Amid vedic chants and ringing bells, thousands of Kashmiri Pandits on Monday paid obeisance at the revered temple of Ragnya Devi (Mata Kheer Bhawani) Temple situated here at Bhawani Nagar in Janipur area on the occasion of Kheer Bhawani festival.
The members of the community prayed for peace in the region at the temple and sought blessings.
The devotees offered flowers to the idols of Mata Kheer Bhawani installed as the replica of a temple in Tulmulla village of Ganderbal district in Srinagar.
Long queues were seen outside the temple and devotees including young and the old, were waiting for their turn to offer prayers and seek blessings.
“We wanted to visit the Ganderbal based Kheer Bhawani Temple to offer prayers but due to some unavoidable circumstances could not go, so visited here as the replica has equal significance,” a Kashmiri Hindu devotee said.
He however, said that he had offered prayers for peace in Jammu and Kashmir and hoped that the displaced Kashmiri Hindus may soon return to their homeland.
Meanwhile tight security arrangements were made for smooth conduct of the celebrations.
However, on June 20, around 8500 pilgrims in a fleet of 214 buses left for Mata Kheer Bhawani Yatra in Ganderbal here from Nagrota area amid tight security arrangements, religious fervour and chanting of religious hymns and slogans.
This year’s Yatra has registered a significant rise in pilgrim registrations.
The Administration attributes the increase to the peaceful atmosphere, strengthened security and extensive arrangements in place, making the 2026 Yatra one of the largest in recent years.
The annual Mata Kheer Bhawani Mela is being observed at the traditional pilgrimage centres of Tulmulla (Ganderbal), Tikker (Kupwara), Devsar-Manzgam (Kulgam) and Logripora (Anantnag), with the principal congregation at the shrine of Mata Ragnya Devi, Tulmulla.
