Sometime in the past, the town, also known as ‘saffron town’ was full of the beautiful fragrant saffron flowers or crocuses. Some say some Sufi saints gifted the local chief a saffron bulb while others say it was brought to Kashmir by Persian traders coming from Iran. Some give credit to the Mughal empire for bringing with it this superior spice and ways to use it.
Sadly, this treasured spice is fast waning. The reasons are many - from climate change to few unfriendly policies, to the unstable environment in the state of Jammu and Kashmir to intense competition from the mass produced Iranian saffron.