Bumzu or Bhaumajo Caves:
Bhumju or Bumzu or Bhaumajo lines at the mouth of the lidder valley, and easily
reached from Islamabad. These caves are situated on the left bank of the Lidder
river about a mile north of the village of Bawan, the largest is dedicated to Kaladeva.
The cave-temple stands at the far end of a natural but artificially enlarged fissure
in the limestone cliff. The entrance to the cavern, which is more than 60 feet above
the level of the river, is carved into an architectural doorway, and a gloomy passage,
50 ft in length, leads from it to the door of the temple. It is a simple cella,
10 ft square , exterior dimensions, raised on a badly moulded plinth and approached
by a short flight of steps. The square door way is flanked by two round headed niches
despoiled of their status and is surmounted by a high triangular pediment
reaching to the apex of the roof, with a trefoiled tympanum. There is no record
nor tradition as to the time of erection but from absence of
all ornamentation and
the simple character of the roof, which appears to be a rudimentary copy in stone
of the ordinary slopping timber roof of the country, it may with great probability
be inferred that this is the earliest perfect specimen of Kashmir Temple, and dates
from the Ist. or 2nd century of the Christian era. Close by is another
Cave of still greater extent, but with no architectural accessories and about half
a mile further up the valley at the foot of the cliff, are two temples. Both are
, to a considerable extent, copies of the Cave Temple but may be of much later date.
The shrine of Baba Ramdin Reshi and the tomb of his disciple Ruku-din-Reshi are
also close by. Hugel statues that the Bhumju caves occupy a very conspicuous place
in the fables of the timid Kashmiris, and are supposed to have originated from the
following causes, In the year Kali 2108 ( 993 B.C) Raja Nara succeeded his father,
Vibishana; during his reign certain Brahman espoused Chandrasaha , the daughter
of Susravas, a serpent-god, whose place was in a lake near the Vitusta , and near
a city built and inhabited by Nara. One day, as Raja Nara beheld the beautiful daughter
of the serpent on the shore of the lake, moving gracefully
through the calm waters,
he was struck with the deepest admiration, and endeavored vainly to inspire the
same sentiments he himself felt. At length he resolved to carry her off from husband,
but the plan failed ,and the enraged Brahman called on her father to avenge the
insult. A storm was accordingly called up ,and the earth open and swallowed up the
King and his whole Court. The sister of the serpent-god assisted him ,and hurled
on the city huge stone from Bawan Mountain. The caverns of Bhumju are said to be
on the spot where these rocks were uptorn (Hugel, Growse).