Pari Mahal

• 1. Introduction

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  Pari Mahal sits on the crest of the Zabarwan mountain range, looking down over Srinagar and the shimmering south-western edge of Dal Lake. Its seven stone terraces descend in steps from the summit, carved into a slope where Buddhist monks once lived and studied. Who built this place, and why did a Mughal prince choose a ruined monastery as the foundation for a garden? The answers reach into one of the most turbulent royal households of the seventeenth century, and into a tradition of learning that set Pari Mahal apart from every other Mughal garden in the Kashmir valley.

• 2. Dara Shikoh's Vision

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  Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of Emperor Shah Jahan, chose to raise Pari Mahal on the rubble of an old Buddhist monastery in the mid-1600s. That choice was not arbitrary. Dara Shikoh used the site as a library and a learning center, with subjects including astrology and astronomy. He is recorded as having stayed here in 1640, in 1645, and again in 1654, returning across more than a decade to a place he treated as a seat of inquiry rather than simply a royal retreat. His commitment to the site was personal and sustained, which explains why the garden carries a different character from the pleasure grounds more typical of Mughal patronage.

• 3. Architecture of Seven Terraces

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  Each of Pari Mahal's seven terraces is built on a separate slope, stacked one above the other in the Mughal style. Arched halls punctuate the stonework, and fountains, symmetrical lawns, and small water tanks are distributed across the levels in the measured, reflective arrangement typical of Islamic garden design. The overall plan echoes the broader tradition of art and architecture patronized during Shah Jahan's reign, which also produced the arched doorways and intricate water channels found throughout the garden. Water at Pari Mahal is not decorative afterthought; it is structural, threaded through the design so that the sound and movement of it carry across every tier.

• 4. Hidden and Repurposed

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  After the garden passed from Mughal hands, Pari Mahal entered a quieter and stranger chapter. Ownership eventually transferred to the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, and over the years the site was repurposed in ways its builder could not have anticipated. At various points it served as a top-secret interrogation centre and as a base for high-level bureaucrats. More recently it drew a different kind of attention, appearing as a filming location for several movies, among them the Bollywood production Lamhaa. The terraced stonework that once framed astronomical discussions and royal stays has since framed scenes for a popular cinema audience.