Mount Mahadev

Mount Mahadev rises to 3,966 m as the highest point of the Zabarwan Range and can be seen from most of Srinagar. It borders Dachigam National Park, carries a glacier and stays under snow for about half the year, and the Tarsar and Marsar lakes lie on its eastern side. Named after Shiva as Mahadeva, it appears as Mahadevagiri in the Nilamata Purana and Kalhana's Rajatarangini.

Kashmiri Hindus regard the mountain as an abode of Shiva and hold that he shed his attachments here on the way to Amarnath. Kashmiri Pandits once climbed it every year on the full moon of Shravan and brought back snow as prasad, a practice that stopped after 1990. The usual route starts from Faqir Gujri near Dara and Harwan and can be done in a day or with a night at Ledwas, crossing several small streams. It is rated moderate.