Kashmir is known for its unearthly beauty, which has earned it the sobriquet of being the " Paradise on Earth". Kashmir Valley is part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir in north India. The decade old political and civil turmoil in the region has not taken anything away from the beauty of Kashmir. With peace returning to the Kashmir Valley, it has now become a tourist hot spot owing to its amazing cultural diversity, the sheer beauty of the mighty Himalayas, and the green valleys whose beauty has attracted a horde of migrants from West Asia and Central Asia down the ages. The state of Jammu and Kashmir became part of independent India on August 15, 1947, when the Maharaja of Kashmir, Hari Singh, decide to accede to India. The newly formed nation of Pakistan, however, sent in its army to capture the state. The Pakistani army illegally occupied almost 1/3 rd of the state. When the then Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, took the matter to the United Nations, it issued an order for plebiscite in the region, provided Pakistan withdrew it army from the region. Since Pakistan did not withdraw the army, the plebiscite was never held, leading to strife and wars between the two neighboring countries over the decades. However, with peace and normalcy returning to the Valley, the state has been opened up for tourism