Pandrethan
by
Dr. R. Nagaswamy

5 km from present Srinagar

It was the ancient Srinagari established by Asoka Maurya in the 3^rd cent BC

Asoka was then a Hindu and has not embraced Buddhism then

According an account it had 96 lakhs of houses then

It was very populous and prosperous then

Ashoka’s son Jalauka built  the Jyeshta Rudra temple

Around 525 Mihirakula the Hun king built another Siva temple there named Mihiresvara

About 550 it witnessed further building activities under Pravarasena I

He constructed a Siva temple with a circle of Matrikas named Pravaresvara. It seems it was Yogini temple.

He also built more temples in the capital

About 575, Pravarasena II built the new capital named Pravaresvara-pura which is the modern Srinagar

The old city was called Purana adhisthana (Pandrethan)that continued to be called loosely Srinagar

In course of time both the cities were integrated and retained the old name Arinaga

In 630 the Chinese pilgrim arrived at Srinagar and was received by the Durlabha-vardahana

The king provided him with 20 clerks to write his works and five servants to wait on him

Srinagari was a great centre of Buddhist study then

There was a stupa said to have been built over a tooth relic of Buddha

Around 920 Meruvardhana, a minister to the king built in Purana-adhithana a Vishnu temple named Meruvardhana swami

In 1130,  Rilhana, minister to King Jayasimha  embellished both the old and new cities

He also built a Siva temple in the old city ,named  the Rilhanesvara

The Pandrethan became a centre of all important religions like Saivisam, Buddhism, Vaishnavism and Sakta

Around 1400 the Sultan Sikandar started  destroying the temples amd images and yearned the idol breaker (Butshikhan

 He destroyed all most all the temples of the country. The images were mutilated and thrown

This was achieved by heaping timber over the temples and setting them on fire

In this he employed a Hindu convert to Islam, Suhu bhatta.

Records say that Brahmins were tortured and the temples ruthlessly deatroyed.

The Images of Vijayesa, Chakradhara, Martanda, Brihad Buddha, Suresvari, and Varaha were so destroyed by him

Those times the central image used to be made of metal – gold, silver or brass. All these images were mutilated and melted down for Sikandar to issue his coins.

Abu Fasl also wrote about Sikandar’s zeal in destroying all religious foundations other than his own.

Western scholars found in the 19^th century enormous number of mutilated Sculptures and lings lying among the heaps of temples.

Alexandar Cunnigham found large number of destroyed sculpture, etc from the Sankaracaharya hill for about  5kilo metrs.

The sculptures found are noe in the Pratap sing Museum.

The only ancient vestige in Pandrethan is a Siva temple surrounded by water of a tank.

Though it is in ruined condition it shows the ancient trend in buildings temples in Srinagar

It is dated toan age earlier than 10^th cent

It is a square temple with a pyramidal roof

There are some sculptures one representing Lakulisa with a lakuda (Shaft) in hand

The ceiling inside has lovely carvings

It is an important temple that needs to be visited in the old Srinagari / Pandarethan

Related News: His Holiness visits Ancient Temples in Srinagar