One of the three different cultural zones in the current Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir; the other two are western Kashmir and Ladakh.
The Dogras, a tiny regional dynasty, historically controlled
Jammu and Kashmir, a former princely state.
Despite being Hindus, the Dogra rulers reigned over the
minority populations of largely Muslim Kashmiris and mostly Buddhist Ladakhis;
this ethnic and religious separation persists today.
The Jammu region is located in the northern Indian plain,
and the neighboring areas south of the Shiwalik Hills are mostly Hindu.
Jammu, on the other hand, is adjacent to Punjab, the
heartland of Sikhism, a monotheistic faith that mixes aspects of Hinduism and
Islam; as a result, Jammu has a sizable Sikh community.
The temple devoted to Vaishno Devi, a goddess who is said to
fulfill all of one's requests, is by far the most well-known in the Jammu area.
Jammu was also a hub for the Pahari art of miniature
painting in the eighteenth and nineteenth century.
Jammu is the name of the area, as well as the major city in
the region and the state's historic winter capital. Christine Nivin et al.,
India.
8th ed., Lonely Planet, 1998, provides an accessible
resource for general information on Jammu and all of India's regions.
You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.
Be sure to check out my writings on religion here.
