Houen Heng

Houen Heng

The quaint village of Houen Heng is tucked away in the verdant valleys of Kulgam and is a hidden treasure just waiting to be discovered. There are legends about this charming village that go back many centuries. Under the picturesque Kulgam, Kashmir district, snow-covered Houen Heng (Dog's Horn) peak, 4200 meters above sea level, rests a tragic piece of history. This day, February 7, 1966, fifty-eight years ago, a Fokker F 27 Indian Airline plane veered 12 miles off course and crashed straight into a mountain, killing all 37 occupants. Several senior officials from the Jammu and Kashmir government were on the flight! Climbing mountains brings the most joy to a mountaineer. There are numerous small and large mountain peaks in the Pir Panjal range. Among them are the notorious Houen Heng (4200m), Bramshakri (4500m), and Sondir Top (3700m). Houen Heng, which translates literally to "dog's horn," has entered Kashmiri folklore since this tragedy. People talk about how a local businessman who had lost his son in the crash directed a civil society effort to retrieve the bodies from their snowy graves. At the charming Houen Heng valley, time seems to have stopped, and the wreckage of the plane invites onlookers to listen to their story.