Suresh S Duggar
Jammu, 7 June
The Kashmiri Pandits who could not go to the temple of Ksheer Bhavani in Tulmula this time to offer prayers due to terror attacks, will offer prayers at the temple of Mata Raghenya built in Jammu. Thousands of Kashmiri Pandits and Muslims will gather at Ksheer Bhavani tomorrow. For information, on Jyeshtha Ashtami, a Ksheer Bhavani fair is also held in the temple of Mata Raghenya located in Bhavani Nagar, Jammu. Those who cannot go to Kashmir, they come here and make their attendance. The preparations for the fair have started here. The entire temple complex is decorated. Hundreds of lamps have been arranged to be lit here. Virendra Raina, the head of Panun Kashmir, said that in 1990, when Kashmiri Pandits came to Jammu after being displaced from the valley, they built the temple of Mata Kshir Bhavani in Bhawani Nagar and now every Every year a fair is held here. By the way, after two years, the annual fair is going to be organized on Wednesday at the Ksheer Bhavani temple located in Tulmula area of Ganderbal district of central Kashmir. To attend this, the Kashmiri Pandit family left from Jammu in 50 buses under tight security on Tuesday. Jammu Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar flagged off the devotees for the fair.
Although the Son Kashmir Sanstha may have canceled its program for the Ksheer Bhavani fair to be held in Tulmula, the government today sent Kashmiri Pandits from Jammu to Tulmula with full security arrangements. Divisional Commissioner Jammu Romesh Kumar himself was present on the occasion. Congratulating the Ksheer Bhavani fair, he flagged off a batch of Kashmiri Hindu pilgrims to the valley. About 226 Kashmiri Hindus have left in 14 buses on the journey.
Story of Ksheer Bhavani
Ksheer Bhavani Temple is located in Tulmulla village, 27 km from Srinagar. This temple is dedicated to Maa Kshir Bhavani. This temple is one of the major religious places of Kashmir. Dedicated to Maa Durga, this temple has been built on a flowing stream. There are poplar trees and streams of rivers around this temple, which are seen adding to the beauty of this place. This temple very well reflects the faith of the Hindu community of Kashmir. Maharagya Devi, Ragnya Devi, Rajni Devi, Ragnya Bhagwati are other popular names of this temple. This temple was built by Maharaja Pratap Singh in 1912 which was later completed by Maharaja Hari Singh.
A special feature of the temple is that there is a hexagonal spring here, which the natives here consider to be a symbol of the goddess. One of the major legends associated with the temple is that Lord Sri Rama used this temple as a place of worship during his exile in Satyuga. After the end of the period of exile, one day Hanuman was suddenly ordered by Lord Rama to install the idol of the goddess. Hanuman obeyed the order received and installed the idol of the goddess at this place, since then till today this idol is at this place.
It is clear from the name of this temple that Ksheer meaning ‘Kheer’ has a special significance here and it is used as the main offering here. An interesting thing in the context of Kshir Bhavani temple is that there is a belief among the local people that if the color of the water of the spring present here changes from white to black, then unexpected calamity occurs in the entire area.
Annual festival is organized in the temple every year on the occasion of Jyeshtha (May-June). A large number of devotees gather here on the eighth day of the full moon in the month of May. It is believed that on this auspicious day the water of the goddess’s kund is changed. Jyeshtha Ashtami and Shukla Paksha Ashtami are some of the major festivals celebrated in this temple.
