Gulmarg-Srinagar

Gulmarg (Urdu pronunciation: [gʊlmərɡ]), known as Gulmarag (Kashmiri pronunciation: [ɡulmarɨɡ]; lit. ’meadow of flowers’)in Kashmiri, is a town, hill station, tourist destination, skiing destination, and a notified area committee in the Baramulla district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is located at a distance of 31 km (19 mi) from Baramulla and 49 km (30 mi) from Srinagar. The town is situated in the Pir Panjal Range in the Western Himalayas and lies within the boundaries of Gulmarg Wildlife Sanctuary.

Etymology
Kashmir has many summer retreats suffixed with the word -marg: Sonamarg, Tangmarg, Gulmarg, Khilanmarg, Youmarg, and Nagmarg. Gulmarg is one of the Margs that has historical importance for Kashmiris.

Gulmarg is a compound word or portmanteau of two Persian words, Gul and Marg. Gul means flowers and Marg means meadow.

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History

Gulmarg in August 1969
Yousuf Shah Chak, who ruled Kashmir from 1579 to 1586, frequented the place with his queen Habba Khatoon and renamed it ‘Gulmarg’ (“meadow of flowers”). Wild flowers of 21 different varieties were collected by the Mughal emperor Jahangir for his gardens in Gulmarg. In the 19th century, British civil servants started using Gulmarg as a retreat to escape summers in the Indo-Gangetic plains. Hunting and golfing were their favorite pastime and three golf courses were established in Gulmarg including one exclusively for women. One of the golf courses is located at an altitude of 2,650 metres (8,690 ft) is the world’s highest golf course. In 1927, British established a ski club in Gulmarg and two annual ski events were hosted, one during Christmas and Easter. Central Asian explorer Aurel Stein also visited Gulmarg during this period.

After the end of British rule in India, Gulmarg became a part of the independent princely state of Kashmir and Jammu. Pakistan planned an invasion of the state called Operation Gulmarg. One of the routes used by the invading militia of Pathan tribesmen, armed and supported by Pakistani regular troops, passed through the Haji Pir pass and Gulmarg headed towards the state capital Srinagar. Gulmarg fell to the invading army, but the Indian Army, led by the 1st Sikh Regiment, successfully defended the outskirts of Srinagar. Thereafter, Indian counterattacks pushed the tribesmen back – many towns, including Gulmarg, were recaptured. In 1948, Indian Army established a ski school in Gulmarg which later became the High Altitude Warfare School. On 1 January 1949, the war ended under UN supervision and a Ceasefire line (CFL), which was rechristened the Line of Control (LOC) by the Shimla Agreement of 1972,[19] was established near Gulmarg.

After Indian Independence, Indian planners sought to develop a destination for winter sports in India. In 1960, the Department of Tourism of the Government of India invited Rudolph Matt to select a suitable location for such a purpose. Matt determined Gulmarg would serve as a suitable location as a winter sports destination. In 1968, the Institute of Skiing and Mountaineering was established in Gulmarg to train ski instructors. Over the next decade, Indian planners invested ₹30 million (US$380,000) to transform Gulmarg into a world-class ski destination. Gulmarg became a centre for skiers from Asian nations.[21] In the mid-1980s, heli-skiing was introduced in Gulmarg.

In the 1990s, the rise of insurgents in Jammu and Kashmir affected tourism in Gulmarg. However, tourism started to recover in late 1990s. Work on the cable car project between Gulmarg and Apharwat Peak, which was commissioned in 1988 by Government of Jammu and Kashmir, resumed in 1998 after being put on hold due to security concerns. In May 1998, Phase 1 of the project, between Gulmarg and Kongdori, began its commercial operation. In May 2005, Phase 2 of the project was completed, making it one of the longest and highest ropeways of Asia. The chairlift installed as a part of Phase 3 of the project began its operations in 2011. The National Winter Games were held in Gulmarg in 1998, 2004 and 2008. In 2014, Government of Jammu and Kashmir drafted a Master Plan–2032 for Gulmarg. The plan includes development of a solid-waste treatment plant on 20 acres of land close to Gulmarg.

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