Aragam book village is a village in the Himalayan region of North Kashmir, located about from

Srinagar Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...

on the route from

Bandipore Bandipore () or Bandipora ( ; ) is the headquarters of district of Bandipore in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is located on the northern banks of Wullar Lake—the second-largest freshwater lake in Asia. From baramulla ...

. Aragam is located on the banks of

Wular Lake Wular Lake (), also known as Wolar () in Kashmiri language, Kashmiri, is one of the largest fresh water, freshwater lakes in the Indian subcontinent. It is located near Bandipore, Bandipora town in the Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir ...

and surrounded by wooded mountains on three sides. The location/village code is 002767. Aragam village is located in Bandipora Tehsil of

Bandipore district Bandipore district (also spelt as Bandipora or Bandipur) is an administrative district of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a me ...

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

, India. It is situated away from

Bandipora Bandipore () or Bandipora ( ; ) is the headquarters of district of Bandipore in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is located on the northern banks of Wullar Lake—the second-largest freshwater lake in Asia. From baramulla ...

, which is both district and sub-district headquarters of Aragam village.Aragam was declared as kashmirs first Book and poetry village in 2022 with the help of local Youth Siraj Uddin Khan Gojar as co ordinator of Sarhad Pune and District administration bandipora. From then village is home to thousands of books related to literature, biogoraphies, fiction and non fiction books. Village will be made worlds largest book and poetry village in upcoming years with the support of different organisations and stste governments.

Demography

As per 2009 stats, Aragam village is itself a gram panchayat and the total area of village is . Aragam has a total population of 3,020 with about 505 houses.

History

The village derives its name from a stream ("Ara") which flows through the village. Adjacent to the village are Animbar, Fakhnar and

Langmarg ''Langmarg'' is a meadow in Aragam Village of Jammu and Kashmir at an altitude of 3299 meters (10,823 feet) and is nearby to ''Gailbal'' Forest, ''Daitwās'' and ''Pīrpal''. The Langmarg meadow is famous among backpackers as the meadow basically ...

forests that are known for their vast grazing grounds and possess a lively pastoral life during summers. The surrounding mountains also support pine and deodar forests, while as apple, cherry, walnut, chinar, and popular trees can be spotted in the village lands. Rice constitutes the main staple crop of the village although isolated paddy, maize and some oilseed are also grown in some pockets.

Education

Education has always thrived in the village and the village is known to possess one of the oldest schools in the district, which was later upgraded to a Higher Secondary level. Besides that many private institutions have also played a very important role in imparting education to the people of this village and the adjacent villages as well. Besides that Aragam also has a Maktaba Taleem Ul Quran, a school for imparting religious education to both boys and girls. Aragam is also known to have an old grand mosque the Markazi Jamia Masjid where congregational Friday Prayers are taking place from August 1956, and the same was reconstructed in the year 2021. Besides housing 4 more mosques other than the Central Mosque the Aragam village also has a couple of Hindu temples as well.

Notable people

* Lala Aragami, poet and Sufi * Siraj uddin Khan, book village co-ordinator

Gallery

File:Aragam in Winter.jpg, Aragam in Winter File:Langmarg.jpg, Langmarg meadow in Aragam Bandipore Kashmir File:Ploughing in Aragam.jpg, A farmer in Aragam ploughs his land by traditional plough driven by oxen. File:Apple Orchard in Aragam.jpg, Apple orchard in Aragam Bandipore Kashmir Himalayas Villages in Bandipora district {{JammuKashmir-geo-stub