A 109-year-old Shiva temple in Gulmarg, built by the queen of Kashmir’s last king, Maharaja Hari Singh, was gutted in a fire on June 5. The shrine, located on a hillock surrounded by meadows, was a popular tourist attraction because it had featured in several Bollywood films, including Aap Ki Kasam in the super-hit Jai Jai Shiv Shankar song, picturised on Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz. The temple, known as the Mohinishwar Shivalaya Shiv Mandir or the Maharani Temple, was also seen in Andaz and Kashmir Ki Kali.
The temple priest attributed the blaze to a short circuit from an electrical fault. Despite the best efforts of the police and locals, the shrine could not be saved.
Dandahmuh (in district Baramulla) resident Ghulam Mohammad Sheikh had maintained the temple for 23 years, even doing puja and aartis, till he retired in 2021. The current priest was Purshottam Sharma.
