Hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits gather at Mata Kheer Bhawani temple for annual mela

Keeping their tryst with the community’s patron deity, hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits from different parts of the country arrived on Tuesday in Jammu and Kashmir’s Tullamulla town, where the temple shrine of Mata Kheer Bhawani is situated, 27 km from Srinagar city in Ganderbal district.

Mata Kheer Bhawani temple, as popularly known, is actually the shrine of Goddess Ragnya, believed to be the reincarnation of Goddess



Durga.

Legend says that the King of Lanka, Ravana, was a devout disciple of Mata Ragnya, but the Goddess, annoyed with the lifestyle of the King, ordered Hanuman to shift her seat to a far-off place.

Thus, the temple shrine of the Goddess came to be situated in Tullamulla town. The sanctum sanctorum of the temple is situated in the centre of a holy spring, which is believed to be highly auspicious by the Kashmiri Pandit community.