Srinagar/Jammu/New Delhi: Amid tight security, hundreds of pilgrims paid obeisance at the famous Ragnya Devi temple here in Ganderbal on Wednesday for the annual Kheer Bhawani Mela.
While the Mela 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. It is painful. Our hearts are filled with pain as the number of devotees this year is very low,” Meenakshi, a devotee was quoted as saying by PTI.
She said there was an atmosphere of fear in Kashmir before as well, but since the last couple of months, “the fear has increased due to the killings”.
“We (Kashmiri Pandits) are terrified,” she added.
A series of killings of non-Muslims, including migrant Kashmiri government employees, in recent months in Kashmir has sparked fears of fresh exodus from the Valley.
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 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 open 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 Mela every, 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 target 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.
Meanwhile, an official spokesman, in a statement said that the annual Mela Kheer Bhawani was today celebrated on the occasion of Zyestha Ashtami where thousands of devotees offered pooja and paid obeisance in the district Ganderbal.
Tullamulla shrine in addition to being the holiest shrine of the local Kashmiri Pandit community is also the symbol of centuries-old culture and brotherhood among different communities of Kashmir, he said.
Advisor to Lieutuenant Governor, R.R Bhatnagar, Chief Secretary, Arun Kumar Mehta, Additional Chief Secretary Agriculture Production Department, Atal Dulloo, Deputy Commissioner Ganderbal, Shyambir and other dignitaries attended the annual Kheer Bhawani mela and paid obeisance at Mata Kheer Bhawani temple, said the spokesman.
He said, the Tulmulla area of district Ganderbal witnessed enthusiastic scenes as a large number of devotees arrived here who paid obeisance and prayed for themselves and the entire humanity.
Mostly Kashmiri Pandits were seen performing the rituals of the festival at the temple besides that Muslims were seen greeting pandits and making arrangements, said the spokesman.
Pertinently, the District Administration had made necessary arrangements for uninterrupted power and drinking water supplies, transport, security, fire tenders, ration, bedding, medical camps, and medical facilities at the temple besides free transport facility was also made for the devotees on various routes, the spokesman said.
In the meantime, 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 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 Delhi-NCR, many Kashmiri Pandits thronged shrines of Mata Kheer Bhawani in Shalimar Bagh and Gurgaon to pay obeisance to their presiding deity. (With PTI inputs)
