Situated at the crossroads of South and Central Asia, the State of Jammu and Kashmir has made lasting contribution to Indian philosophy, arts and aesthetics, historiography and various other aspects, thus becoming an inalienable part of India's spiritual and national consciousness. Numerous sacred shrines of Jammu and Kashmir are revered and regularly visited by millions of people. Here powerful cultural movements developed and spread not only to other parts of India but even beyond India's borders to Tibet, Central Asia, Mongolia, China and other adjacent countries. It is here that the humanistic and universal philosophies of Buddhism, Shaivism, Sufism and Rishi culture have flowered.