The loud noise of waves thrusting against the rocks ringed in my ears as I watched a man trying to cross a wooden bridge on his motorcycle. Just as he reached the middle, his front tyre got caught in the space of a missing slab, the more he tried to force his bike out, the more it dug deeper. His face turned pale as he looked around for help. Underneath him was River Neelum, the ruthless river that is famous for swallowing bodies and never throwing them out again.

But in a matter of seconds, a few locals came rushing to him and helped his bike out.

He rode his bike over the bridge safely as he shouted "Shukariya" to his rescuers.

Kashmiris! I thought as I crossed the bridge myself. This bridge was the only way that could lead me to my destination -- Shardha University (Shardha Peeth), an ancient temple and a learning place. A centre of great Sanskrit scholars and Kashmiri pandits, it was a famous core of Hinduism and Buddhism.

Famous historian, Abu Rehan Al Beruni in his celebrated book Kitaab ul Hind writes about Shardha that in the South-West of Srinagar is Shardha, the people from all over India visit it during the occasion of Vaisakhi and consider it a very sacred place. But due to icy and rough terrain, he could not go there himself.

The bridge led to a mud track that went uphill. On one side, there was water flowing in a channel and on the other were lined rocks. A number of uniformed soldiers could be seen time to time since the place was situated only about 16 miles away from the line of control that divided the Pakistani-administrated Azad Kashmir and Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Finally the track ended and I could see the famous stairs of Shardha University, exactly 63 in number.

The number 63 has always enjoyed an important religious status in South-Asia. Even today some Hindu tribes put 63 jewels on an elephant and worship it.

The 63, partly damaged stairs, led me inside of what could only be called the ruins of an ancient seminary. According to Al Beruni, the place was built in 24 AD to 27 AD by Prince Kanishka, who was the prince of the state of Nepal. Shardha was the biggest seminary of Central Asia in the reign of Kanishka I.

Other than Buddhists teachings, history, geography, health, logic and philosophy was also taught here. This seminary has its own typeface, ‘Shardha’, which is similar to Devanagari. Due to this relevance, the surrounding village was named after it.

The place served, according to Buddhist and then Hindu verdict, until the region was almost completely Islamised by wandering mystics, known as Sufis, who preached in the region after arriving from Iran and Central Asia between the 12th and 17th centuries.

The temple had partially collapsed into disorder by the 14th century, and was last repaired by Maharaja Gulab Singh of Kashmir in the 19th century. After the short 1948 war in the region, the site came under the control of Pashtun tribesmen and was then passed to the newly formed government of Azad Kashmir.

When I entered the Shardha University, the magnificent beauty of the surroundings and the splendid architectural miracle left me stunned. The temple is 11,000 feet above sea level, due to which the beautiful, lush green and mountainous surroundings and the running river of Neelum can be seen.

Its architectural structure is quite different from the rest of the ancient buildings in the subcontinent. Particularly the hundred feet high platform that is built in the centre of the temple shows a very interesting innovation in the art of construction. The platforms have beautifully carved images and letters. Although there is no sign of roof left in the structure but there is a door on the southern side that leads to the inside of the building, where even today you can see carved pictures that seem similar to that of the Buddhist’s beliefs.

The temple also contained a pond inside its enclosure where people with skin diseases used to take bath and got healed. Although the pond does not exist here anymore, the researchers explain that the water was used to be taken from another pool which was approximately two kilometres away and contained sulphur. The sulphur caused healing of various skin diseases and wounds.

According to historical evidences, the area from Shardha to Kishan Ghati was all developed. About three kilometres from the central structure of Kishan Ghati is a mountain with a long cave, which was considered sacred. An idol had been carved inside the cave under which dead bodies were burnt and ashes were poured in Kishan Ganga or the current River Neelum.

In the distant past, Shardha was the home of ‘Naga’ and ‘Raud’ tribe. Their religious beliefs were similar to Buddhism and Jainism.

Most people are unaware about the history of Shardha. That is the reason that many tourists are welcomed with several interesting and self-created stories about this historic seminary, most of those stories are related to fairy tales that people have created over time.

Shardha University takes you more than 1,900 years back. The mesmerising beauty, the interesting history and architectural wonder are a gift to us from the past. Unfortunately, no justice was done to this magnificent gift of the history and the once glorious seminary now stands just as a sad remnant of its past. The earthquake that hit the region in 2005 did a lot of damage to the site and Shardha University was never restored.

The once significant seminary that stands in the middle of the magnificent Neelum valley tells the stories which go back more than a thousand years but it also calls for the attention of the administrators of today for its restoration.