1899.] 
THE NORTHERN DISTRICTS OF KRAMARAJYA. 
207 
Notwithstanding this former celebrity the S'arada shrine is now 
almost completely forgotten by the Pandits of S'rinagar and the great 
mass of the Brahman population of the Valley. Fortunately, however, 
tradition had been more tenacious in the immediately adjoining tracts 
of Kamraz. Guided by it I was able to ascertain the position of the 
ancient Tirtha at the present Sardi , situated circ. 74° 15' long. 34° 48' 
lat., on the right bank of the Kisanganga. 
My note on Rajat. i. 37 ( B ) gives a detailed account of the tour 
which in 1892 led me to the Tirtha as well as a description of the 
ancient temple still extant at the site. The situation of the shrine 
corresponds exactly to Kalhana’s description. Immediately in front of 
it the sacred stream of the MadhumatI falls into the Kisanganga, while 
another confluence, that with the Sarasvati river coming from the 
north, is also visible from the temple. 
In Jonaraja’s time the shrine was still sufficiently popular to attract 
a yisit even from Sultan Zainu-l-‘abidin. 1 2 Soon afterwards appar¬ 
ently the miracle-working image of the goddess was destroyed. Abu-1- 
Fazl, however, still notes the sanctity of the site and correctly indicates 
its position on the bank of the MadhumatI. 3 * 
The subsequent neglect of this Tirtha must be ascribed chiefly to 
the obstacles to the pilgrimage which arose from the troubled political 
condition of the Upper Kisanganga Valley. The Bomba chiefs of the 
latter had made themselves independent in the later Mughal and Pathan 
times. Their predatory inroads often threatened the adjacent tracts of 
Kasmir while their own territory became practically inaccessible to 
peaceful pilgrims. It is only since the advent of the Sikhs that the 
pilgrimage to S'arada’s seat was revived. It is probable that the diffi¬ 
culties here briefly indicated must be held to account for the several 
substitute Tirthas of S'arada which are now to be found in various parts 
of Kasmir proper. 
My visit to the old ‘ S'aradasthana ’ also enabled me to identify with 
£irah.sila Castle. certainty the site of the STrahsila Castle. The 
latter had been the scene of a memorable 
siege by King Jayasimha’s troops which Kalhana describes at length. 5 
The accurate topographical data furnished in this account prove clearly 
that the castle occupied the top of the steep ridge which projects into the 
Kisanganga valley about two and a half miles below the S'arada temple. 
1 Jonar. (Bo. ed.) 1056-71. This visit apparently took place a.d. 1422. 
2 Am-i-Alcb., ii. pp. 365 sq. Abu-1-Fazl places S'arada’s stone temple “ at two 
days’ distance from Haehamun,” i.e. Hay^hdm. 
5 Rajat. viii. 2492-2709. The position of S'iraTisild and the evidence for its 
identity with the ‘ Ganes Ghatl ’ hill have been fully discussed in my Note L, viii. 2492. 
