Elum Ghar, also known as Mount Elum, is a high mountain located in the

Swat A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...

and

Buner Buner District (, ) is a district in the Malakand Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Before receiving the status of a district in 1991, it was a tehsil within Swat District. Buner's elevation starts at 1200 ft in the S ...

districts of

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. Elum Ghar is the highest peak in the region, and is snow-covered most of the year. It is located west of

Pir Baba Sayyid Ali Tirmizi (), more commonly known as Pir Baba (), was a Sufi pir who settled in Buner in present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. There, he lived among the Yusufzai Pashtuns. He was a Naqvi Syed, probably born in 908 AH (1502 CE), i ...

's shrine in the Buner District. The mountain was a significant pilgrimage site for Hindus until 1947, and is believed to be the site where a previous incarnation of the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...

gave up his life.

History

Elum Ġhar's peak is called Jūgyānū Sar, where Rām taḫt was believed to be located. Hindus used to worship Rām taḫt as they believe Rām Čandar spent part of his banbās "forest-dwelling" there. This tradition is not mentioned in the '' Rāmāyaṇa'' of Vālmīki. Hindus used to celebrate Sawan Sangran every year at Rām taḫt. On the first night of Sawan they would hold vigil, worship, and recite their holy book. At dawn the paṇḍit would lead them up the mountain to Rām taḫt, where praśād would be distributed and

circumambulation Circumambulation (from Latin ''circum'' around and ''ambulātus ''to walk) is the act of moving around a sacred object or idol. Circumambulation of temples or deity images is an integral part of Hindu and Buddhist devotional practice (known in ...

occurred. The site had shades for the Hindu pilgrims until they were removed by the Wāli of Swat, Miangul Abdul Wadud. The festival is no longer celebrated.

References

External links

TCKP Tourism - Elum Mountain

Videos

*
"The Beauty of Buner Elum Mountain -The Travellers" - YouTube
* {{coord, 34.6197, N, 72.3310, E, source:wikidata, display=title Buner District Mountains of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Two-thousanders of Pakistan