Type: Monument - Temple
Province: Azad Jammu and Kashmir
District: Neelum
Period: Historic
Relative Chronology: 7th - 8th Century CE
Description: The Sharda temple is located on the left bank of Neelum River in Tehsil Sharda of District Neelum at a distance of 104 km from Muzaffarabad. The temple is situated on a hillock. It had its main entrance to the north, which is the most notable structure in the temple, where a huge, but slightly damaged enclosure is still standing with trefoil details in Arian style. It is approached by 63 stone-slab stairs, which enhances the beauty of the edifice. The enclosure also contains two niches, which appears to be used for placing small lamps or accessories. The northern boundary wall of the Sharda temple is a complete structure of stone slabs, which resembles with the ancient stones structure of the main temple. The wall has a strong solid base starting from the ground level of the northern settlement. The wall also separates the few field terraces. In the middle of the northern wall, there is a trefoil arch chamber or cell. The pillar arch on both the sides of the chamber has a base shaft. The most striking feature of the main the temple is square in plan and standing on a high platform. The Pyramidal shikaras of Kashmiri style of architectural design is present on the three sides i.e. northern, southern and the western walls of the temple. The trefoil arches and shikara design is trabeated style of architecture. The temple has a door in the west, which appears to be the alternative gate. The main sanctum had false arches on three sides measuring 6m in height. On both sides of the porch, there are two square shaped pillars, measuring 6m high and 0.7x 0.7 m in section size, carved out of a solid stone block. The construction inside the temple is very plain and unadorned. The rectangular sanctum had 63 footsteps, each 2.7 m wide. The name and fame of this Sharda Teerath was well spread throughout ancient India. The construction of Sharda Temple is quite similar to as of Martand Temple and Avantipur Temple near Srinagar in Indian Occupied Kashmir. The stone used in the walls Sharda temple measures 2.1x 1.2 m. The stone used for the construction of this temple observes three types: red stone, local mountain stone- granite and mixture of marble. The roof of the Sharda temple was missing since 1870, when Charles Bates visited the site. According to him, the roof was re-erected by the temporary material for its protection. The single biggest stone on the top of the pillars near the roof is its lintel. These remains of stones in the adjacent shows that temple had a flat or pediment roof, which is similar to Doric style architecture. That style was renewed from timber to stone slab in 4th century CE. The main stairs which used to approach the Sharda temple are completely disturbed because of the weather conditions and due to the occasionally digging near the plate form of the stairs by the troops. The temple is tentatively assigned to the 7th century CE .
Latitude: 34.792222333
Longitude: 74.190225972
Ownership: Government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir
Legal Status: Protected by Azad Jammu & Kashmir Preservation and Protection of Antiquities Act, 1986
Title of Publication: Threat to the Cultural Heritage of Pakistan Survey and Documentation of Tangible and Intangible Heritage of Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan
Published In: Taxila Institute of Asian Civilizations, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 2020
Year of Publication: 2020
Bibliography/Reference: Khan, Ashraf, Ghani-ur-Rahman
