Hari Parbat

Hari Parbat, also known as Koh-i-Maran, is a hill rising over Srinagar. Akbar began fortifying it in 1590, building an outer wall for a planned new capital that was never finished. The fort now on the summit was built in 1808 by Atta Mohammed Khan, the Durrani governor of Kashmir. After nearly two decades of closure it reopened to visitors in 2007, and in 2021 a 100-foot national flag was raised at the top.

The hill is also a place of worship for several faiths. Kashmiri Pandits hold it sacred: in legend Parvati, as a bird, dropped a pebble that grew into this hill and crushed the demon Jalodbhava. She is worshipped here as Sharika, an eighteen-armed goddess, in a temple on the western slope. Mosques and a gurdwara also stand on the hill. The fort is entered through the Kathi Darwaza gate from Rainawari or the Sangin Darwaza from Hawal.