The Shiv-Bhagwati shrine at Akingam, drawn on a 200 year old Persian map. In the Bring valley near Kokernag, the village of Akingam is known for its temple of Shiva and Bhagwati. The site is also associated with the "Bhand" artists of the area. This hand-drawn map sheet from the Dastur-ul-Amal-i-Kashmir, held at the National Archives of India, shows the shrine as it stood around 1838. The manuscript also gives a brief about the site and its associated story. What the mapmaker drew 🔸 The label, in Persian: "Thana Shiv-Bhagavati". Thana means a sacred seat or abode, from the Sanskrit sthana. 🔸 The shrine compound at the foot of a hill: a building with an arched doorway, a second structure beside it, and trees all round, chinars and tall poplars. 🔸 An oval enclosure beside the compound, possibly a pool or an open ground. 🔸 Just below, the village circle labelled Mauza' Akingam. The rest of the sheet sets the scene: the springs of the Bring valley, a hill marked as "the mountain of the iron mine (ahgar)", the place was famous for ironsmiths, probably the oldest of Iron mines in valley, and the villages of Sof, Hangalgund, Bidder, Wailoo and Deolgam. A little upstream, unlabelled, the mapmaker drew a small scene of worship: two seated men beside a Shiva lingam while a boy rings a bell. The facing page shows the great spring of Kokernag. Why it matters The Dastur-ul-Amal-i-Kashmir was the survey of the Valley made under Colonel Mehan Singh, governor for the Sikh Durbar, around 1838. The work is often mistakenly called Tarikh-i-Kalan-i-Kashmir. It was compiled to record villages, crops, springs and revenue. Yet its mapmaker drew this shrine with care, and named it in Persian by its Hindu name. The same survey draws the Amarnath cave, Mamleshwar, Verinag and the Harishwar cave above Khonmoh in the same way. #Akingam #ShivBhagwati #Kokernag #Bring #Anantnag #KashmirHistory #SacredGeography #Archives #SearchKashmir