Peer Kho Cave Temple

Peer Kho is a cave temple beside the Tawi in Jammu. The underground cave, 20 to 30 feet deep, is believed to be where Jamvant, the bear king and devotee of Rama in the Ramayana, sat in meditation. Records date the shrine to the 15th century, in the time of Raja Ajaib Dev, when it was dedicated to the saint Siddha Ghareeb Nath.

A tall pink arch opens onto marble steps and a courtyard with three shikharas and a tulsi plant. A painted dome showing Mughal and Dogra influence leads down to the cave, and a white marble shrine to the Devi stands within the grounds. A shrine at the centre gives off smoke continuously. The whole temple stands on a raised platform that protects it from Tawi floods.