Amidst reports surfacing about the Jammu and Kashmir Department of Tourism working with stakeholders, including the Sonamarg Development Authority, the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation (JKTDC), the Power Development Department (PDD) and BECON to finalise tourism promotion initiatives in Sonamarg, comes news of a unique project – a Taj Mahal-cum-Igloo made of snow.

Brighter Kashmir caught up with tourism department officials and artisans involved in the project to better understand the reasons for coming up with this first in the world initiative.
Zubair Ahmed Dhar, one of three artisans involved in the project, said, “The project is a combination of the Taj Mahal and the famed Igloo. We are making this together for the first time and this is probably the first of its kind in the world as well”.
“I have worked very hard on this project; for the first five or six days we had to hire 10 to 15 labourers to help us set the foundation for this joint project. After that, the three of us have worked on it and completed it. It has taken us about 15 days to make it a reality. There was an instance that while we were putting up the skeletal frame, three feet of snow fell and prevented us from coming to the project site. We had to actually walk in chest-high snow even as the snow kept on falling,” he said.
“We, however, managed to carve out a path for ourselves to facilitate movement. I have built a smaller version of the Taj Mahal and had always dreamt of making a bigger version of it. I have made cars, horse carts,” Zubair added.
He said in Taj Mahal-Igloo, which is a 10x10 edifice, 10 to 15 people can easily fit in. “From the ground up it is about 20 feet in height and 34 feet in width.”
Another unnamed artist said this was a collective initiative between the three of them and other stakeholders, including the Hotelier Association in Sonamarg, the Adventure Association, etc..
“We took a call in December last year about what we can do collectively. It was a step-by-step process that started when Sonamarg was opened to receive tourists. We did a programme on May 31st last year. We then followed it up with an ice skating event for 12 days in which local children took part. We taught them the basics of ice skating, followed that up with a snow horse cart event. This Taj Mahal-Igloo project was the finale. When we talked with other artisans they told us that the Taj Mahal needs to be treated as the highest form of promotion and we executed it accordingly,” he said.
“You may be surprised to know that the artists involved in this project are insulation experts and they undertook this project out of sheer excitement and enthusiasm as they also wanted to promote snow-based activities. This project has been readied for tourists after 16 days. We hope to attract tourists to this venue through this project which has a shelf life of about 20 days. We may never see this coming up in any other destination, at least until November. This is a positive development from all aspects from a tourism promotion point of view,” he said.
Irfan Ahmed Ratray, a resident of Budgam, said, “This project has taken us 15 to 16 days to make. We faced a lot of difficulties because of the inclement weather and we worked very hard on it. We used 15 labourers initially and thereafter the three of us worked on it.”
Deputy Commissioner Ganderbal, Shyambir and Director Tourism Kashmir, Raja Yaqoob recently visited Sonamarg to meet concerned officers and stakeholders to review winter preparedness and allied facilities for keeping Sonamarg open during the winter.
During the visit, necessary preparations and arrangements, including provision for water, electricity, health facilities, road, fire service, snow clearing operation, traffic management, operationalisation of the Z-Morh Tunnel, firewood and other related facilities were discussed.
The UT tourism department is planning various winter activities to attract people to Sonamarg.