Rozabal Shrine: The Tomb of Jesus

 In the Khanyar region of Kashmir, India, in downtown Srinagar, there is an old temple – a modest stone building with a traditional Kashmiri multi-tiered sloping roof and a green hexagonal dome.

Known as Roza Bal – Roza means grave, the word Baal means place – this shrine is the burial site of a medieval Muslim preacher named Yuz Asaf and another Muslim holy man named Mir Syed Naseeruddin. But a growing number of people believe that it is actually the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth.

The idea that Jesus survived crucifixion and came to India to spend the rest of his life in the lush valley of Kashmir in the north of the country was first put forward by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement.

Ahmed found rock carvings in the temple, showing Yuz Asaf's feet with wounds from crucifixion or some similar injuries. Ahmed believed that Yuz Asaf was none other than Jesus himself. They interpreted the name Yuz as Jesus and the name Asaf as "gather" in Hebrew. Thus Yuz Asaf became "Jesus the Collector." Ahmed also received recognition in the Quran. Referring to verse 23:50, which reads: "We...prepared for them an abode in a high part of the earth, a place of quiet and security, and watered with flowing springs," Ahmed That description is very good and aptly applied to the valley of Kashmir.

In 1899, Ahmed wrote a treatise in Urdu titled Masih Hindustan Meen (Jesus in India), where he put forward his theory. This text tells that Jesus, having survived crucifixion, quietly left Roman jurisdiction, beginning his journey from Jerusalem and passing through Nisibis and Persia. Eventually, he reached Afghanistan, where he encountered Israelite tribes who had settled there centuries earlier after escaping the grip of Nebuchadnezzar. Next, he traveled to Kashmir, where some Israelite tribes had also established a community. Jesus lived there until his death at the age of 120.

Unlike other authors who suggest parallels between the lives of Jesus and Buddha as recorded in Buddhist and Christian teachings as well as their respective texts, Ghulam Ahmed states that Jesus came to India after his crucifixion. According to his claim, Buddhists later incorporated elements of the Gospels into their scriptures. He argues that Jesus also gave his teachings to Buddhist monks, some of whom were Jewish in origin, and that they accepted him as a manifestation of the Buddha, the 'Promised Teacher', and that his teachings were compatible with the Buddha's teachings. Mixed with.

Ahmed's theory has been largely ignored by serious historians, but many local Muslims in Srinagar sincerely believe that Jesus is indeed buried at Roza Bal. They say that Yuz Asaf is not an Arabic name or a Muslim name, but Hebrew. They also point out that the grave is directed east-west, which is the traditionally Jewish direction, and not towards the Qibla, as would be the case with Muslim graves.

“This is the grave of a Muslim saint. Our holy book, the Quran, clearly states that Jesus was ascended to heaven, to God. However, the Qadianis and Mirzais (a derogatory term for members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim sect) who claim that this is the tomb of Jesus are wrong. “No Muslim in the world believes that Jesus was buried here or anywhere else on the planet,” a local resident told The Citizen.

According to some, this myth is encouraged by shopkeepers in the area who keep spreading it because it brings tourists. In 2007, popular Indian author Ashwin Sanghi wrote a thriller titled The Rosabal Line in the style of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, which inspired many readers to visit the Rosabal Temple. The influx was so great that the tomb had to be temporarily closed to visitors.