Ladhoo - An Introduction

Ladhoo/ لدھو , a unique village of South Kashmir's Pulwama district is surrounded by the continuous mountain range. Among all the villages of Pampore Constituency it is one of the largest village. It is near about 18 km (11 mi) from Srinagar and 4 km (2.5 mi) from NH44 via Lethpora. It is spread over an area of 9 km2 (3.5 sq mi) including a long stretch of very famous trekking spot known as Wasturwan. The village is divided into two panchayat blocks also known as 'Halqas' that is "Halqa A" & "Halqa B" separated by the main road (Ladhoo- Pampore road).

Besides there is also the other classification based on the location, the main one includes Banpora, Batpora, Herpora, Nagbal and Gousen Nar.

As per the census of 2011, the household capacity is 823 and the total population is 4604. The male-to-female ratio is 1000:973. Previously quarrying and farming provided the employment for most of the residents, either directly or indirectly. But recently due to ban on quarry activities, the trend has shifted towards other activities including the private sector. The bulk farm produces include saffron, almonds, walnuts, pears, paddy, mustard and maize. Besides almost every household possess a kitchen garden to produce their own vegetables.

The literacy rate of Ladhoo is 65.33%. Male literacy is at 77.83% while female literacy stands at 52.8%. There are three private schools (up to primary level), five government schools (up to primary level) and a government higher secondary school and the names are given in the table below 1 Government Higher Secondary School, Ladhoo 2 Government Middle School, Herpora 3 Sheikh Ul Alam Public Middle Model School, Nagbal 4 Government Residential School, Nagbal 5 Government Primary School, Gousen nar 6 Musa Educational Institute, Banpora 7 Government Primary School, Banpora 8 Government middle school, Batpora 9 Dawah Public School, Banpora

The majority of the population is Muslim, with a Hindu minority.They all live together in peace & harmony, they also take part in one another's festivals. There are around 15 mosques and four temples built in the village and among them is the Ancient Temple which is included in the list of Historical monuments of India and is under the care of archaeological survey of India (ASI), circle srinagar. The other notable religious sites of the village include Sheikh-ul-Alam shrine and Samadhi Of Jeevan Sahib.

Places to visit

The Ancient Temple is located by a pond named Sanz Har Nag and dates back to the 8th century AD. The temple is externally square but circular internally. The southwest entrance has an arch surmounted by a pediment. Considering the topology, nature has designed this village so adequate that it had remained the seat of learning for many saints and Sufis and get spiritual enlightenment, one among them is one of the valleys highly praised Sufi saint popularly known as Alamdare Kashmir Sheikh-ul-Aalam ( r.a) also known as Nund Rishi has spent an ample amount of time here (12 years), other saints visited here include Mir Syed Ali Hamadani ( r.a) , Baba Raqam ud din ( r.a) and Jeevan Sahib and all of them have chosen different residing sites in the village which are worth to mention as Lopan pal, bank of sanz haer nag, ghope bal and Gousen nar respectively.

Recently the government has officially recognized the trekking route to wasturwan via Gousen nar.