SRI NAGAR: People in the Valley showed what Kashmiriyat is all about by opening their homes and mosques to tourists stranded at different places following the season’s first major snowfall.
The Valley witnessed the season’s first major snowfall on Friday. While the plains had moderate to heavy snowfall, the upper reaches, including tourist resorts of Gulmarg in north Kashmir, Sonamarg in central Kashmir and Pahalgam in south Kashmir experienced heavy snowfall.
As a result, tourists were stranded at many places, including at Gund in central Kashmir, Tangmarg in north Kashmir and Pahalgam and other areas in south Kashmir.
Locals rose to the occasion in the Gund area of Ganderbal district by offering shelter to the stranded tourists at their homes and mosques. They were also provided food and heating facilities. At the Jamia Masjid in Gund, the locals burnt the traditional hamam at night to ensure warmth for the tourists accommodated in the mosque.
Videos of the tourists spending the night in the mosque and at the houses of locals have gone viral on social media. “We stayed the night in the mosque in Gund. The locals have given new life to us by providing us food and heating arrangements in the mosque. People here are very hospitable. They looked after us very well,” said a group of tourists from Punjab.
“We are extremely thankful to the locals. The tourists are safe here and no harm can come their way. People should visit Kashmir which is paradise on earth,” they added.
Besides, hotelier Mohd Altaf Siah provided free accommodation to tourists at his hotel, The Sultan, at Kullan-Rezan in Sonamarg from 2.30 am.