatra.

Till 1947, as per Pandita the Kashmiri Hindus would undertake Sharda Peeth Yatra and visit the shrine in Neelam Valley (Now in PoK); however, after partition and tribal invasion of Jammu and Kashmir, this Yatra was stopped. No yatra has taken place to this peeth since 1948 when Swami Nand Lal Ji along with his followers migrated to Tikker in Kupwara following tribal raised.

 Last year, Sharda Puja was performed on the banks of the Kishanganga river right on LoC in Teetwal village of Kupwara. A group of 20 pilgrims including a few locals took part in the annual Puja that used to be held at Sharda Peeth (now in PoK) prior to partition.

The dilapidated condition of Sharda Peeth in PoK was hurting Kashmiri Pandits who were demanding access to this shrine for the last two decades so that they can visit this holy place and also reconstruct the temple.

 Sharda Peeth is to Hindus what Mecca is for Muslims. Pandita said that the Supreme Court of PoK had ordered in favour of Hindus in 2018.

DG Archaeology & Tourism in POK govt too had issued an order for maintaining the sanctity of the peeth.

 

 

 

SCRAP JEE – ENTRY TO IIT THROUGH CLASS 12 MARKS.

 

It’s high time to scrap JEE as the recent spate of suicides across Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) has sparked a debate among academics about for reform existing system. While some strongly believe that JEE examination pattern must undergo an overhaul to curb the stress it creates on applicants, others stress the importance of on-campus counselling for more better engineering colleges and institutes in government and private sectors that are on par with IITs. Only then, will students be this cut throat competition for a seat in the 23 IITs - considered to be the jackpot and a golden ticket to a highly paid engineering career.

As per a professor at IIT Hyderabad the multi-choice JEE exam can be scrapped altogether or should be replaced with a more analytical questionnaire. "

As per another professor - In the current system, students are signing up with coaching centres and finding ways of eliminating the wrong answers and end up at merely guessing answers. These coaching institutes mushroomed very where in the Telugu states are doing no good to students but building pressure to excel at this guess work.

Another solution is the selection on base of class 12 results. "Why create a parallel system JEE exam? Just taking into consideration the class 12 or intermediate results CGPA or percentage in Maths, Physics & chemistry, where students are thoroughly assessed," as recommended by a professor from IIIT Hyderabad.

The JEE system is fuelling the coaching-based schools to thrive where students are made to study for 12 hours (or more) a day not for their school exams but for JEE examination. This has to be banned. A former professor and dean at IIT-Kanpur,  feels that also a need to demystify the craze around IITs and shatter the notion that one of them is the only way to a successful career. the necessity within the present the strain and wish free of one among the instant you've got to look at we'll to find out the right this is often supported just like the in short he's is merely to review to alleviate of educational . This can happen only if the number of quality engineering seats in the country is increased - be it in the government or private sector. With this transformation many  students don't spend many years of their youth for a try in getting into an IIT.

But while such measures are important, also crucial to ensure that IITs have a strong counselling system on campus to keep watch on the students' issues. "The only way of solving this problem of anxiety and stress is to have good number of counsellors for students. Their psycho-social behaviour will be evaluated by the institute and allow them sessions by counsellors and teachers.

If the system of examination is replaced the entrance examination patterns are tweaked and in no time the coaching 'industry' will catch up the new format into yet another profitable business model.

"Many students who come through reservation, often have the same levels of soft skills and language skills, their technical skills are on par with . To equalise this, IIT's must invest in teaching some basics first year when all courses are for all students and certainly make them feel more at ease on campus."