Famous Ragunath Hindu temple, Jammu - twice attacked by religious terrorists

Ragunath temple Jammu city.Hindu Temples
 and Raghunath Temple of Jammu city iGlobal Vision Tours
The Raghunath Temple of Jammu city ,North India is a temple complex with  seven  shrines, each with its own lofty Shikhara.  Maharajah Gulab Singh and his son Maharaj Ranbir Singh built the temple, during the period of 1853-1860.  In the seven shrines with gold plated spires are enshrined deities related to the  epic Ramayana and the presiding deity is Rama, an Avatar of Vishnu.  The shrines show the influence of Mogul architecture. The tower over the main shrine (sanctum) is said to have  Sikh architectural influence. One can see 300 well crafted images of deities in the niches on the walls and  the paintings in the 15 panels of the main shrine show episodes from Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Bhagavad Gita.

The temple complex is at Sui 18 kilometres (11 mi), west of Jammu city in Jammu and Kashmir.  During the reign of Jammu Shiwaliks after 1765 temple construction  was given due importance and this gave a fillip to temple construction work  which continued in  the 19th century. as well. The temples had  spiral shaped towers capped with Kalasam (pot) in the shape of Shikara and this type of style was quite common in those days. The structures were built, using brick and lime mortar.

Raghunath Temple of Jammu city The Divine India
The work on Ragunath temple complex began  in 1822 (1835 is also mentioned) by Gulab Singh and was dedicated to his guru Baba Prem Das. But, the work was completed in 1860 by his son Maharajah  Ranbir Singh.  However,  an inscription  in  the temple gives a different version.  It was Gulab Singh and his brother Dhyan Singh had built the  temple in 1827 in honour of Mahant Jagannath.

Ranbir Singh, took keen interest in the temple complex and made it the centre of Sanskrit learning and  teachings  for the Brahmin students. Also functioning here was a translation center where  Muslim scholars  translated history in Arabic and Persian languages  into Sanskrit. Similarly, Pundits were engaged in translating many scriptures into Hindi and Dogri languages. The ruler  Maharajah Ranbir Singh kept the Hindu and Muslim communities happy and promoted communal harmony among them. Never had he failed to promote the scholarship and exchange of intellectual discussion among the Hindu and Muslim scholars and tried to create a social intercourse among them. The Ragunath temple has a fine library, carrying lots of rare Sanskrit books.
Ragunath temple. Jammu Kashmir - Colors of India
 The Hindu temple complex built over a raised platform of 5 feet  has 3  entrance doors  and the main shrine is inside surrounded by Prakara (Prthakshana path).  On the very entrance to the temple  are  a portrait of Maharana Ranbir Singh and an image of Lord Hanuman . The centrals shrine is dedicated to Lord Ram / Raghunath, who is the presiding deity. The other shrines house  various incarnations of Lord Vishnu. There is another remarkable shrine of Lord Surya (Sun God), which houses different forms of the Lord. Inside the temple there are  additional shrines that have huge  statues of Hindu gods and goddesses.  The interior walls on three sides of the main temple are gold-plated.  One of the shrines has a huge Shivalinga  (phallic form of Lord Shiva) 7.5 feet tall  made of  black stone. The shrines also house a large number  Saligramas (Ammonites  fossils of Paleozoic era)  from the Gandaki river, in Nepal – It is a Vaishnava (Hindu) anionic representation of Vishnu) as the whorls in the ammonites represent Chakra - mystical disc of Lord Vishnu.

Raghunath temple houses almost all the images of deities in the Hindu Pantheon. The temples follows the puja protocols  similar to other temples and the  rituals of the temple include both morning and evening aarti.

The interior chamber is gold plated, whereas 
the outer chamber has 15 panels and they carry beautiful paintings depicting important episodes from the epics the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagavadgita. The large painting depicting Sita Kalyanam (the wedding of Sri Rama with Sita, the Swamvara episode. Vishnu in Ananthasayanam posture. (reclining Vishnu) is quite interesting.

The main deity Sri Rama is in the garbagraha which is dome shaped, following sikh style of design and it does not have shikara above it as it is commonly found in many Hindu temples. It is to be noted that Sri Rama is the main deity of the Kashmiri ruler and the Dogra people.
The temple complex  is famous for the stucco style embellishments built with brick masonry and finished with plaster. The motifs  created here are of floral (lotuses) and geometric
Tit-Bits:

Religious terrorism is a  sign of decadence of our society and the net result is zilch. Does the society gain out of this heinous criminal  act? Young terrorists misguided by perverted religious leaders with political backing are not only getting themselves killed but also leave a trail of blood bath killing innocent people.  The unfortunate fact is this old Hindu temple  has been a scene of terrorist attacks in the past on 30 March 2002, and later  on November 24, 2002. These attacks by Islamic terrorists left scores of people injured and many got killed. Now, the security forces are beefed up at the temple. Media reports point out the Pakistan sponsored terrorists backed by the Pakistani Army and by a group of local traitors were responsible for this carnage at a holy place. Some mosques, in the past, were bombed by the terrorist groups on account of Shia-Sunni  conflicts. Because of religious fanaticism  encouraged by vested interest,  Kashmir which was once a peaceful place, has turned into a land of conflicts and riots. The sufferers are the innocent people of Kashmir and their families. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raghunath_Temple