Rekindling Reunion Hopes | Mela Kheer Bhawani celebrated with religious fervour

Tulmulla: Thousands of Kashmiri Pandits Sunday thronged the Kheer Bhawani temple here in Tulmulla area of central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district on the occasion of Mela Kheer Bhawani, which was celebrated with religious fervor.

The devotees had started arriving at the Kheer Bhawani temple since Saturday to celebrate the annual festival.

   

Compared to previous years, the number of devotees this year was more.

To ensure a peaceful festival, the government, particularly the district administration, had made all the arrangements including accommodation, food, sanitation, and elaborate security arrangements.

Though away from their homes and roots in Kashmir for the past three decades, the annual Kheer Bhawani Mela every year rekindles a new hope among the displaced Kashmiri Pandits of their return to their ancestral land.

Nestled in the shade of mammoth Chinar trees in Tulmulla village in Ganderbal district, the temple witnessed massive crowds of devotees, most of them displaced Kashmiri Pandits, who had come from various parts of Jammu and Kashmir and outside. Keeping the faith alive, thousands of devotees joined the annual festival with religious fervour and festivity at the Kheer Bhawani temple here.

The entire route from Ganderbal to the Kheer Bhawani temple wore a festive look as vehicles carrying the yatris in colorful dresses converged in long rows at the temple.

Singing hymns and chanting slogans, the devotees made it to the Kheer Bhawani temple.

Walking barefoot, the devotees carried rose petals and offered tribute to the goddess as men took a dip in the stream close to the shrine.

Travelling all the way from Jammu and other parts of the country where they have settled since their mass migration, the atmosphere in Sunday’s congregation created nostalgia about the times when Kashmiri Pandits and Muslims lived side by side across the length and breadth in Kashmir.

With tears in eyes and roses in hands as a symbol of love, these displaced Pandits folded their hands and prostrated before Mata Kheer Bhawani with the motive of seeking her blessings. Shambu Nath, a Kashmiri Pandit who lived in Mattan Anantnag before the community’s displacement in 1991 said that they yearn for peace to prevail in Kashmir so that they can return to their homeland.

“We are here to meet our Muslim brothers and to participate in the Mela Kheer Bhawani, and I would see the blessings of Mata Kheer Bhawani getting showered on Kashmir and normalcy returning to it forever,” another Kashmir Pandit said.

The Kashmiri Pandits praised the hospitality exhibited by local Muslims.

“I am so happy that I came here. I prayed for peace and harmony. I was glad to see young boys, both Muslims and Hindus, making arrangements for the festival of the Mata,” said Santosh Nath, a Kashmiri Pandit who has been regularly visiting the temple for the last several years.

Nath, who lived in the Habba Kadal area of Srinagar, left the Valley during the nineties.

It was an unusual event in the area, which is celebrated with the participation of many local residents providing essentials to the yatris.

According to Ashiq Ahmad, who was selling milk to the yatris outside the main gate of the shrine, the scenes at the entry to the shrine were “reminiscent of the good old days”.

The annual festival is held here on ‘Jeshtha Ashtami’ when yatris seek the blessings of the deity.

Kashmiri Pandits believe that the goddess changes the colour of spring’s waters, which are ascribed to different manifestations of the goddess.

The colour turning into shades of black is supposed to signal approaching disaster while as the milky colour of the spring indicates the peace and prosperity for the state.

Various senior officials from civil and police administration visited Kheer Bhawani temple and paid obeisance including Financial Commissioner (Additional Chief Secretary) Agriculture Production Atal Dulloo and Additional Director General of Police Vijay Kumar.

Deputy Commissioner Ganderbal Shyambir and SSP Ganderbal Nikhil Borkar were also personally monitoring the arrangements.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

5 − four =