Express News Service
SRINAGAR: The Sheetal Nath Mandir in Kralakhud area of downtown Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, was re-opened after 31 years on Tuesday. Temple bells rang as Basant Panchmi puja and havan were performed, suspended since militancy erupted in the erstwhile state in 1990.
Around 30 Kashmiri Pandits, both migrants and non-migrants, attended the prayers. ‘Prasad’ was also distributed among the devotees.
“We have formally re-opened the temple,” Upendra Handoo, the priest, said, recalling how the temple was closed in 1990.
Handoo said Basant Panchmi puja in Srinagar used to be performed at the Sheetal Nath Mandir where hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits congregated before militancy began.