12th August 2012
Today there are very few Hindus left in Kashmir valley, but some
good Temples still exists. One such Temple is Kheer Bhavani Temple at Tula Mula
27 km from Srinagar. A religiously significant Temple for Kashmiri Pandits, it
is now attracting lot of pilgrims in recent years due to waning of militancy.
We visited this Temple on our way to Sonamarg. From outside,
the Temple looks like a CRPF headquarters!! Considering the number of shops
outside, it looks like it is a famous place among tourists.
The Temple complex itself is quite large and peaceful.
The main Temple is constructed over a sacred spring. It is a
common practice here to offer milk and kheer to the spring as a part of
worship.
It is said that the colour of the spring changes occasionally.
It is said that the colour of the spring changed to black during the start of
insurgency in late 80’s!! But now it looked turquoise blue which I hope is a
good sign.
Old chinar trees in the Temple complex provide shade and resting
place for people. Since there were very few visitors, we rested for some time
under a tree!!
The Temple constructed of White marble is considered more
religiously important rather than for its architecture. For people interested
in architecture, there are better Temples in Kahsmir!! More information about
them in the later posts.
Labels: Kashmir, Temples, travel