News Excerpt:
Many pilgrimages visiting temples across J&K to celebrate Mela Kheer Bhawani amid heightened security following terrorist attacks in the UT.
About Mela Kheer Bhawani:
- The fair an annual event at the Kheer Bhawani temple, dedicated to Rangya Devi, in Ganderbal district's Tulmulla is celebrated in other shrines and temples in Jammu and Kashmir to mark 'Zyeth Atham', or 'Jyeshtha Ashtami'.
- This is the biggest festival of Hindus in Kashmir after Amarnath yatra and holds immense significance in J&K.
- Kashmiri Pandits also thronged to a temple in Jammu city to mark the start of the three-day annual mela, seeking blessings
- The Kheer Bhawani Peeth in Jammu city was constructed as a replica of the original shrine after the mass migration of the Kashmiri Pandit community from the valley in the early 1990s.
- Devotees offered milk and 'kheer' (pudding) at the sacred spring within the temple complex, following the belief that the color of the spring water reflects the conditions in the valley.
- The water in the spring was clean and milky white this year, which is considered an auspicious sign for Kashmir.
- It is believed that the colour of the sacred spring water flowing beneath the temple here reflects the conditions 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.
