# Jesus' tomb in Kashmir: how factual? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 25, 2005, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-tomb-in-kashmir-how-factual/301005 "2005-04-25T10:59:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WeRSauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f19dbf/32.png) [@WeRSauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WeRSauron)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-tomb-in-kashmir-how-factual/301005/1 "2005-04-25T10:59:45Z")
Ahmadi Muslims, both Lahori Ahmadis and Qadiani Ahmadis, believe that Jesus (known as Hazrat Eesa bin Mariam by Muslims) did not ascend to heaven, as most Muslims believe, but that he died and is buried in Kashmir. [Here](http://www.tombofjesus.com/)’s a website about it. How factual are their claims? WRS ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-tomb-in-kashmir-how-factual/301005/2 "2005-04-25T11:35:43Z")
I wrote a little about this issue in an [earlier thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=110074&). What little I can make of it is that there seems to have been an indigenous local tradition of Jesus in Kashmir, whose origin I cannot begin to speculate, but it seems to go back centuries. The Ahmadiyyah seized on this and worked it into their dogma. But look at it in context… across Muslim Asia, people keep finding Islamic figures transplanted from the Middle East. For example, the Pashtuns of Afghanistan believe they are descended from the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. Some of them have even taken Isrealite names based on this belief. Mazar-e Sharif in Afghanistan is called that because the locals believe ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib is buried there. In fact, ‘Ali is buried where he died, in al-Najaf, Iraq. Centuries ago, someone had a dream that ‘Ali had been miraculously relocated to Afghanistan, so they built his shrine there and attracted pilgrims. That’s what Mazar-e Sharif is. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-tomb-in-kashmir-how-factual/301005/3 "2005-04-25T21:20:22Z")
In other words, it’s a tourist trap? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-tomb-in-kashmir-how-factual/301005/4 "2005-04-26T03:23:59Z")
Well, that’s putting it very bluntly… but… yeah. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-tomb-in-kashmir-how-factual/301005/5 "2005-04-26T14:00:51Z")
Tourism–I mean, _pilgrimage_–was at the heart of many holy sites well before Christianity came along. The locals gussied it up with religious trappings but the main point was to separate people from their money. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-tomb-in-kashmir-how-factual/301005/6 "2005-04-27T20:00:46Z")
If it’s meant to be a tourist trap for Westerners it’s poorly publicized, to say the least. I never heard of it from the family who owned the houseboat in Srinagar where I stayed for several days in 2002. This family has been in the tourism industry for generations. I was taken on a tour of several sites in Srinagar and around Dal Lake. Neither was any “tomb of Jesus” mentioned by the two other travel agencies who tried to pitch me a trip to Kashmir. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-tomb-in-kashmir-how-factual/301005/7 "2005-04-27T23:22:26Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > In other words, it’s a tourist trap? And what is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-tomb-in-kashmir-how-factual/301005/8 "2005-04-28T14:15:45Z")
A tourist trap of the first water. Hell’s bells, the Jews and Palestinians in Israel should stop their squabbling and make that country into what it is destined to be, a religiously themed Disneyland. Back during the Crusades the locals understood and, with Crusaders and Saracens dying around them, they still managed to sell enough pieces of the True Cross to build Noah’s ark. ---
**Author:** ![istara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e79b87/32.png) [@istara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/istara)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-tomb-in-kashmir-how-factual/301005/9 "2005-04-29T06:09:32Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Hell’s bells, the Jews and Palestinians in Israel should stop their squabbling and make that country into what it is destined to be, a religiously themed Disneyland. (Editing as “the Jews and Palestinians in Israel _and Palestine_” - that is actually inspired. The economic growth it would bring would be amazing for both countries. I’m imagining a rollercoaster called “Railway to Heaven”… ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-tomb-in-kashmir-how-factual/301005/10 "2005-04-29T11:51:25Z")
Kashmir? But I thought Jesus’ tomb was in [Japan](http://metropolis.japantoday.com/tokyotravel/tokyojapantravel/3523/tokyojapantravelinc.htm)! ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-tomb-in-kashmir-how-factual/301005/11 "2005-04-29T13:51:13Z")
Now I’ve seen everything. :rolleyes: Unfortunately for Japanese Jesus and his wife Miyoko… > [@](#): > > Said to be Christ’s will and testament and the proof that he had lived and died in Japan, the “Takenouchi documents” later proved to be fake. Party poopers. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-tomb-in-kashmir-how-factual/301005/12 "2005-04-29T21:22:27Z")
> [@istara](#): > > (Editing as “the Jews and Palestinians in Israel _and Palestine_”) 1. It needs one name–just ask the guys in Marketing. They’ll probably want something easier to spell, like Godland. 2. Of course it was inspired. It was MY idea. 😉 But, continuing the wink, if you consider the reputation Jews and Arabs have for shrewd financial dealings you must be disappointed that they didn’t come up with it on their own. Or maybe it proves the stereotype wrong. (remember, I am still operating under that wink) ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-tomb-in-kashmir-how-factual/301005/13 "2005-04-30T01:50:54Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Japanese Jesus and Miyoko… Oh yeah — **BAND NAME!!!** ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-tomb-in-kashmir-how-factual/301005/14 "2005-05-01T00:55:37Z")
> [@bmoak](#): > > Kashmir? But I thought Jesus’ tomb was in [Japan](http://metropolis.japantoday.com/tokyotravel/tokyojapantravel/3523/tokyojapantravelinc.htm)! One of my favorite pictures on the Internet is [this one](http://japan.co.jp/~jesus/christcoke.gif). Not reading Japanese I can’t swear to it, but the alleged inscription is “Coca Cola presents the Tomb of Christ”. Whether that’s the case or not the Christian and Cokeological iconography is definitely juxtaposed. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-tomb-in-kashmir-how-factual/301005/15 "2005-05-01T11:03:49Z")
IThe sign inscription just says “The Tomb of Christ”. There’s a Coke logo on it, but nowhere is there a “Coca-Cola Presents…” in Japanese. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-tomb-in-kashmir-how-factual/301005/16 "2005-05-01T11:16:23Z")
The Japanese text on that sign reads _Kirisuto no haka_. ‘Tomb of Christ.’ You’re right, combining Coke and Christ in one display — “signs of the times,” indeed! ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2005, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-tomb-in-kashmir-how-factual/301005/17 "2005-05-04T07:16:54Z")
Christ went to Gaul and sired the Merovingian Kings…duh! He’s still alive ruling the world along with the Rothschild Vampire and the great architect who is squirreled away in a a secret bunker at Central Intelligence in Langley Virginia. God, don’t you people know anything? Erek