In Srinagar’s historic Gadi Kocha spice market, the heady smell of dried cockscomb and dandelion mix with the aroma of pear and apple, and the sinus-hitting turnip. Jute sacks, used as curtains to shops, protect these delicate ingredients. Abutting the shops is Zaina Kadal the wooden bridge built by Sultan Zain-ul-Abideen in the 15th Century. This is Srinagar’s city centre.
At one end of the Zaina Kadal bridge, off the ghats of the Jhelum, live the Qureshis, who trace their ancestry to 16th Century preacher Makhdoom Haji Ahmad Qari. “Srinagar’s old city is changing. Concrete is replacing wood. Markets like Gadi Kocha and the mohallas (small neighbourhoods) around it, with old structures barely survive now,” Zahoor Qureshi, in his 70s, says.
The Qureshis have been witness to the changing character of the city, both in terms of architecture and the way of life, in this city of seven bridges. “The ghats were buzzing social spaces for men and women. No one visits them anymore, except for those who wash shawls in the traditional way. The Jhelum used to be the highway of Kashmir, to travel and ferry goods,” he says. Before the affluent lived by the ghats; today, they live by the highways.
Shoppers at a mall in Lal Chowk.
| Photo Credit:
IMRAN NISSAR
With the widening of roads and the change in people’s professions and lifestyles, more modern houses are taking the place of bungalows. Srinagar’s cityscape and skyline are changing. Laws now allow for taller buildings, dwarfing the natural elements that the city prided itself in. The easy availability of modern materials like cement, and the imminent entry of real-estate companies, are motivating inhabitants to sell the land on which old structures stand. A walk from Zaina Kadal up to Ali Kadal, two old bridges 290 meters apart, reflects the erosion of traditional homes, ghats, even bylanes.
Citizens have mixed feelings about these shifts. Some feel nostalgia for the old way mixed with the reality of the mounting expense of maintaining heritage homes; some look forward to new ideas of living; some find the changes a threat to the ecology and social fabric of Srinagar.
Migration has left behind unattended houses, with many caught in property disputes. “It’s hard to find place to park cars. The old city lacks basic amenities like drainage. There are no parks for kids to play in. It’s better to shift and buy property on the outskirts of the city,” says Amir Khan, 44, an engineer who works with a private company.
The passing of neighbourhoods
Srinagar was founded by emperor Ashoka in 250 B.C. with its centre at Panderethan. With 4,000 recorded history, the city offers a layered architectural grammar from the Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim periods, often described as a rare example of syncretism. Saleem Beg, former director general of tourism, and currently the convener of the non-profit Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Kashmir, sees Srinagar’s architecture as a key element that shaped the identity of the city like its music and literature.
Beyond the shrines, mosques, graveyards, and temples, the old city is a hub of handicrafts. Government figures say there are 20,822 craftspeople in multiple clusters, each mohalla (locality) houses residents that pursue a particular craft. “The qalamdanpora (design work) and sheshgari (mirror-work) mohallas are examples of how trade pursued by its residents resulted in naming the localities,” Qureshi says. In the narrow by-lanes, where houses almost lean into each other, the slope-roofed houses had distinct handcrafted elements, such as walnut wood carvings and khatamband, where geometrical wooden pieces were used for ceilings.
In Ashai Kocha lane, near Mujahid Manzil, Ayesha Jan, 62, a retired school teacher, lives in an old wooden mansion. The lane is a living example of the old. Houses maintain local external features like lattice (pinjarakari) work and a projected wooden balcony with foliated arched screens (dub). The maharaji bricks are half the thickness of modern ones, there is coloured glasses, and murals on walls.
“Original residents like the Ashias, the Chistis have left the city to newer areas. Like this house, the city’s old charm is dying fast. The courtyards that once grew grapes and creepers are fast turning into godowns. It’s difficult to maintain these dilapidating houses,” says Jan, who will need to spend over ₹4 lakh to restore the wooden lattice of the dub. She hopes that the government will help in maintenance and in building new amenities while retaining the old structures, so it becomes fashionable to live here.
