Ganderbal district

The Ganderbal (گاندربل)district, or more formally District Ganderdal, is an administrative district of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. Ganderbal town is administrative headquarters of district. It was formed in 2007 and has 6 subdistricts (tehsils): Kangan, Ganderbal, Tullamulla, Wakura, Lar, and Gund. Sheikh Ul Alam Research University of Kashmir will also be constructed in Ganderbal by Karwan-I-Islami Kheer Bhawani is a temple dedicated to the goddess Bhavani, constructed over a sacred spring in Tulmul village. The term kheer refers to rice pudding that is offered in the spring to propitiate the Goddess, which became part of the name of the temple. As is the custom with several Hindu deities. The Naranag Temple is one of the important archaeological sites of the country. The ancient pilgrimage site is a group of several temples and is situated in the Naranag village near Harmukh Mountain about from Srinagar city. The ancient name for the place is Sodarteertha; Bhuteshwara (now But Sher, midway on the trek to Gangbal lake) and Nandikshetra (Nundkol lake area) are two other holy sites associated with it. The site consists of a cluster of temples facing each other at a distance of about . Historians say that the temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva by the eighth-century ruler Lalithdatiya Muktapid. It is believed that the King Awantivarman paid a visit and donated a pedestal for bathing at Bhutsher. Even today one gets surprised over art and skill of the builders of this temple. Its impressive architecture reveals the glorious past, the magnificent art of the eighth century. The government has only recently constructed walls to protect it from encroachments and nothing else has been done. It is now left in ruins of which only faint traces have survived. Ganderbal district, has its district headquarters located at in the town of Ganderbal, is at an average elevation of above mean sea level. The town is at a distance of from Srinagar city. The mountainous Ganderbal district is spread across the Sind River.