Sharada Peeth translates to "the seat of Sharada", the Kashmiri name for the Hindu goddess Saraswati. "Sharada" could be also related to the proto-Nostratic terms "sarv", which means "flow or stream", and daw (blow, tip or rock), because it was located at the confluence of three streams.
Architecturally similar Kashmiri temple in Nowshera, Jammu and Kashmir in the 1870s
The beginnings of Sharada Peeth are uncertain, and the question of origins difficult, because Sharada Peeth might have been both a temple and an educational institution. It was probably commissioned by Lalitaditya Muktapida (r. 724 CE–760 CE) though no definitive evidence exists in favor. Al-Biruni recorded the place for the first time, as a revered shrine housing a wooden image of Sharda — however, he had never ventured into Kashmir and based his observations on hearsay.
Sharada Peeth is referred to by various historians, detailing its mythological status and prominence in ancient India. Its historical development is traced through references made to it by various historical sources. Although the Sharada script did not originate in Kashmir, it was used extensively in Sharada Peeth, and acquired its name from the institution. This has fed the popular belief that the script was developed in Kashmir.
By the 8th century, the temple was a site of pilgrimage, attracting devotees from as far as present-day Bengal. By the 11th century, it was among the most revered places of worship in the Indian subcontinent, described in Al-Biruni's chronicle of India. Significantly, it featured not in his description of Kashmir, but in his list of the most famous Hindu temples in the Indian subcontinent, alongside the Multan Sun Temple, the Sthaneshwar Mahadev Temple, and the Somnath temple.
Jonaraja describes a visit by the Kashmiri Muslim sultan Zain-ul-Abidin in 1422 CE. The sultan visited the temple seeking a vision of the goddess, but grew angry with her because she did not appear to him in person. In frustration, he slept in the court of the temple, where she appeared to him in a dream. In the 16th century, Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, Grand vizier to the Mughal emperor Akbar, described Sharada Peeth as a "stone temple ... regarded with great veneration". He also described the popular belief in miracles at the shrine: "it is believed that on every eighth tithe of the bright half of the month, it begins to shake and produces the most extraordinary effect".
Four-armed statue of the goddess Sharada from the late 9th century AD
An alternative account holds that Shandilya prayed to the goddess Sharada with great devotion, and was rewarded when she appeared to him and promised to show him her real, divine form. She advised him to look for the Sharada forest, and his journey was filled with miraculous experiences. On his way, he had a vision of the god Ganesha on the eastern side of a hill.
When he reached the Neelum river, he bathed in it and saw half his body turn golden. Eventually, the goddess revealed herself to him in her triple form of Sharada, Saraswati and Vagdevi, and invited him to her abode. As he was preparing for a ritual, he drew water from the Mahāsindhu. Half of this water transformed into honey, and became a stream, now known as the Madhumati stream.
There are two popular legends of Shardi explaining Sharada Peeth.The first holds that there were two sisters, Sharada and Narada, who ruled the world. The two mountains overlooking the valley, Shardi and Nardi, are named after them. One day, Narada saw, from her abode on the mountain, that Sharada had died, and that giants were fleeing from her body.
Furious, she summoned them and ordered them to build her a tomb, which became Sharada Peeth. The second legend says that there once was a giant who loved a princess. She desired a palace, and so he began work. At the time of morning azan, he was supposed to have finished, but the roof remained incomplete and for that reason, Sharada Peeth today remains without a roof.
View of Neelum Valley from Sharada Peeth, where King Jayasimha's Royal Army would have camped
Sharada Peeth has appeared in various historical and literary texts. Its earliest mention is in the Nilamata Purana (6th – 8th century CE). The 11th century Kashmiri poet Bilhana describes both the spiritual and academic elements of Sharada Peeth. He describes Kashmir as a patron of learning and Sharada Peeth as the source of that reputation. He also says that the goddess Sharada:
"resemble[s] a swan, carrying as her diadem the [glittering gold washed from the sand] of the Madhumati stream, which is bent on rivalling Ganga. Spreading lustre by her fame as her diadem, and rivalling the Ganges river. Spreading lustre by her fame, brilliant like crystal, she makes even Mount Himalaya, the preceptor of Gauri, raise higher his head (referring to his peaks) [in pride] of her residence there."
In Kalhana's 12th century epic, Rajatarangini, Sharada Peeth is identified as a site of popular veneration:
35. There, the goddess Saraswati herself is seen in the form of a swan in a lake [situated] on the summit of the Bheda hill, which is sanctified by the Ganga source.
37. There, when visiting the goddess Sharada, one reaches at once the river Madhumati, and [the river of] Saraswati worshipped by poets.
Kalhana points out other events of political significance involving Sharada Peeth. During Lalitaditya's reign (713 – 755), a group of assassins from the Gauda Kingdom entered Kashmir under the guise of a pilgrimage to Sharada Peeth.Kalhana also describes a rebellion during his own lifetime. Three princes, Lothana, Vigraharaja and Bhoja, rebelled against King Jayasimha of Kashmir. These princes, pursued by the Royal Army, sought refuge in the upper Kishenganga Valley, in the Sirahsila Castle. Kalhana believed that the Royal Army took refuge in Sharada Peeth, because it had the open space required for a temporary military village, and because the area surrounding the Sirahsila Castle was not large enough to host a camp for a siege without the siege force being vulnerable to archers.
Adi Shankara, who opened Sharada Peeth's south door
In the 14th century text Madhaviya Shankara Vijayam, there is a test, unique to Sharada Peeth, known as the Sarvajna Peetham, or Throne of Omniscience. These were four thrones, each representing an entrances of the temple corresponding to one of the points of the compass, which only a learned man from that direction could symbolically open.
Adi Shankara, being from South India, took it upon himself to pass this challenge, because although the other doors had been opened, no one from the south of Kashmir had yet been successful. He was said to be welcomed by the common people, but challenged by the scholars of the region. As he approached the southern door, he was stopped by various learned men from the Nyaya school of philosophy, Buddhists, Digambara Jains, and the followers of Jaimini.
\Engaging with them, he managed to persuade all of them of his proficiency in philosophy, and they stood aside to let him open the entrance. Finally, as he was about to ascend the throne, he heard the voice of the goddess Sharada challenging him. The voice said that omniscience was not enough if one was impure, and that Shankara, who lived in the palace of King Amaruka, could not be pure.
Shankara replied that his body had never committed a sin, and the sins committed by another could not blemish him. The goddess Sharada accepted his explanation and permitted him to ascend.
In the Carnatic music song kalavathi kamalasana yuvathi, the 19th century composer Muthuswami Dikshitar refers to Sharada Peeth as Saraswati's abode. Set in the raga yagapriya, the song praises Saraswati:
Kashmira vihara, vara sharadha.
The one who resides in Kashmir, Sharada.
Today, Sharada Peeth continues to figure in South Indian Brahmin traditions. At the beginning of formal education, some sects of Brahmins ritually prostrate in the direction of Sharada Peeth.Saraswat Brahmin communities in Karnataka are also said to perform a ritual of moving seven steps towards Kashmir before retracing their steps during the Yagnopavit ceremony, and include the Sharada stotram in their morning prayers.
Namaste Sarada Devi Kashmira mandala vasini.
I bow to the Goddess Sharada, who lives in Kashmir.