INTACH listed 349 properties in a survey held across the city in 2003 as heritage sites. A fresh survey, conducted in 2021, showed that 13% of these properties had been dismantled, 33% showing signs of deterioration, 3% were in danger of disappearance, and 3% in an advanced state of decay.
The survey captured the changing architectural mood of the city where “repair and restoration was carried out without consideration for preserving traditional vernacular character”. It also pointed out the scarcity of traditional skills contributing to “huge loss of vernacular construction techniques”.
The Ashias and Chisti, who Jan talks about, have kochas (by-lanes) named after them. The houses that have stood for over a century, include those of the Khanyaris in Fateh Kadal, the Bhats in Nawab Bazar, the Matoos in Kachgari Mohalla, the Shahs in Qalamdanpora, the Dhars in Zaina Kadal, and the Mirwaizs at Rajouri Kadal.
A change in lifestyle
Inside view of a heritage home in Srinagar.
| Photo Credit:
IMRAN NISSAR
Most of these structures extend to three floors or four floors, with attics, creating a horizontal skyline. Beg, from INTACH, says houses built today are “more functional than luxurious”. He speaks of the loss the dhajji dewari, a technique of a timber-framed structure filled with brick masonry that. “There are many unique elements to Kashmir houses that are appropriate for the weather here,” Beg says, adding that newer structures that can be found across the country may not have that advantage. For instance, they miss the hamam, a room used in Srinagar’s winter that extends to four months, with temperatures dipping up to -8 degrees Celsius. Here, people sit on a carpet laid over stones heated with a fireplace beneath.
Each room in old homes was defined by function, Beg says. For instance, there was a the bana kouth to store utensils and grain, which was separate from the daan kouth, the kitchen. The top floor usually had a kaeni, an open hall with wooden screen features to adjust its size as per the occasion.
“I have attended Sufiana mehfils and Khatami Quran ceremonies in such houses in the city as a young boy,” says Beg, whose was born in the old city’s Khankah area. He recalls sitting in ghulam gardesh, a big hall with a sunken central space with floor seating. “It was supported by an ornamental arched arcade with carved and coloured wooden columns. This kind of setting made it easy for those serving tea or hookah during a mehfil or religious musical nights.”
Now, the religious gatherings once held at least twice or thrice in both wealthy and middle-class households in the city are dwindling. “Even the attendance of local devotees on Urs (specials days dedicated to local saints) is thinning,” Anjum Rashid, a shopkeeper from the city’s Kalashpora mohalla, says.
A city being urbanisation
The built-up area in Srinagar has seen a significant change in the Land Use Land Cover (LULC), an indicator of fast urbanisation. A survey conducted by the Sher-i-Kashmir University for Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) between 2000 and 2020 concluded that these two decades saw “the high rate of urbanization, population growth, migration, and tourism”.
The LULC changes have been experienced at the urban hotspots of Srinagar city, like Lal Chowk, Natipora, Hyderpora, Rajbagh, Nowgam, Dangarpora, the Dargah area, Chhatabal, Batamaloo, and Bemina. “These places have experienced the highest level of urbanization in Srinagar city,” it records.
According to the SKUAST data, Srinagar increased from 34.53 square kilometres in 2000 to 60.63 sq km by 2020. Population too has grown from 0.1 million in 1901 to 1.2 million in 2011, when the last census was carried out. It was projected to be 1.7 million in 2024. Water bodies in Srinagar city reduced from 19.36 sq km in 2000 to 14.44 sq km.
It suggested that the extent of vegetation in Srinagar city was 43.87 sq km in 2000 and came down to 26.23 sq km by 2020. The vegetation area has decreased mainly in the northern and eastern parts of Srinagar, at places like Khaja Bagh Colony, Pahal, Mazgam, and Mughal Gardens, due to a population increase and developmental area build-up.
