Amid the Coivd-19 pandemic, the annual 'Kheer Bhawani Mela' in Tulmulla area of central Kashmir's Ganderbal district was observed without any large public gatherings.
However, small groups of devotees, some of whom had come from the other parts of the country as well, thronged the famous temple of Ragnya Devi in Tullamulla.
The holy rituals and aarti of the deity were conducted as per the tradition by the priests in the temple and were shared with the public and devotees via social media, a member of the Trust said.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Ganderbal, Kritika Jyotsna said that all required arrangements for the mela were made and the puja was held wherein a limited number of devotees participated.
“As per the Covid-19 guidelines, the ceiling on the number of people permitted to attend gatherings was observed as the same had been conveyed to the representatives of the Dharmath Trust that manages the affairs of Kheer Bhawani shrine,” she said.
Nestled in the shade of mammoth Chinars, Ragnya Devi temple in Tullamulla usually receives thousands of devotees, mostly Kashmiri Pandits, on Zyestha Ashtami, which fell on June 18 this year.
However, due to the pandemic, this year no congregation of the devotees was held. Last year also, there was minimal participation of the devotees at the famous temple due to the Covid-19.
Over the decades, the mela has become a symbol of communal harmony as Muslims in the locality of Kheer Bhawani temple make all the arrangements for the devotees, including setting up stalls for flowers and other offerings.
On January 25, 1998, when suspected Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists killed 23 Pandits in nearby Wandhama village, the arrivals of devotees in the subsequent years decreased. However, after 2003, attendance at the festival started increasing with each year.
In recent years (except 2020 and 2021), thousands of Pandits, including women and children, would converge at the temple from various far-off places including Delhi and Jammu to offer special prayers on the occasion of the annual holy day ‘Zyeshth Ashtami.’
Around 55,000 Pandit families left their ancestral homes in 1990 and migrated to Jammu and other parts of the country when a bloody insurgency broke out in Kashmir in 1989. Before their migration, Pandits used to visit the temple once a month for conducting ‘havan’ and ‘puja.’ Now, it is held on Jyeshtha Ashtami once in a year.