Mesmerizing Valleys of Jammu province

Every Valley in J&K UT is not Kashmir Valley. There are innumerable valley’s in Jammu Province too which never got attention of the Tourism Department. In the past few years when the travel enthusiasts of Jammu province took the task in their own hands they were able to attract tourists to these unexplored breathtaking places.

Kashmir based politicians and their handles sitting in the administration are working on painting the parts of Jammu province with Kashmir brush. Kashmir is a considerably smaller area when you compare it with Jammu province or Ladakh province. Present day Kashmir province constitutes only 38% of JK UT and now efforts are on to paint the Hilly areas of jammu as Naya Kashmir , Chota Kashmir, Mini Kashmir etc. Administration is deliberately hurting the sentiments of people and testing the waters by provocative terms like mentioned above. Jammu is a pluralistic society and calling parts of it as “Mini Kashmir” is derogatory and an attempt to erase its rich culture, language, music and its traditions. After successfully erasing the history of Kashmiri aboriginals and renaming its places now Jammu is under attack. Attempts to rename Shankracharya Hill as “Takht-i-Seleiman”, Hari Parbat as “Koh-i-maran” and historic Anantanag as “Islamabad” is going on and it is already used by the local people before it becomes official. In POJK also Kishanganga River and Valley was renamed along with many villages and city were also renamed to erase its rich history.

Jammu Province is under attack by vested interest groups. New terminologies like Chenab Valley (Erstwhile Distt. Doda), Pir Panchal Valley (Poonch and Rajouri) and then calling every Valley as “Mini Kashmir” is an attempt to paint parts of Jammu with Kashmir brush. The whole Kashmir narrative is based on fake propaganda and is based on stolen land. Land was distributed to the tillers under J&K Agrarian Reforms Act 1976 but then rest of the land is snatched from the aboriginals of Kashmir when they were forcefully expatriated like the last Maharaja of the princely state of J&K.

This post is an attempt to enlist the valleys of Jammu Province where puppets of Kashmir are poking their nose to paint in their color but we the people of Jammu province will not let that happen. Kashmir must focus on Kashmir province and make it a better place and leave Jammu Province with Jammu people. Jammu is not Kashmir and in the last 70 years growth of Jammu is held hostage to hegemony of Kashmir. 80% of the funds are utilized in Kashmir and Jammu Province is ignored. There is a biased approach when it comes to developing the tourism infrastructure in Jammu and if you get into the analyse the amount of funds allocated to Jammu and Kashmir you will find a stark difference in the allocation of funds. You will be surprised to know that not even 20% of the funds are allocated to promote tourism in Jammu province and because of which demands of a separate Jammu Pradesh are made by people of the province. Enlisted below are the innumerable valleys of Jammu Province with a huge potential provided the administration treats tourist destination of Jammu fairly:

1. Doda

There are many tributaries of River Chenab and most of these tributaries before meeting the mainstream Chenab make beautiful valleys inhabited by amazing people. Jammu province is situated in and around River Chenab. Everything in and around river chenab is part of Jammu Division

Bhadarwah Valley is one of the most talked about valley’s in Jammu region. There are various valleys like Jai Valley, Chinta Valley, Bonjwa Valley, Bhalessa Valley, Kellar Valley etc. We have collated information regarding all the mesmerizing valleys within a larger umbrella of Bhaderwah valley are enlisted below in the form of pictures and vlogs. All credit goes to the amazing people of Jammu Pradesh who have taken an initiative to highlight the areas which were never brought on tourist map of J&K. I want to give credit to the inhabitants and travellers who have posted lot of information under hashtag AmazingJammu on twitter.

Sharing with you some of the vlogs contributed by the the enthusiastic travellers to Jai Valley, Padri , Bhadarwah Fort, Fish Pond and many other tourist destinations. I don’t endorse the use of term “Mini Kashmir” in the vlogs but i couldn’t resist to share these vlogs because of their breathtaking beauty and professional

Dessa Valley

Dessa Valley is an unexplored tourist destination surrounded by hills and inhabited by a large populace. This valley is the most ignored tourist destination in Jammu division. With the initiation of Rudra Ganga Yatra to Chandereni Hill top has brought lot of traction to the valley. This is another valley of Jammu Division which i am sure no one knows about because the tourist department has not paid heed to this place. This is not New/Mini/Naya Someplace but this is Dessa and it has its own significance. The prime objective of this post is to tell you that there are numerous picturesque valleys in Jammu Division who are tagged as Mini/New and its own sheen is lost. Have a look at the slideshow below.

2. Kishtwar

Padar Valley is a remote scenic valley in kishtwar district. Devbhumi Paddar is abode of Machail mata and is also called as the land of sapphires. Paddar is a remote valley in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir bordering Zanskar on the North, Pangi (Himachal Pradesh) on the East and Marwah-Wadwan on the West. Paddar is famous for its pristine natural beauty. Nestled in the foot hills of Great Himalayas, Paddar is a remote, scenic valley and has very beautiful tourist attractions like Machail, Ghandari Valley, Kabban, Ongai, Bhuzunu, Barnaj, Kijai Nallah, Dharlang etc. Historically Paddar has its own significance as legendary Dogra warrior General Zorawar Singh (1786-1841) used the mountainous track of Paddar to conquer Ladakh, Baltistan & Tibet and extended the borders of Dogra empire. The mountain peaks in Paddar has emerging as the favorite place for the adventure lovers especially foreigners as the number of trekkers of other countries has soared considerably over the past few years.