Similarly, the dense forest area in Srinagar city was 1.02 sq km in 2000 and reduced to 0.38 sq km by 2020. Sparse forest area was 0.76 sq km in 2000 and came down to 0.7 sq km by 2020. The extent of open areas in Srinagar city was 131.95 sq km in 2000 and stood at 124.39 sq. km by 2020. The reduction, according to the survey, was attributed to construction of hotels, buildings, and amusement parks at places like Lal Chowk, Batamaloo, and Boulevard Road.
“The urbanization process causes chaotic expansion, deteriorates living conditions, and degrades environmental scenarios, all of which have negative consequences for human health,” the study concludes.
Sameer Hamdani, author of the book The Syncretic Traditions of Islamic Religious Architecture of Kashmir (Early 14th to 18th century), says Srinagar was put on the list of Endangered sites of the New York-based World Monuments Fund watchlist in 2008.
“The city was described as one of the world’s last surviving intact examples of pre-engineered wooden architecture. Many people have been impressed by the medieval charm of the historic city with its narrow gullies and kuchhas, wood and masonry houses, and tall wooden shrines,” Hamdani says, drawing attention to the quintessential Kashmiri spire on several religious structures.
Tracing architectural influences to Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Timurid, Mughal, and Tibetan, Hamdani says change was inevitable but “the apathy of its residents to the historical architectural traditions is unfortunate”.
He speaks of aspiration, more than functionality. “A vast majority of people find that by using costly, non-native materials and designs and motifs, they are fulfilling an aspirational goal,” Hamdani feels.
A changing skyline
There is architectural and human chaos at Lal Chowk, Srinagar’s commercial hub, where several buildings retain elements of the Dogra and British colonial period. Located just 3.5 km away from historic Zaina Kadal, Regal Cinema has been turned into a massive shopping mall with more than eight floors. It’s one among dozens.
Srinagar Municipal Corporation (Building) Bye Laws, 2011, limited houses and commercial structures to three floors and an attic. This was because the Kashmir valley falls under Seismic Zone V (very high damage risk zone), according to the Jammu and Kashmir State Disaster Management Authority.
The J&K Lieutenant Governor’s administration, however, introduced Urban Building By-Laws (UBBL), 2020, only to be withdrawn, and fresh by-laws introduced in 2021. Officials say these by-laws had no local inputs and were aimed at deregulation and densification of Srinagar to accommodate its growing population.
Iftikhar Ahmad Hakim, who retired as Srinagar’s chief town planner (CTP) in 2023, says the proposed by-laws deregulate Floor Area Ratio (FAR), ground coverage, and height in building. For the first time in Kashmir there is no bar on the number of floors that can be constructed, no leeway for fire gaps.
Srinagar’s European style of living in bungalows comes from previous by-laws that ruled in favour of a 15- to 30-foot distance between two houses as a fire gap. Here, people would lay lawns, adding to the green cover around the houses. The latest by-laws have also done away with zoning to delineate the city into compartments of commercial and residential pockets.
“Earlier regulations existed to balance development with the need for liveable, resilient, and equitable cities. Removing them without careful planning and alternative safeguards can have long-term disastrous consequences for both current and future generations,” Hakim says. He adds this will lead to “spatial anarchy” leading to “social anarchy” because communities will be displaced and cultural networks broken. He warns that water will soon become scarce and sanitation will become “inefficient or overwhelmed” if these bylaws are implemented.
Author Hamdani too warns against densification of Srinagar, “which is already a congested city”. “We need to de-densify and not increase the building footprints viz-a-viz open green spaces. The city could go vertical in certain corridors that do not affect the horizontal character of the historic city,” Hakim suggests. He adds that the whole idea of going vertical is to save open spaces and demarcate more green areas.
peerzada.ashiq@thehindu.co.in
Edited by Sunalini Mathew
Published – April 11, 2025 01:07 am IST
