Mela Kheer Bhawani

• Kashmiri Hindus, locally known as Pandits, will celebrate the Zyestha Ashtami at the Mata Kheerbhawani temple at Tulmulla in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal.

About The Temple:

• Dedicated to the goddess Ragnya Devi.
• Location: 30 km from Srinagar city, it is one of the most sacred pilgrimage sites for Kashmiri Hindus.
• The temple gets its name from kheer, or milk and rice pudding.
• It's a local belief that the water of the temple’s spring changes colour from white to red and black in which black symbolises impending disaster.
  • Kashmiri Pandits relate it with the militancy of 1990.

About The Festival:

• Every year, a mela or festival is held at the temple.
• The festival, known as Mela Kheerbhawani, is the largest gathering of Hindus in Kashmir after the annual Amarnath Yatra.
• Sevaks at the temple say that over 10,000 pilgrims visited the temple during the festival.
• Hundreds of local Muslims, too, traditionally join the celebrations.
• Pandemic and recent targeted killing of Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley hit the pilgrim’s count.

Prelims takeaway:

• Mela Kheer Bhawani
• Location Based Question