Gandhari Valley also known as the floral valley is a beautiful valley surrounded by snow clad mountains during winters. It situated in the higher reaches of Himalayas (approx. 3200 meters above sea level) near Paddar valley in Kishtwar district. Do watch this embedded vlog video showing the beauty of the valley its its snow clad mountains during winters.

3. Ramban

Mahu valley is an unexplored tourist destination in Banihal, Ramban. This is another valley in Jammu Province which has not got much attention from the Tourism department. If the road connectivity , accommodation and other necessary infrastructure is put in place it could be one of the top most visited destinations in the province. Ramban has many other prominent hill tops , temples, dams etc. As we are focusing on only the valleys so we have enlisted only vlog related to Mahu valley in Ramban district.

4. Udhampur

Udhampur has a very beautiful valley Dudu-Basantgarh Valley. Other tourist destinations include Patnitop, Sanasar , Nathatop, Mantalai/Sudhmahadev , Ramnagar Fort , Pencheri hill station etc. We have collated the best vlogs for you to explore Udhampur district and consider it in your next outing plan.

5. Reasi

District Reasi has a historic importance and there is a very beautiful valley named Chinkah Valley. Chinkah is a Village in Arnas Block in Reasi District of Jammu & Kashmir State, India. It is located 21 KM towards South from District head quarters Reasi. It is very close to Katra and if you plan to visist Vaishno Devi temple you must visist Reasi and explore the unexplored valley , Bhimgarh Fort and many other places in and around Katra.

6 Poonch

Poonch district has two valleys named Poonch Valley and Surankote Valley. There are various places of interest in this beautiful district. We have tried to get the best vlog available to explore the valley’s in Poonch district and this will be great start to explore it further.

7. Rajouri

Rajouri is 157km north west of Jammu and 89km south east of Poonch. Rajouri has various tourist destinations and enlisted below are few vlogs. Darhal valley is a beautiful valley situated 23 Km North of Rajouri city. Surrounded by sloping mountains on three sides , the boul shaped valley looks like a naturally carved stadium. The Darhal river flows down to Rajouri and this valley has waterfalls, seven lakes, temples and mountain top’s.

8. Kathua

Sarthal Valley near Bani is a mesmerizing destination in Jammu division. A valley of lush green meadows, waterfalls, ice cold streams of Kharkal Nallah, that falls into seven waterfalls, a place of dreams & nature are at its best. Sarthal Valley is one of the most beautiful valleys of Bani and rolling hills, and gushing streams make it tourist destination. Sarthal is just 41 km from Bhaderwah and other other important destinations are Dhaggar, Khundar, Sarthal, Lowang , Bani, Basohli, Chilla Valley and Seoul Dar. It is better if you explore the destination using the youtube links shared by our travel enthusiasts.

The Traveller from Jammu is one of many vlog creators who has captured lot of information on youtube. Sharing with you links of his vlogs related to the tourist attractions in Bani and Basohli are enlisted below.

9. Samba

Samba district is equidistant from Udhampur, Jammu and Kathua. Samba district doesn’t have valley as it is situated in the plains and is in close proximity of twin lakes. Twin lakes of Mansar and Surinsar are situated on the Samba-Udhampur road. You will find lots of temples and invites religious tourism in the district. Surinsar-Mansar Development Authority is entrusted to develop the infrastructure and make it a tourist attraction. Its proximity to the city of temples, Jammu makes it a very favourable weekend getaway for the Jammuites and other travellers visiting Jammu. Samba has many forts namely Mohargarh Fort, Dhergarh Fort, Bhupnergarh Fort and Samba Fort having great historical importance. Other Tourist places of Samba are listed on official website. To know more about the forts of Jammu Province please visit Forts of Jammu Province.

10. Jammu

Jammu is a district in Jammu Province and Jammu is also a city in itself. Jammu Division Constitutes 62% of area in JK UT. There are many important forts and temples in Jammu (also known as the city of temples). Jammu city is on the east and west of river Tawi. There is Bahu Fort , Mubarak Mandi, Amar Mehal , Akhnoor Fort etc and to know more about the forts of Jammu Province please visit Forts of Jammu Province . There are many temples in the city as Jammu is also known as the city of temples. Prominent ones are Raghunath temple, Kali Mata Temple in Bahu Fort, Shivaley temple Shalamar, Aap Shambhu temple, Pirkhu temple etc. There is no valley in particular in Jammu district but in jammu Division there are many which we have enlisted above in other districts of Jammu province.

Hope you have enjoyed and learned more about Jammu Division and found out that there are numerous Valleys and many unexplored ones. Jammu Province has a great tourist potential and the administration must pay more attention to develop it rather than naming as Mini/Naya Kashmir. Jammu has its own culture, various languages and a pluralistic ethos which is beyond comparison.

I would like to appreciate all the activists and travel enthusiasts of Jammu Division who are working to highlight the tourist attractions using social media and other platforms. Please contact if you have any queries, corrections or for any other reason.