Almost three decades after being forcibly thrown out of Kashmir, the minuscule Kashmiri Pandit community could well be on its course to return to their homes in Kashmir. The community with the help of the Jammu and Kashmir government is organising a major Yatra this month on June 20th to visit one of the most revered temples in the valley.

Kashmir is going to witness a major congregation of the displaced minority community of Kashmiri Pandits. Thousands of Kashmiri Pandits will pour in the valley on June 20th to celebrate Zayestha Asthami in the sacred temple of Mata Khir Bhawani in Tulmulla village of Kashmir. The members of the displaced community will undertake yatra from Delhi and Jammu to Srinagar on 18th June. The significant feature of this yatra is that the Jammu and Kashmir government is actively lending support to the yatra. The state government is providing free of cost to and fro transportation facilities to the pilgrims.

It is for the first time in the last 28 years of turbulence in the valley, that the aggrieved community will be able to visit and assemble in such large numbers in Kashmir. 28 years ago, the community was forced to leave following the emergence of terrorism. The minority Hindu community were forced to migrate to Jammu, Delhi and other parts of the country. Since then the successive governments at the center and the state have been talking about the return of the community to their homes. But so far none of the plans has worked.

The community now is seeing an opportunity of hope in the state government aided yatra. Kashmir Education, Culture and Science Society (KECSS), a Delhi-based organisation of the Kashmiri Pandits is the initiator of this community yatra and has been actively pursuing this with the state government. KECSS coordinator Satish Mahaldar says," In the twenty-eight years of our displacement from Kashmir, we were often given assurances by the successive governments that our return to our homes in Kashmir is possible. For various reasons this has not been possible so far until now. But, now with the help of the Jammu and Kashmir Government, our struggle for the return to our homes will now see the realization. On the auspicious day of Zysetha Asthami this year, a step in this direction is being taken."

The community believes that there cannot be any other better auspicious day than the Zysetha Asthami and the place of Tulmulla temple from where a beginning could be made for the return to their homes in the valley. On June 20th, valley will witness a congregation of thousands of displaced Kashmiri Pandits who will worship and celebrate the darshan and puja at the revered temple.

Says Satish Mahaldar, "This step of the state government is being considered as an important step to facilitate the return of Kashmiri Pandits who were forcibly uprooted in the first wave of terrorism that hit the valley in 1990. Since then the valley has seen much bloodshed and loss of life."

Mata Khir Bhawani  temple in Tullamulla has an aura of mysticism and a history to it. The mention of Khir Bhawani temple is found in Kalhana's Rajtarangini and Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak’s  Aini-Akbari. Many great saints and seers from the country have visited the temple. Swami Vivekananda and Swami Rama Tiratha also visited here to have the darshan of the place. This temple is build on a spring that changes its colour with various hues of red, pink, orange, green, blue, white, etc. which was noted by Abul Fazal and Swami Vivekananda too. A black shade of the spring water is believed to be inauspicious.

This temple is one of the most essential centers of  faith of the Kashmiri Pandits in the valley. Even the Muslims revere this temple. The late Mufti Mohammad Sayed was a frequent visitor to this temple. He took a keen interest and helped in the development of the temple. The former Chief Ministers Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah also visit this temple. The present Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is also a regular visitor to this temple and last year took part in the puja celebrations.

The community feels that this year the visit to the temple which is being aided by the state government shall provide an opportunity to the community to  to be with their lost Muslim brothers who are equally in pain and have been suffering for the past 28 years. Says, Satish Mahaldar, "The evil forces of terror did us apart but our Kashmiri soul binds us together. Our Culture and language is the same which makes us inseparable. Zysetha Asthami is an occasion for the two communities to bond together again. And with the blessings of Mata Khir Bhawani, the return of the displaced Kashmiri Pandits to their homes shall, hereafter, begin."