Ancient temple that links Pandits to roots
Inder Kak and his wife Bimla sat under an overarching Chinar reminiscing about the past and longing for a return home as hymns reverberated through the air at the 105-year-old Kheer Bhawani temple, a sacred site for the scattered members of the Kashmiri Pandit community
Kak and his wife lived in Srinagar’s old city, an erstwhile militant bastion also called the downtown, before migrating to an excruciating weather of Jammu’s plains in early 1990, when panicked members of the Kashmiri Pandit community left their Valley homes as an unprecedented insurgency swept the region.
Kak, who works in a private company, and Bimla, a teacher, are now in their sixties and away from home for the past 25 years.
The Kheer Bhawani temple in Tulmulla village of Ganderbal district, nearly 20 km east of Srinagar, gives the couple a rare moment to relive the past, which they are longing to live again.
“As a matter of fact,” Kak said, “We are forced to live in Jammu. It is a necessity, not a luxury.”
The harsh climate of Jammu’s plains, where mercury rises to sweltering 40 degrees Celsius and more compared to the Valley’s modest summer, is one of the reasons that Kaks could never make a home in exile.
At Kheer Bhawani temple, thousands of Pandits have made a tiring journey to attend the annual festival. The temple complex is known as Kheer Bhawani as the devotees offer milk and kheer (milk pudding) to the sacred spring which, the legend has, changes its colour.
The temple was constructed by former monarch Pratap Singh in 1912 even as the springs there held religious sanctity for Kashmiri Pandits for many centuries, with members of the community claiming the place’s origin dates back to the times of Lord Rama.
In the modern times, when thousands of Pandits have lost their homes in Kashmir and the state government is trying hard to bring them back, the temple offers a deep connect to the people of this lost tribe.
At the temple, scenes of former neighbours and old friends having accidental meetings as they come to worship are common on the day of festival.
The festival also offers a rare interaction between Kashmiri Pandits and Muslims, many of whom form the security ring shielding the temple and the local vendors who prepare kheer and candles, offered as part of the worshiping ritual.
Dilip Kumar Bhat, 37, is a regular visitor to the festival. A resident of militant stronghold Muran in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, Bhat never left the Valley and says he has never missed visiting the Kheer Bhawani temple since he was a child.
Bhat, who was accompanied by his migrant cousin Veer Ji Tickoo, said he was driven to Tulmulla village by his Muslim neighbour Showkat Ahmad.
Ahmad was touring the temple with his son Luqman as Bhat talked about the spirituality of the place and how “all religions lead to one goal”.
“We are neighbours and we are together always. They share their food with us and we share our food with them,” Bhat said.
Inder Kak and his wife Bimla sat under an overarching Chinar reminiscing about the past and longing for a return home as hymns reverberated through the air at the 105-year-old Kheer Bhawani temple, a sacred site for the scattered members of the Kashmiri Pandit community
Kak and his wife lived in Srinagar’s old city, an erstwhile militant bastion also called the downtown, before migrating to an excruciating weather of Jammu’s plains in early 1990, when panicked members of the Kashmiri Pandit community left their Valley homes as an unprecedented insurgency swept the region.
Kak, who works in a private company, and Bimla, a teacher, are now in their sixties and away from home for the past 25 years.
The Kheer Bhawani temple in Tulmulla village of Ganderbal district, nearly 20 km east of Srinagar, gives the couple a rare moment to relive the past, which they are longing to live again.
“As a matter of fact,” Kak said, “We are forced to live in Jammu. It is a necessity, not a luxury.”
The harsh climate of Jammu’s plains, where mercury rises to sweltering 40 degrees Celsius and more compared to the Valley’s modest summer, is one of the reasons that Kaks could never make a home in exile.
At Kheer Bhawani temple, thousands of Pandits have made a tiring journey to attend the annual festival. The temple complex is known as Kheer Bhawani as the devotees offer milk and kheer (milk pudding) to the sacred spring which, the legend has, changes its colour.
The temple was constructed by former monarch Pratap Singh in 1912 even as the springs there held religious sanctity for Kashmiri Pandits for many centuries, with members of the community claiming the place’s origin dates back to the times of Lord Rama.
In the modern times, when thousands of Pandits have lost their homes in Kashmir and the state government is trying hard to bring them back, the temple offers a deep connect to the people of this lost tribe.
At the temple, scenes of former neighbours and old friends having accidental meetings as they come to worship are common on the day of festival.
The festival also offers a rare interaction between Kashmiri Pandits and Muslims, many of whom form the security ring shielding the temple and the local vendors who prepare kheer and candles, offered as part of the worshiping ritual.
Dilip Kumar Bhat, 37, is a regular visitor to the festival. A resident of militant stronghold Muran in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, Bhat never left the Valley and says he has never missed visiting the Kheer Bhawani temple since he was a child.
Bhat, who was accompanied by his migrant cousin Veer Ji Tickoo, said he was driven to Tulmulla village by his Muslim neighbour Showkat Ahmad.
Ahmad was touring the temple with his son Luqman as Bhat talked about the spirituality of the place and how “all religions lead to one goal”.
“We are neighbours and we are together always. They share their food with us and we share our food with them,” Bhat said.
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