Thousands throng Kheer Bhawani shrine

Ehsan Fazili

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, June 20

Thousands of pilgrims, mostly migrant Kashmiri Pandits, thronged the Kheer Bhawani shrine on the occasion of annual Jyestha Ashtami at Tulmulla in Ganderbal district on Wednesday.

A unique feature of the festival this year was the Kheer Bhawani yatra by migrant Pandits, which started from New Delhi on Monday and reached the shrine via Jammu on Wednesday. “This has been part of the wish to return to our homes in Kashmir,” said Satish Mahaldar, who organised the yatra with the participation of 126 Pandits from New Delhi and nearly 3,000 others from Jammu in over 70 buses.

There were scenes of communal harmony between the local Muslim population and the visiting devotees, who visit their homeland on the festival. Local Muslims had set up stalls to sell requisite items to the devotees at the temple. Once could also see some old Muslim and Pandit friends, who had parted at the onset of militancy, meeting after several years.

A large number of Pandits have been arriving here from Jammu, Delhi and other parts of the country over the past few days to celebrate Jyestha Ashtami. The temple overlooks a pool formed by spring waters and is dedicated to Hindu goddess Ragnya Devi, who, according to a Hindu belief, came to Kashmir from Sri Lanka during the rule of Ravana.

“We want to come back and live in Kashmir,” said Mahaldar while talking to mediapersons here. “We want to live with our brothers and sisters as we did in the past,” he said.

Celebrations at shrine’s replica too 

• While thousands of displaced Kashmiri Hindus visited the ancient Kheer Bhawani shrine on the occasion of Jyestha Ashtami at Tulmulla in Ganderbal district on Monday, a large number of devotees visited its replica at Bhawani Nagar in Jammu.
• It was constructed in 1993 after the exodus of the Pandits from the Valley.
• The community had constructed the shrine in Jammu after the migration of 3.5 lakh Pandits in 1990. It was only in the early 2000 that devotees started travelling to the Valley.