The old town of Sringar is like taking a walk in history.


With its almost medieval charm, the old city of Srinagar has sights, smells and sounds to enchant the most jaded traveller. Its labyrinthine roads and bustling bazaars are a photographer's delight. Traditionally dressed men and women on their way to the city's many mosques and shrines, burnt brick buildings with their rich warm colour, these are some of the old city's moods which linger in the corners of a traveller's mind, long after one leaves Kashmir.

The view from any of the old city's bridges is wholly and unmistakably Kashmiri. Old brick buildings line the banks.

One of the many moods of the old city is the constant reminder about its tradition of handicrafts. Well-appointed shops in the fashionable areas of Srinagar seem rather remote from the humble families of craftsmen who create tapestries and shawls; the old city changes all that. From top floor windows one catches sight of gaily embroidered fabric hanging out to dry. Occasionally a wizened old man cycles down the road, bearing a carpet, its lustrous colours glowing in the sunlight.

The nine bridges are Zero Bridge, Amira Kadal, Budshah Kadal, Habba Kadal, Fateh Kadal, Zaina Kadal, Aali Kadal, Nawa Kadal and Safa Kadal, ‘Kadal’ being the Kashmiri word for bridge.