The Koh-e Asamai ( ''Kōh-e Āsamā'ī'') is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

located directly to the west of downtown

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

at an elevation of . It is known colloquially as the ''Television Hill'' due to the large TV mast and antennas at its summit. Asamayi is named after its

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

temple at the foothill, which is an important site of

Afghan Hindus Hinduism in Afghanistan is practiced by a very small minority of Afghans, about 30–40 individuals as of 2021, who live mostly in the cities of Kabul and Jalalabad. Afghan Hindus are ethnically Pashtun, Hindkowan (Hindki), Punjabi, or Sindh ...

and one of the oldest temples in Kabul. The temple was re-located in the foothill from the original location from the Peak of the mountain, which still has a small original temple site.

History

The mountain is the site of an ancient fort. In December 1879 during the

Second Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the latter was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai ...

the Asamai mountains were the site of a prolonged siege and battle where the British forces made up of the

9th Lancers The 9th Queen's Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1715. It saw service for three centuries, including the First and Second World Wars. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in forces, ...

and 5th Punjab Cavalry stormed Afghan tribesmen who had laid up in the fort. The Afghan forces fled and several British soldiers were awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

Geography

The hill forms the boundary of Districts 2 and 3 and is opposite the Sher Darwaza mountain. There are three peaks with heights of 2126 m, 1975 m and 2110 m from north-west to south-east. It is only a mile away from the city center of Kabul ( Deh Afghanan), dividing the center from the suburbs to the west including the

Kabul University Kabul University (KU; ) is one of the major and oldest institutions of higher education in Afghanistan. It is in the 3rd District of the capital Kabul near the Ministry of Higher Education. It was founded in 1931 by King Mohammed Nadir Shah, wh ...

Shahr-e Naw Shahr-e Naw (; ), also spelled Share Naw, Shahre Naow or Shari Naw, is an affluent neighborhood in the northwestern section of Kabul, Afghanistan. It is a downtown commercial area housing most of the bigger buildings such as office centers, shoppi ...

is to the north-east, Karte Parwan to the north-west, the old city to the south-east and

Deh Mazang Deh Mazang (), also spelled Demazang or Dih Mazang, is a hillside settlement in west Kabul, Afghanistan, located on the southern side of the Asamayi mountain. It forms part of District 3. Kabul Zoo is located to its south and Chindawol in the ol ...

to the south.

AsaMai Hindu Temple

The temple is named after Asha Mai ( माई, माता, माँ ) the ''Goddess of Hope'' is another name of

Durga Durga (, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars. Durga's legend centres around combating evils and demonic ...

Maa, consort Lord

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

, It is believed by

that the Goddess of Hope AsaMai has been residing at the hilltop of Asamai. There is also, Asamayee Watt, adjoined to the lower part of the temple, which has been there for thousands of years, adjoining to Joi-Shir.

Ehsan Bayat Ehsanollah "Ehsan" Bayat (Pashto/Dari: احسان الله بیات, born July 15, 1963) is an Afghan American business entrepreneur who is the founder and chairman of Bayat Group, Afghanistan's largest private company. Early life and education ...

funded the renovation of the temple in 2006. Other mandirs worldwide from the Afghan Hindu diaspora are named after Asamai, denoting its importance to the community.

Transmission site

It has been the location of the city's

terrestrial TV Terrestrial television, or over-the-air television (OTA) is a type of television broadcasting in which the content is transmitted via radio waves from the terrestrial (Earth-based) transmitter of a TV station to a TV receiver having an ant ...

masts since 1978. As of 2012, broadcasts from here are from 2 kW VHF transmitters.

References

{{coord missing, Afghanistan Landforms of Kabul Province Mountain ranges of Afghanistan Hinduism in Afghanistan History of religion in Afghanistan de:Koh e Asamai fa:کوه آسمائی

History

Geography

AsaMai Hindu Temple

Transmission site

See also

References