Historical Shetaleshwar Bhairav temple opens after two decades in Srinagar

SRINAGAR - The Shetaleshwar Bhairav temple, located on the banks of Jehlum river in the old Srinagar city, was thrown open here on Wednesday after about two decades for devotees, on the occasion of Basant Panchmi.

Hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits gathered in this temple and prayed for peace and communal harmony for the Jammu and Kashmir State.

The Kashmiri Pandits on the occasion, thanked all for their support and help for the opening of this temple, which also used to be a center of community activities two decades ago.

Special prayers were offered on this occasion for return of peace in the Kashmir valley.

Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti (KPSS) had initiated the renovation and cleaning work of the temple of at Sheetal Nath Habba Kadal, which remained closed after the insurgency broke down in Kashmir valley and forced Kashmiri Pandits to migrate from their homes to the other States of the country.

The temple was partially damaged due to fire set by the militants.

Of the 585 temples in valley, shutdown by the militants, only 37 are functional at present of which 23 have been reopened in the last few years.

Kashmiri Pandits, however, hoped that with the help of the locals the rest of the temples would also be restored soon.

The temples are being reopened by those Kashmiri Pandits, who did not migrate and remained in the valley with their Muslim brothers despite the turmoil of militancy in the past. By Parvez Butt (ANI)