Devotees at Kheer Bhawani temple
It seemed all roads led Kashmiri Pandits in hordes to Kheer Bhawani shrine at Tulmulla in
Ganderbal district of Kashmir. Thousands of them descended on this small town that has remained a
place of deep reverence for the community. Hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits reached this spring shrine
from Jammu in dozens of buses late on Wednesday evening.
Some estimates said that the total number of devotees that thronged the shrine on the Jyeshtha Ashtami crossed 30,000. It is a number which is unprecedented as last time such a number was recorded on a single day was perhaps before the onset of terrorism in 19898-90. For about a decade, the number of devotees has been climbing steadily. Before that, it was usually a small band of devotees who were escorted by security forces on this auspicious day.
Another special thing noticed this year was the involvement of some other Hindu shrines of Kashmir in the festivities. The Jyeshtha Ashtami puja is the most auspicious annual day congregation at the shrine at Tulmulla and some other places. There were reports from Tikker in Kupwara that hundreds of devotees thronged the goddess temple there also. In fact, the Kheer Bhawani spring shrines are located at some other places in Kashmir like Manzgam in Kulgam and one near Aishmuqam in Anantnag district. During the last many years, because of the peculiar security scenario, devotees visited the shrine at Tulmulla only.
Legend has it that Maa Ragnaya Devi was brought to Tulmulla by Shri Hanuman thousands of years ago from Sri Lanka during Raksha King Ravana regime. It is unhappy that the goddess was unhappy with Ravana due to his “tamasi pravrati’At the Kheer Bhawani shrine, the devotees offer kheer, milk and sugar cones, besides rose petals as offerings.
Most of the shops outside the main shrine campus at Tulmulla under the administration of Dharmarth Trust are owned by local Muslims. A constant trickle of pilgrim tourists has changed the economic conditions of dozens of locals as they do brisk business selling daily use items, besides milk and sugar to the devotees.
On this special occasion, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha attended the pooja archana at the Tulmulla shrine. He also laid the foundation stone of a 1,000 bedded dharmshala near the shrine. It is expected to be ready before the next year’s pilgrimage, according to officials. The shrine at Tulmulla is nestled in the shade of huge Chinar trees.
There are historical records regarding Maharaja Ranbir Singh, son of Gulab Singh who founded the state of Jammu & Kashmir in March 1846, visiting the shrine. His descendants continued the tradition and there are records of visits by Mahraja Pratap Singh and Maharaja Hari Singh visiting the shrine many times.
Walking barefoot, the devotees carried rose petals, milk and offered tribute to the goddess in large numbers. There were also small groups of devotees which sang bhajans in Kashmiri and slept in open carrying mattresses and blankets. The festivities, havans, besides special rituals had started early in the morning around 4 am in brahm muhurat at the shrine.
Annual festival presented the emotional scenes of harmonious coexistence, communal harmony, and cultural bonding between the Kashmiri Pandits and Muslims. People from all walks of life, irrespective of their faith, had gathered at Tikker Kupwara were Kashmiri Muslims welcomed the devotees.
The district administration of Kupwara had made elaborate arrangements for the pilgrims. Deputy Commissioner of Kupwara Ayushi Sudan, along with SSP Kupwara, Shobhit Saxena, paid several visits to the temple along with other officiaks to take stock of arrangements for the pilgrims.
The devotees were mostly at Tikker in Kupwara. Ut most of them also visited Sharda Mata temple at Teetwal, Badarkali Temple at Handwara, Chandi Mata temple at Chandigam, Lolab, besides visiting shrines at Gushi and Trehgam.
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