Raghunath Mandir, Srinagar

Daily Excelsior and Religion Unplugged report that Maharaja Gulab Singh, founder of the Dogra kingdom of Jammu and Kashmir, began building the temple in 1835 (Daily Excelsior; Religion Unplugged). The temple committee's president told WION that the temple was built in 1857 by Gulab Singh, so the founding date differs between accounts (WION). A photograph of the temple on the Jhelum dated 1912 is reproduced in Hamdani's history of Srinagar (Scroll).

The temple fell silent after the early 1990s, when the insurgency began and most Kashmiri Hindus left the valley (WION; Daily Excelsior). Hamdani, describing a recent visit, found the compound overgrown, the idols missing from the sanctum and the corridor walls blackened by soot (Scroll).

Restoration began in 2020 as one of several heritage religious sites in Srinagar taken up under the Smart City scheme, with the work carried out by the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department (Daily Excelsior; Religion Unplugged). WION reported that the temple was reconstructed under the Smart City initiative while preserving its historical character (WION).

On 26 March 2026 the Raghunath Mandir Committee held Ram Navami celebrations and a special puja at the temple, the first in 36 years (Kashmir Despatch; ANI; WION). The committee said it planned to install the temple's idols in the following months (WION).

Architecture and sacred features

The temple compound originally opened towards the Jhelum, and the main sanctum (garbhagriha) is surrounded by a corridor used for circumambulation (Scroll). Hamdani notes that the recent renovation repainted the once-whitewashed walls in an ochre tone (Scroll).