Sonmarg

Sonamarg, like the rest of Kashmir, owes a considerable measure of its natural beauty and stunning landscapes to the tectonic activity that took place millions of years ago. These subterranean forces carved out the valleys and mountains that in later years were draped with forests, wild flowers and grasses. Some of that age-old turmoil has only added to today’s chocolate-box picture with distant glaciers and jagged peaks covered with snow. Sonamarg, per se, does not have history that is replete with the ruins of an ancient civilization. Yet, this has been a place of significance on the route to Ladakh and as an alternative route to the cave of Amarnath. The fertile pasture ground has fed the flocks of the nomadic Gujjar people since ages. Sonamarg was a part of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and was a popular place for trekkers, bird-watchers and ‘shikaris’ during the years of British rule in India.