Kashmir's floating paradise — Dal Lake houseboats and Wazwan feasts
Srinagar is the summer capital of Jammu & Kashmir — a city of Mughal gardens, chinars, and the famous Dal Lake, where thousands of shikaras glide between floating vegetable markets and cedar-panelled houseboats. The Kashmiri Wazwan, a ceremonial feast of 36 courses centred on rogan josh, yakhni, and gushtaba, is among the most elaborate food traditions in South Asia.
Srinagar was founded around the 6th century AD and became a Mughal garden city under Emperor Akbar, who captured Kashmir in 1586. The Dal Lake's houseboats originated in the colonial era: the British Raj refused land grants to Europeans in Kashmir, so they built homes on the water instead. Srinagar was made the summer capital of the princely state of Jammu & Kashmir, a function it retains today as the summer seat of the J&K government.