Hindus Seek Access to Goddess Temple in Pakistan

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Jammu, September 22 - The Kashmiri Pandits have demanded that they

should be allowed an annual pilgrimage to their most revered shrine,

Shardha Temple in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). This demand of the

Pandits has come at a time when both India and Pakistan have agreed to

ease travel to religious shrines across the border.

 

The temple is barely 10 miles from the LoC [Line of Control, or

disputed border] near Kupwara region in the upper Kishenganga Valley

(also called Neelam Valley) in a small village, Shardi, at the

confluence of rivers Kishenganga, Saraswati and Madhumati.

 

Since 1947 [i.e. the Partition of Indian and Pakistan], pilgrimages

were stopped to the temple of the Shardha Goddess, which is the

presiding deity of Kashmir valley. The Kashmiri Pandits have asserted

that their demand would test the sentiments of Pakistan regarding

Kashmiris.

 

The importance of the shrine can be gauged from the fact that since

ancient times, Kashmir has been called Shardha Peeth, Shardhadesh and

Shardha Mandalam.

 

"It is said that even Adhi Shankaracharya visited the shrine in the

8th/ 9th century. Along with Shankaracharya temple, the Shardha temple

is stated to be the oldest temple of Kashmir," said a noted scholar,

Dr Ramesh Kumar. The only photograph of the shrine is in the

possession of the wife of former governor K.V. Krishna Rao, he added.

 

The Shardha temple is located on the left bank of the Kishenganga, on

the slope of a hillock at a height of around 550 metres. The Shardha

pilgrimage takes place on every third lunar year on Ganga Ashtami on

the 8th of the bright fortnight of 'bhadon,' when an additional month

is added to the year. In the remaining two years, the pilgrims

generally go to Gangabal.

 

Many Kashmiri pandits told the Hindustan Times that people used to

visit Shardha through Hoyahama in Kupwara and Safaiwali Gali that

leads to Lashdut. This route was comparatively easier. The other

alternative route is via Laderwan in Kupwara. Shardha shrine can also

be reached via Muzaffarabad as Pakistan has constructed a metalled

road on the right bank of Kishenganga on which a regular passenger bus

plies.

 

In pre-1947 era, Kashmiri pandits used to hold regular pilgrimages to

Shardha Peeth.

 

The Kashmiri pandits are not aware of the present condition of the

shrine. But according to Raina, at that time there were a few Hindu

'pujari' houses there and a dharamshalla near the shrine. There is a

spring (kund) inside the temple, which is covered with a slab of stone

measuring 6 by 7 feet. The interior of the temple is a square

measuring 12 ft 3 inches and devoid of decoration. Kashmiri Pandits

believe that Goddess Shardha as a 'kumari' (virgin) resides in the

'kund' and had thus covered herself with the stone slab, which is

worshipped by the devotees.

 

Even today, staunch Brahmins in the South, after waking up, turn

towards the north and offer prayers to Goddess Shardha, "Namaste

Shardha Devi Kashmira Purvasini." For more than half a century, the

Kashmiri Pandits have not been able to offer prayers at the shrine of

their presiding deity, the goddess of learning. They are still

awaiting permission for the pilgrimage.

 

Source: The Hindustan Times, "Permit us to pray at Sharda temple," by

Neeraj Santoshi

URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5922_1020196,0015002000000116.htm