Banihal

Banihal lies below a pass through the Pir Panjal, where a mountain route links the Kashmir Valley with the upper Chenab country and the hills towards Punjab. Snow and storms can close the crossing, whose name is associated in local speech with a blizzard. Streams descend from the surrounding slopes into the Bishlari River, while the high ridge separates the sheltered valley of Kashmir from the lands to its south.