Sharda Peeth Corridor

Few days ago, the union home minister Amit Shah asserted that New Delhi is looking forward to opening the Sharda Peeth corridor on the pattern of Kartarpur Corridor in Punjab. Kartarpur Corridor in Punjab was thrown open in 2018 for the Sikh pilgrims to visit Kartarpur Sahib for pilgrimage.
Amit Shah says that for the Kashmiri Pandits New Delhi is mulling the same type of initiative through Sharda Peeth Corridor so that Kashmiri Pandits get opportunity to visit Sharda Peeth Temple presently located in Pakistan occupied Jammu Kashmir.
From this side of Teethwal, Sharda Peeth falls some 65 kilometres away from Teethwal, the Line of Control.
Till 12th century, the temple was the highest seat of learning for Kashmiris and prior to Kashmiri Sharda was the original script of Kashmiri. Most of the scripts, literature and content was available in Sharda language.
But after the advent of Islam in Kashmir, the majority population converted from Hinduism and those who were not converted continued to treat the place as sacred religiously and visited it.
After the tribal war of 1947 in Jammu and Kashmir, the place fell under the control of Pakistan so the people from Hindu community stopped visiting it though it continues to remain sacred for them.
It has been a long pending demand of Kashmiri Pandits to reopen it for their pilgrimage.
Post Article 370 abrogation by the Union government, the BJP led centre claims that it will revive the Hindu civilization in Jammu and Kashmir which has faced an onslaught due to political turmoil and extremism in Kashmir.
“The reconstruction of Maa Sharda’s temple in Kupwara is a necessary and important step in the direction of discovery of Sharda-civilization and promotion of Sharda-script,” said Amit Shah.
Shah said that once upon a time Sharda Peeth was considered the centre of knowledge in the Indian subcontinent, scholars from all over the country used to come here in search of scriptures and spiritual knowledge. “Sharda script is the original script of our Kashmir, which has been named after the name of Maa Sharda,” he said.
So far the Jammu Kashmir government has renovated dozens of temples in various parts of Kashmir. It encourages the Hindu festivals also at a grand level. But if Sharda Peeth Corridor is thrown open which off course requires the will of Pakistan will be a biggest achievement for BJP.
After the Kartarpur Corridor, the former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan had also hinted at the opening of Sharda Peeth temple. However, the relations after Article 370 abrogation are at an all-time low between India and Pakistan. Will BJP succeed in opening a corridor at Teethwal for Sharda Peeth since due to political tensions Kartarpur Corridor is not receiving encouraging footfalls of pilgrims.
The Wikipedia mentions: ‘Sharada Peeth translates to “the seat of Sharada”, the Kashmiri name for the Hindu goddess Saraswati. “Sharada” could be also related to the proto-Nostratic terms “sarv”, which means “flow or stream”, and daw (blow, tip or rock), because it was located at the confluence of three streams.’
According to Wikipedia, the beginnings of Sharada Peeth are uncertain, and the question of origins difficult, because Sharada Peeth might have been both a temple and an educational institution. It was probably commissioned by Lalitaditya Muktapida (r. 724 CE–760 CE) though no definitive evidence exists in favor. Al-Biruni recorded the place for the first time, as a revered shrine housing a wooden image of Sharda — however, he had never ventured into Kashmir and based his observations on hearsay.