(Kashmir Rechords Exclusive)

And as long as even one devotee whispers a prayer under its Chinar canopy, the soul of the Kheer Bhawani Mela remains alive!

As the Wheel of Time turns to June 3, 2025, it marks a solemn milestone—35 years since the Kheer Bhawani Mela was first observed in exile by the displaced Kashmiri Pandit community! What was once a vibrant annual pilgrimage to the sacred Ragnya Devi temple in Tulmulla, Kashmir, has, over the past three and a half decades, become a symbol of faith, loss and cultural endurance.

The Silence of 1990

The year 1990 tore a hole in the cultural and spiritual fabric of Kashmir. The mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, driven by a rising tide of militancy, meant that the ancient Chinar-lined courtyard of the Kheer Bhawani Temple stood in haunting silence on June 1 that year. It was for the first time that the Mela, once filled with hymns, prayers and the laughter of children, was observed not in Kashmir but in exile!

Shrines across the Valley echoed only with memories. The Tulmulla Temple complex, once alive with life and devotion, became a quiet sentinel of absence. And yet, despite the trauma and rupture, the community carried the Mela in their hearts. Replicas of the Kheer Bhawani shrine sprang up in exile—from Jammu’s Bhawani Nagar in Janipur to distant corners of India—becoming new spiritual homes for a displaced people.

Years of Fear and Fragmentation

From 1990 to 1996, the idea of returning to the shrine seemed unthinkable. The threat of violence loomed large, and for many, even personal visits to Kashmir were fraught with danger. The Mela, when held, was mostly symbolic—small, hushed prayers under guarded circumstances.

Yet amid this atmosphere of hostility, glimmers of humanity remained. Local Muslims of Tulmulla, defying the dominant narrative of the time, quietly protected the temple complex, even as the Valley burned. Their gesture, subtle but profound, stood in contrast to the sweeping violence of the early militancy years.

A Fragile Revival

By the late 1990s, as the Valley witnessed tentative political engagement, small groups of Pandits began returning to Tulmulla under heavy security cover. For those who came—often employees of the Central Government or Darbar Move personnel—the pilgrimage became an act of quiet resistance: reclaiming memory, identity and sacred space.

The 1998 Wandhama massacre cast a long shadow, reinforcing fear. But still, year by year, the spirit refused to be extinguished.

The 2000s: Faith Finds a Footing

Between 2004 and 2010, the festival saw a slow but steady resurgence. Chief Ministers like Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Ghulam Nabi Azad initiated efforts to restore infrastructure around the shrine, building accommodations and security perimeters. Despite sporadic militant threats, the Mela began to draw hundreds of devotees. The temple no longer stood in isolation—it was gradually enveloped once again by the voices and footsteps of those who remembered.

The festival, once purely spiritual, took on new meanings. It became a cultural and political assertion— The Mela, over the years, began to feature prominently in State politics, with politicians across party lines visiting the site during the festival.

Between Protest and Prayer

The fragile peace did not last. The Valley erupted in mass protests in 2010 and again in 2016. In both years, the Mela was conducted under an overwhelming presence of security forces. Participation declined. Fear lingered. But the thread was never cut.

Even during these tense years, some Kashmiri Pandit employees—stationed in Kashmir under government packages—continued their solitary visits to the shrine. Their presence, often unnoticed and unreported, helped maintain a sense of spiritual continuity amid political turbulence.

A Festival Amid a Changing Kashmir

In 2019, just weeks before the abrogation of Article 370, the Mela was held in a tense and uncertain atmosphere. The revocation fundamentally altered the political fabric of Jammu and Kashmir, leading to months of lockdown and silence.

The subsequent years were no kinder. The COVID-19 pandemic (2020–21) halted public gatherings, while a spike in targeted killings of minorities and migrant workers in 2022 and 2023 reignited deep fears. Community organizations issued advisories, and attendance again dwindled. But the shrine never stood alone. The faithful continued to come—some in groups, others alone, all in defiance of despair.

2025: A Thin Crowd, A Thick Legacy

This year, the shadow of violence returned. The killing of innocent tourists in Pahalgam in April 2025 sent ripples of fear through the community. Many Pandits, torn between devotion and safety, chose not to attend. The complex once again saw thin crowds—echoes of 1990.

But absence does not mean forgetting.

A Living Symbol of Cultural Survival

The Kheer Bhawani Mela is no longer just a religious gathering. It is a living, breathing chronicle of a community’s exile—a testament to survival against erasure. In these 35 years, it has evolved from a festival into a mirror reflecting the highs and lows of a displaced people’s journey. Kheer Bhawani Shrine is a sanctum where generations of Kashmiri Pandits, through centuries, have come to seek blessings, find solace and renew their spiritual bond with Ragnya Bhagwati. Held under the majestic Chinars and fed by a sacred spring that changes colour, the annual Kheer Bhawani Mela has been the spiritual high point of Kashmiri Hindu tradition for centuries.

 It is a space where memory resists forgetting, where faith defies fear and where return is not merely physical but spiritual. For many, even a single visit to the shrine is an act of pilgrimage, penance and protest.

The temple at Tulmulla stands—sometimes crowded, often solitary—but always sacred.

And as long as even one devotee whispers a prayer under its Chinar canopy, the soul of the Kheer Bhawani Mela remains alive.

For over 35 years—and for centuries before that—faith in Ragnya Devi has endured. Through violence, through silence, and through every whispered prayer under foreign skies.

Because faith, unlike exile, is not temporary.

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