Kashmiri Pandits attend Kheer Bhawani temple fair in Valley after two-year gap

Amid tight security, hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits paid obeisance at the famous Ragnya Devi temple at Tulmulla in Ganderbal on Wednesday for the annual Kheer Bhawani Mela, with the recent killings of Hindus by terrorists in the Valley casting a shadow on the festivities.

While the fair has been organised after a gap of two years due to COVID-19 pandemic, the number of devotees this year was far less than in the past.

Nestled in the shade of mammoth Chinar trees in Tulmulla village in this central Kashmir district, the temple is visited by Kashmiri Pandit devotees from across the valley and Jammu region as well as tourists.

Devotees - walking barefoot - carried rose petals and offered prayers to the goddess, as the chants of hymns reverberated in the temple compound.

The devotees paid obeisance to the deity while offering milk and kheer (pudding) at the sacred spring within the complex.

"The festivities are different this year as compared to the previous years. The fervour is missing. Our hearts are filled with pain as the number of devotees this year is very low," Meenakshi, a devotee, told PTI.

She said there was an atmosphere of fear in militancy-hit Kashmir before as well, but for the last couple of months, "the fear has increased due to the killings".

However, an official statement in the evening said that around 18,000 Kashmiri Pandits and other devotees paid obeisance at Mata Kheer Bhavani temple at Tulmulla near Srinagar on the occasion of 'Jyeshtha Ashtami'.

The Mata Kheer Bhavani temple is considered to be the deity of Kashmiri Pandits and Jyeshtha Ashtami holds immense religious significance for the community, the statement said. The temple is located about 20 km from Srinagar.

A series of terror killing of non-Muslims, including migrant Kashmiri government employees, in recent months in Kashmir has sparked fears of fresh exodus from the Valley. Meanwhile, in Jammu, thousands of Kashmiri Pandits visited the twin replica temples of Mata Kheer Bhawani to pay obeisance to Mata Ragniya Bhagwati, resident deity of Kashmir.

Unlike in the past, there was a huge rush of devotees at twin Kheer Bhawani temples at Bhawani Nagar and Jagti camp as a series of targeted killings of Hindus prevented many Kashmiri Pandits living in Jammu to travel to Tulmulla village in Kashmir to pay obeisance at the spring shrine.

''Thousands of Kashmiri Pandits visited Mata Kheer Bhawani temple at Bhawani Nagar. It was difficult to tackle this rush,'' Temple management committee member Sushil Watal said.

He put the number of devotees, who thronged the Jammu temple, to over 30,000, saying that the rush was because most of Kashmiri Pandits did not go to Kashmir to pay obeisance at Ragnya Devi temple at Tulmull and other places.

In Jagti camp, hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits visited Mata Kheer Bhawani temple and paid obeisance at the spring shrine.

Most of residents of Jagti township, which houses over 4,500 families (around 20,000 people) thronged the temple.

As compared to over 10,000 Hindus who would travel to Kashmir to pay obeisance at Ragnya Devi temple in Tulmulla, only 250 devotees from Jagti left for the valley shrine in view of targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits, Jagti resident Sahil Pandit said.

''We preferred not to go to the Valley in view of selective killings by terrorists,'' said social activist M K Bhat, who used to visit the Kashmir shrine every year.

In Kashmir's Tulmulla, another devotee Sandeep Koul said it was unfortunate that there was not much of a rush of devotees.

"We feel good when we see our friends and relatives when they visit the temple. But, this year we are sad. The PM's package employees have also left. Not many people have come from outside," Koul said. It is believed that the colour of the sacred spring water which flows below the temple indicates to the situation in the valley.

While most of the colours do not have any particular significance, black or darkish colour of the water is believed to be an indication of inauspicious times for Kashmir.

Referring to the colour of the water in the temple compound which is ''clear and milky white'' this year, another devotee Vivek Bhat expressed hope that the coming time would be good for the Kashmir valley.

"We wish to see the festivities as they used to be in the previous years. We hope it brings back good times and our brothers who have left the valley return," he said.

Meenakshi said the government had made security arrangements for the mela, but the community members were living under constant fear.

"See I had no security with me while I travelled. Even when we go to the market to get vegetables, we are constantly in fear. We see everyone with suspicion. We never know who will take out a pistol and opens fire," she said, adding, ''people here are good, but there are certain elements who are bad".

Meenakshi said the community is hopeful of the situation improving.

Nanna Ji, a Kashmiri Pandit who is a regular at the annual Mela, said there used to be no vacant space left in the temple compound in the previous years, but this year, the scene is different.

"I pray to Mata that the situation improves and those who have left the valley because of target killings return to the valley and next year, we can celebrate with great enthusiasm," he said.

He appealed to the Muslim brethren to support the community to give a befitting reply to those behind the targeted killings. In Kashmir, Kheer Bhawani melas are organised at five places -- Ragnya Bhagwati shrine at Tulmulla in Ganderbal, Manzgam in Kulgam, Devsar in Kulgam, Logripora in Anantnag and Tikkar in Kupwara.

Prayers were held in all the five shrines, but no yagya and community kitchen as per past practice were undertaken because of less number of devotees, who kept away from visiting these shrines due to fear.

In Delhi-NCR, many Kashmiri Pandits thronged shrines of Mata Kheer Bhawani in Shalimar Bagh and Gurgaon to pay obeisance to their presiding deity.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)