Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 10: Braving the scorching heat, hundreds of devotees drawn from different parts of Jammu thronged the holy shrine of Mata Kheer Bhawani at Bhawani Nagar here to participate in the annual mela on the occasion of Zaesth Ashtami today.
The Kheer Bhawani shrine at Bhawani Nagar Jammu is the replica of Tulmulla shrine of Mata and it was constructed by the devotees of Goddess soon after the mass exodus of the Pandits from Kashmir valley in 1989-90.
The devotees started thronging the shrine from early in the morning and there was heavy rush in the earlier hours as people wanted to avoid scorching heat of the day. Samohik Aarti was held in the morning in which large number of devotees participated and prayed for peace and prosperity of the mankind.
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The devotees were seen in long queues waiting for their turn to offer prayers and perform pooja in the shrine. They chanted Vedic hymns and ringing of bells as a religious tradition continued in the shrine for the whole day.
The managing body of the shrine and authorities had made elaborate arrangements for the devotees. The stalls selling Pooja Samgri including flowers and milk were installed right from the Janipur road to main gate of holy shrine. The people had also installed Chabeels to serve cold water to devotees. To avert any untoward incident the police Department had made elaborate security arrangements at the holy shrine.
The devotees offered flowers and milk in the holy spring and also performed pooja in a traditional way in the temple to invoke blessings of Mata.
To tackle the rush of devotees the temple management committee had made all arrangements and volunteers of the Committee were assisting the devotees. A spokesman of the Committee said that the Bhawani Nagar Shrine of Mata has emerged as a Sidh Peetha.
The Committee also expressed its gratitude to the PHE, PDD, JMC and police for making proper arrangements for the devotees. The function concluded with the Samohik Aarti in the evening in which a large number of devotees took part. There was such a heavy rush during the Aarti that some people had to rise on roof tops to take part in the Aarti and pay obeisance to Goddess which is the presiding deity of Kashmiri Pandits.
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