If you have ever been to Srinagar and asked a Cab driver to take you to the “Tomb of Jesus Christ” then he would bring you to Rozabal Shrine , which is popularly believed to be the tomb of Jesus Christ.
For as long as
locals in Srinagar can remember, Kashmir's Rozabal shrine has been the subject
of an age-old debate: Was the shrine the burial place of Jesus of Nazareth? The
belief is that Jesus survived the crucifixion and spent the rest of his years
in Kashmir and the shrine was his final resting place.
The locals firmly
believe that Jesus Christ who was Crucified at the age of 33 did not die and
managed to escape via route of Afghanistan, parts of Iran , Pakistan and finally
landed at Srinagar Kashmir nearly 2000 years ago. He was supposed to have lived 14 years at
Srinagar and ultimately have been resting in Peace at Rozabel Shrne. In fact the name "PAHALGAM" which is almost 50 Kms distance from Srinagar which gets its name as Pahala Gaon which means The first village where Jesus stepped in and stayed the first night en- route to Srinagar
The shrine of
Muslim saints Hazrat Youza Asif and Syed Naseer-ud-Din garnered worldwide
attention from news of the myth. An old glass-paned grilled window, which
always remains open alongside a narrow alley, gives a glimpse inside the
dimly-lit shrine, which is located in close proximity of famous ‘Dastgeer Sahib
shrine’. In the narrow alleys of Khanyar area of Old City, where
the shrine is only open on the 13th day of every month, according to lunar
calendar, the young locals recount the story of American author Suzzane Olson
who claimed to be a descendant of Jesus, came to Kashmir to obtain DNA from the
shrine in the late 1990s. Olson's claims increased the influx of tourists.
What's in a name?
Many writers in the 1950s, took
up the responsibly to refute the 'Jesus theory' through their writings,
including 1950s, including Molvi Ghulam Nabi Nabi Mubaraki, one of valley's top
Islamic scholar and preacher. However, in his book Jesus in Kashmir,
Kashmiri writer Fida Hasnain claims evidence that Christ is buried at Rozabal
is mentioned Kashmir's own history long before Mirza's claim. “Yuzu Asif,
the name of the saint buried here, is not Arabic name or Muslim name. It’s a
Hebrew name and the prophet Jesus is buried there (Rozabal). He came to Kashmir
after he faced problems there. How can we believe locals, we have to see
history.Ghulam Ahmad Mirza’s claims predate our own history
Tawareeq-e-Kashmir,” Hasnain said.
It's in a part
of the city where the Indian security forces are on regular patrol, or peering
out from behind check-posts made of sandbags. Officially, the tomb is the burial site of Youza Asaph,
a medieval Muslim preacher - but a growing number of people believe that it is
in fact the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth. They believe that
Jesus survived the crucifixion almost 2,000 Easters ago, and went to live out
his days in Kashmir.
and the debate continues
