THE MYSTERIOUS TOMB OF JESUS CHRIST.

 

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.

 However , historians claim that "It's a story spread by local shopkeepers, just because some crazy professor said it was Jesus's tomb. They thought it would be good for business. Tourists would come, after all these years of violence.

 The tomb of Jesus was just another place to tick off on their tourist-in-India must-visit list. So be it Jesus or not , the shrine has definitely triggered off the debate of Jesus being buried at Srinagar and eventually has developed to become one of the must visit list for the tourists visiting Kashmir.

and the debate continues

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