About

The Shankaracharya temple is a beautiful Shiva temple dedicated to Shiva in his Yeshtheswara form. It is situated on a picturesque location on the Gopadari Hill on the South East of Srinagar, a part of the Zabarwan mountains which circle the city. This temple is situated at a height of 1100 feet above the Srinagar city. The temple (and the hill) are named after Shankaracharya, the apostle of the Advaita philosophy (monoism) who is said to have visited the spot during his travels across India.

The temple consists of a circular sanctum with a shiv-linga installed inside. The ceiling is dome shaped and is built of horizontal courses of kanjur stone. The outer surface is square with two projecting facets on each side. The shrine is built on a high octagonal plinth approached by a long flight of steps flanked by two side walls. The plinth is surmounted by a parapet wall, the inner face of which is adorned by a range of arcuate recesses enclosed in rectangular panels. The temple can be dated back to the sixth or seventh century CE based on the style of its construction.

There also exists a cell at a lower level to the north, and a tank to the south east.

The octagonal high plinth and the stairs leading to it are dated earlier and may well have been part of the building traditionally ascribed to King Goaditya. The temple as it is today has undergone many repairs throughout its life. Ever since under the rule of Lalitaditya. Repairs were undertaken by Zain-ul-Abideen after the temple got damaged in an earthquake. Repairs were also carried out during the Governorship of Sheikh Mohi-ud-Din. Maharaja Gulab Singh, a Dogra ruler, is credited for the stone steps that form a part of the passage to the shrine. The flight of steps flanked by the two walls had two persian inscriptions originally - one of which mentions the date 1659 CE (AH 1069). The ceiling and the column appear to have been erected by Emperor Shahjahan in 1644 CE (AH 1054) going by the inscription found on the column. In 1925, the electrification of the temple was done.