Pahalgam

Pahalgam sits at 2,130 metres in the Lidder river valley, sixty kilometres from Srinagar, where the river runs fast and cold between pine forests — the base for the Amarnath pilgrimage and the starting point for some of the finest trekking terrain in the western Himalaya.

The Amarnath Cave temple, 46 kilometres beyond Pahalgam at 3,888 metres, is one of Hinduism's most important pilgrimage sites — a limestone cave where a natural ice formation is believed to represent Shiva's linga. In the summer months between July and August, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims complete the four-day journey on foot or pony. Outside the pilgrimage season, the same route becomes available to trekkers seeking solitude in terrain that few outsiders visit.

The Baisaran meadows above Pahalgam — a natural alpine bowl at 2,440 metres reached by pony from the town — are called 'Mini Switzerland' by the Kashmiris with a fondness for that comparison that says more about the scale of their hospitality than the accuracy of the analogy. The meadows are real: the pine forests surrounding the grassland, the Lidder river below in its gorge, the snow-capped mountains visible in most directions — they constitute a landscape of genuine beauty that needs no comparison to validate it.

Places to Visit in Pahalgam

• Betaab Valley
• Aru Valley
• Lidder River
• Chandanwari

Things to Do in Pahalgam

• Valley pony rides
• Riverside walks
• Pine forest excursions