After remaining closed for more than three decades, a temple in Srinagar was reopened for devotees on Tuesday on the auspicious occasion of Basant Panchami.
No pooja or havan could be performed at the Sheetal Nath temple in Kralakhud area of old city Srinagar since the militancy erupted in Kashmir in 1990. However, on Tuesday for the first time in more than 31-years, around 30 Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus) attended the prayers while prasad was also distributed among the devotees.
Upendra Handoo, a priest said that they have formally re-opened the temple and termed it a big confidence-building measure “which would send out a message outside the Valley that Kashmir is safe.”
Reminiscing old days, he said, “Basant Panchmi puja in Srinagar used to be performed at the Sheetal Nath Mandir where hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits congregated before militancy erupted. Firecrackers were burst and vendors would set up stalls in the area in the run-up to the celebrations.”
He said that all these years, the devotees who wanted to visit this temple were being allowed to come, “but this is for the first time after 31 years, we performed pooja here." He added that the day is significant for the Kashmiri Pandits as the community starts the formal education of their newborns on this day.
Ravinder Razdan, who participated in the pooja said the temple was damaged in a fire incident in 1991. “The Hawan Shala was also damaged. The temple was for the 115 families living in the locality. There are Muslims living in the vicinity as well,” he said.
Razdan credited the Muslim neighbourhood for protecting the temple and the land adjacent to it. “They (Muslims) protected this huge chunk of land from greedy land mafia even during tough times. The Muslims always informed us to come and visit this temple as they have protected this land and religious place from the land mafia for long,” Razdan added.
Around 55,000 Pandit families left their ancestral homes in 1990 and migrated to Jammu and other parts of the country when an insurgency broke out in Kashmir in 1989. According to official figures, 219 Kashmiri Pandits were killed in the militancy-related violence in J&K.
Meanwhile, Srinagar Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu also visited the temple and stated that the Hindu High School along with Sheetal Nath temple will have beautification and plantation drive.
He said that all the measures would be taken to restore sanctity, its pristine glory and heritage of both the structures and its proper protection at the site.