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Kheerbhawani, the most revered shrine of Kashmiri Brahmans |
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| Historically the holiest of the Kashmirian Tirthas has been the Haramukuta, the “Siva’s Diadem”. It is the present day massif of Haramukh peaks and the lakes of Gangabal and Nund-Kol at the foot of these mountains. The main peak in the massif resembles mount Kailash above Lake Mansarovar in Tibet which is the source of River Indus (Sindhu). Kashmiris considered the Gangabal Lake as the true source of Kashmir’s Ganga or Sindh River and it was known in ancient times as “Uttaraganga”. Nilmata Purana describes the Lake as “Uttaramanasa”. It was the final goal of the great “Haramukuta Pilgrimage” which used to take place annually in the month of Bhadrapada and was attended by thousands of pilgrims. The ashes of the persons who had died during the year were immersed in the sacred waters. A short distance below is the Lake Nund-Kol fed by a hanging glacier chunks of which keep on breaking and falling into the Lake with a great roar from time to time. One gets the impression of a thunder storm on a cloudless sky. The old name of the Lake was “Kalodaka” or “Nandisaras” which is derived from a legend making the Lake as the joint habitation of both Kala i.e., Siva and his faithful attendant Nandin. From the later the whole collection of these sacred sites gets the name of “Nandiksetra” by which name the author of Rajtarangni, Kalhana mentions these throughout his narrative. These sites were so sacred in ancient Kashmir that every King before ascending the throne would go there to take a dip for washing away all his sins. In case of any wrong doing, the best way to atone was to take a dip in the icy waters of Gangabal. Almost the entire narrative of Kalhana’s Raj Tarangni emphasises the importance of this pilgrimage. Nara-Nag was the first halt where even now the ruins of a massive temple complex exist. The pilgrimage would proceed from here to Gangabal along a steep mountain spur of Bhuteshvara, the present Bhut-Sher. There were many temples along this route which have now disappeared under thick vegetation. The pilgrimage was still popular till the visit of Sir Aurel Stein, the translator of Rajtarangni who came here for the first time in 1888. On the contrary the Amarnath Pilgrimage does not have such ancient historical background. It seems to have become popular only in the beginning of the last century when it was called the Tirtha of “Amaresvara or Amarnatha”. Sir Aurel Stein mentions, “Judging from the scanty references made to this Tirtha (Amarnath) in the Rajtarangni and Nilmata, it appears doubtful whether it could have enjoyed in old times quite such great celebrity as now”. Even the Tiratha of Kheerbhawani is not very frequently mentioned in Rajtarangni which is the earliest book of recorded history not only in Kashmir but the entire sub-continent. It occurs in the fourth book at verse 638 during the reign of Jayapida as “the land of Tulamulya where hundred Brahmans less one had sought death in the water of that stream”. However, during the reign of King Jayapida the organisation of the Purohitas was a very well to do and an influential body and the Tiratha had become very important pilgrimage. The spring of Kheerbhawani located in present day Tulmul is quite large and is supposed to be very sacred to Maharajni, a form of Durga and has always been held in veneration by the Brahman population of Srinagar. The spring is said to exhibit from time to time miraculous changes in the colour of its water, which are ascribed to different manifestations of the goddess. Turning of the colour into shades of black is supposed to signal approaching bad times. Some people say that before the exodus of the Pandits from Kashmir the colour had turned completely black in 1990! The legend has it that there were 360 springs surrounding the main spring but all of these seem to have disappeared as the land has become marshy all around. In the last half century the pilgrimage had become the most important for Kashmiri Brahmans who used to come here from all over the State and even from outside. Kheerbhawani is considered to be the Presiding Deity of most of the Kashmiri Brahmans. The annual festival held here on Zetha Ashtami (usually in May) has been declared a public holiday for the Kashmir province by the State Government. This year the Mela is on June 4. A comprehensive account of this holy shrine written by Samsar Chand Koul has been carried by Vitasta Annual Number and is accessible at:http://vitasta.org/2002/index.html.The upheaval of 1990 which resulted in unprecedented exodus of the whole community of Kashmiri Brahmans made the pilgrimage go into total oblivion. There was no body left to worship at the temple except the paramilitary forces guarding it. However, for last few years the pilgrimage has picked up again and a large number of both Kashmiri Brahmans as well as others visit the shrine. Mufti Sayed had proposed to bring back Kashmiri Pandits by settling them in special tenements constructed around the temples at Kheerbhawani and Mattan (enroute Amarnath Yatra). Apart from the fact that the idea itself is preposterous as settling Kashmiri Pandits in just two concentrations guarded by paramilitary forces would not bring back the amity which existed between the two communities prior to the Exodus, when they were inter-mingled throughout the valley, the project has converted these holy shrines into built up localities thereby destroying their traditional and historical ambience. A recent visit to the shrine revealed that the ancient description of the famous large spring surrounded by 360 smaller springs in a marshy land thick with vegetation is completely gone. It looks like any other temple in the middle of a city. The area around the temple has been completely filled up and strengthened by piling. A large number of two storey brick houses have been built all around. These are meant for the returning “migrants” of whose return so far there is no surety. The legend about the discovery of the spring when a pious Brahman Krishna Pandit had a vision in which he was asked to engage a boat up to Shadipur where from a snake floating over the marshes would guide him to exact location of the spring remains in historical records only. Everything is now built up. The least the Government can do now is to cover entire area with fast growing vegetation like weeping willows so that some ambience of a green and natural environment of the Goddess is restored. There seems to be confusion about the ownership of the surrounding land and the newly built properties. Dr.Karan Singh, the Chairman of the Dharmarth Trust, according to locals, claims it to be his “personal property” and does not allow anyone to touch the main shrine. On the other hand the State Tourism Department which has spent over Rs.13 crores on the development of the environs consisting mainly of the new tenements claim these to be their properties. Immediate concern for the locals is the need to provide sufficient number of toilet blocks. There is also a dearth of blankets at the time of the annual festival. A menace to be tackled on priority is the stray dogs, dozens of whom after having fattened from the leftovers of paramilitary forces prowl around the whole area. Well, this is a menace common to the whole valley in the prevailing situation and one cannot complain much about it! Finally, one thing which looks obnoxious and monstrous is a steel girder bridge built over the stream, most probably for transportation of building materials. It is expected that this would be removed after the construction is over and the traditional approach is maintained and if possible suitably improved. In Kashmir we are experts in rebuilding historical monuments and not preserving these. Incidentally the colour of the spring at present is whitish green which denotes peace and prosperity! |
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