Include Shankar Pal into itinerary of G-20: Raina

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Apr 14: Girdhari Lal Raina, former MLC and JK UT spokesperson of BJP has appealed Dr. S. Jaishankar to include Shankar Pal the Heritage site within Dachigam into the list of places to be visited by theG-20 leaders who will reach Srinagar on May 22 for the meeting on the Working Group of Tourism.
As per schedule published by media these leaders will go for sightseeing including Shikara ride in Dal lake, visit to Dachigam Wildlife Sanctuary and Gulmarg planned for May 24.
Raina has pleaded for inclusion of Shankar Pal in the itinerary as it is the holy place where Shiva Sutras were revealed to Shaivacharya Vasugupt by Lord Shiva himself. Vasugupt, the great Shaivacharya based his philosophy on the Shiva Sutras which he found engraved on the Shankar Pal. These Shiva sutras form the fundamental tenets of Shaiva Darshan, he added.
These sutras contain, Ex-MLC added, the essence of Shaivagamas, the authoritative scriptures of non-dual (advaita) Shaivism by Acharya Vasugupta in his famous work ‘Spandakarika’. Shiv Sutras and Spandkarika form the basis of Kashmir Shaivism or Trika Shaivism, a non-dualist tradition of Shaiva-Shakta Tantra . He further emphasised that Ishwar Swaroop, Swami Laxman Joo Maharaj was a regular visitor to this place and almost all spiritual masters of India who visited Swami Laxman Joo or Kashmir were also keen to pay a visit to this sacred site and receive spiritual bliss.
Shankar Pal is situated within Dachigam National Park on the banks of a stream of water called The Dagwan rivulet. The pristine environs of Upper Dachigam, rippling sounds of fresh water trickling down has its own calming effect for the spiritual seeker and visitors alike. This visit to Shankarpal will for sure be in perfect consonance of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” or “One Earth One Family One Future” emphatically taught by Kashmir Shaivism, former MLC stressed.