Dastgeer Sahib

Dastgeer Sahib, a Sufi shrine and mosque, stands in the Khanyar area of Srinagar, dedicated to Abdul Qadir Jilani (1077–1166), a saint revered across the subcontinent though he never came here. A strand of his hair, known locally as Mouia Pak, is believed to be kept here, said to have been brought from Kandahar by a merchant in 1806, along with an old Quran attributed to Ali. Accounts differ on its origins: one dates a first shrine to 1767, while others say the present building went up between 1845 and 1854 under Mir Husain Qadri. It was repaired after a fire in 1879, and badly damaged by another on 25 June 2012, when the relics survived in a fireproof vault; it has since been restored.

The interior is the highlight: a khatamband ceiling hung with crystal chandeliers, and walls covered in papier-mâché. The shrine sits amid a busy market, and on the saint's Urs thousands gather from across Kashmir.