When people think of J&K their Mind goes to Kashmir but in Jammu a whole other gem exists one which should have light shown on it.
The Geography:
Currently Jammu consists of 10 Districts, Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Doda, Kishtwar, Poonch, Rajouri, Ramban, Reasi and Udhampur. Those regions have similar appearance to the valley but their own charms among other things. Hills, snow among other things made Jammu division desirable and the winter capital jammu city is full of history having a thousand year old history but is restricted to being the capital during winter due to its unbearable summer heat.
Ethnic Groups In Jammu:
There’s a multitude of cultures and ethnic groups in Jammu the main being the Dogras who make up 44% of Jammu division and are the Majority of Jammu District, Samba district, Kathua district and Udhampur district, they’re mostly Hindus and have a culture similar to Pahadis.
There are the Pothwaris who live in Poonch and Rajouri they’re of mixed religion coming as Sikhs Hindus and Muslims and call themselves Pahadis, they’re one of the Two groups known in the Pir Panjal.
You have Pahadis who come in multiple communities such as Sarazis, Bhaderwahis, Paddaris and Pogalis. Among other groups they are found around Ramban, Doda and Kishtwar where they make a strong minority, they are mostly hindus.
There’s Gujjars and Bakarwals who are found all Around J&K, they are nomads and know the land well, from the peak of Pir Panjal to the lower parts of Kathua you can find them everywhere. They are mostly Muslim and normally are pastoralists who have large amounts of goats, they are renowned for selling goat milk due to that.
There are also a large amount of Kashmiris who are usually found around Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban, they came to the land centuries ago and have integrated into it like the other communities of Jammu, there is also a large Kashmiri Hindu community in Jammu district due to their exodus in 1990.
Other small communities in the region include Punjabi Refugees of the Partition and Gaddis who are Hindu pastoralists, Jammu’s accepting nature has made it a melting pot of culture due to this and the amount of ethnic groups is something to behold.
Cultural Attractions:
There are a lot of places to visit in Jammu from the Beautiful temples in the region to the masjids and such, temples like Vaishno Devi and Raghunath Temple are well known but many smaller temples in Kishtwar are as beautiful, there are also places like Jamia Masjid of Bhaderwah which are lesser known sights people should see.
Villagers are very friendly and don’t have issue with tourists, their warmth can be easing and the deeper you go into Jammu the more it can be experienced, so explore the vast lands as it would be a travesty just seeing the outside that being areas like Jammu city when the interior surpasses even the exteriors beauty.
Most younger people are adept in Hindi and so people don’t have to worry about a language problem in rural areas, the main issue in rural Jammu tends to be electricity which a lot of the time can be faulty at best due to poor development by the government, a hellish issue both in the summer and winter.
The Political Situation:
Due to the Notoriety of Militancy in Kashmir people might think the same exists in Jammu but in fact Jammu is quite safe, during the 90s and 2000s there had been a serious militancy in Jammu but thanks to the Local people’s militias against militants the problem was stopped and today outside of rogue incidents there’s nearly no Militancy issues in Jammu division.
So if you ever plan to visit J&K you should think of Jammu too, it is as much as the gem as Kashmir is and shouldn’t be forgotten, if you go you won’t regret it.