Thousands of people, mostly Kashmiri Pandits, arrived from different parts of the country to take a holy dip and perform the Pind Dhanbesides hold puja at the Holy Shiv Lingum situated underneath the Prayag.
Leaving behind the bitterness of migration, Kashmiri Pandits turned up in thousands to take a holy dip in the Sangam (confluence) of Jhelum and Sindh rivers to celebrate the Maha Kumbh which has happened after 75 years, signalling a good omen for the strife-torn Kashmir valley.
Last Maha Kumb had happened on June 4, 1941 at Shadipora village of Central Kashmir's Ganderbal district. "It is a confluence of three rivers. Besides Jhelum and Sindh, which are visible, there is an invisible Gupt Ganga which also joins the two rivers at this point. Plus there is a holy Prayag (Chinar tree) which is 5000 year old," said Bharat Raina, convener of the function at Sangam.
Thousands of people, mostly Kashmiri Pandits, arrived from different parts of the country to take a holy dip and perform the Pind Dhanbesides hold puja at the Holy Shiv Lingum situated underneath the Prayag.
"We used to immerse the ashes of dead at this spot (before the migration). We used to perform Maha Shrad at this spot only. Today too we performed the Shrad of all the martyrs including security force personnel, Kashmiri pandits and other innocents here," said Raina.
Usually the Maha Kumb happens at four places – Allahabad, Ujjain, Hardiwar and Nashik – where lakhs of people take a holy dip and perform the puja. Since 1931 it is only third time that Maha Kumb has happened in Kashmir. Earlier, the Maha Kumbh had occurred inKashmir after 10 years gap in 1941. The Maha Kumbh happens only where there is a unity of 10 nakashtaras.
"More than 4,000 people arrived here to take a holy dip at the Sangam. It is very unfortunate that administration did not construct the makeshift washrooms knowing that ladies too were participating in the Maha Kumbh," said Vinod Pandit, chairman of All Parties Migrants Coordination Committee, an apex body of migrant Kashmiri Pandits.
Religious dimensions apart, the Maha Kumbh acted as a platform for Kashmiri pandits and Muslims to reduce the trust deficit. Muslims in large numbers had come to Sangam to help their pandit brethren. Kashmiri Muslims had made available the shikaras for Pandits to hire in order to perform the religious rituals at the Sangam.
"My eyes are flooded with tears to see such a great atmosphere. Flash back of older days played before my eyes. We want these pandits should return at the earliest," said Mohommad Maqbool Malla, a local resident of Shadipora.
Official figures reveal that around 41,117 migrant families from Kashmir are registered in Jammu and 21,000 others in Delhi and other states. Of the total migrant families living in Jammu, 37,128 are Hindus, 2,246 Muslims, 1,738 Sikhs and five others. The return of the Kashmirimigrants to valley is a part of the Centre's Rs 1,618-crore package, announced in 2008.
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