Valley · Azad Jammu and Kashmir
Neelum Valley is a 144 kilometre river valley in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, running north-east from Muzaffarabad along the Neelum river. Its settlements include Keran, Sharda, Kel and Arang Kel, and elevations rise from about 900 metres at Muzaffarabad to over 2,700 metres in the upper valley.
The valley follows the Line of Control for much of its length, and the river forms the boundary in several places. Sharda holds the ruins of a Sharada Peeth temple and university complex, associated with a script and learning tradition of the same name. Upper settlements such as Kel and Arang Kel are cut off by snow for parts of winter, and access is by a single valley road from Muzaffarabad.
Village with the ruins of the Sharada Peeth complex.
Meadow village above Kel, reached by chairlift and a walk.
An alpine lake at about 3,700 m above Dowarian.
Riverside village directly across the water from the far bank.
A hillside village above Kel, reached by chairlift and a climb.
The last village on the valley road, 240 km from Muzaffarabad.
Runs the length of the valley along the Line of Control.
An alpine lake at 3,700 m, a six-hour walk from Dowarian.
Pink salt tea churned with milk and topped with nuts.
Farmed and grilled at roadside stops through Neelum.
Makai roti with local butter, the winter staple.
Ruins of an 8th-century Sharada Peeth university above the river.
Walnut carving and deodar house frames.
Hand-loomed wool from the upper valleys.
A sixth-century centre of learning above the Neelum.
The national animal, a wild goat of the northern ranges.
Roughly 200–420 remain in the Karakoram, Himalaya and Hindu Kush.
A winter migrant to the deserts of Balochistan and Cholistan.
May to September; the upper valley is snowbound in winter.
About 4 hours by road from Islamabad to Muzaffarabad, then the valley road north.
About 144 kilometres, from Muzaffarabad north-east to the upper settlements past Kel.
The ruins at Sharda of a temple and centre of learning that gave its name to the Sharada script.
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