Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday inaugurated the newly built Goddess Sharada Devi Temple near Line of Control (LoC) in Teetwal area of Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir via video conferencing. The idol’s installation coincides with `Navreh'- the first day of Kashmiri Hindu New Year.

 

Amit Shah during his virtual address said that the opening of the temple was the beginning of a new dawn and with this the gates of Sharada temple have been opened for devotees from today.

 

He congratulated the people of J&K and said that on this day the new year begins and on this day, the pious gates of Maa Sharada Devi Temple have been thrown open for the devotees. He added though he isn’t attending it physically but whenever he visits J&K, he will definitely pay a visit to Maa Sharada.

 

Shah conveyed his best wishes and gratitude to Save Sharada Committee President Ravinder Pandita for struggle over so many years which has now borne fruit. He said this step is not just the renovation of a temple, but the beginning of the quest for reviving Sharada culture.

 

The Save Sharda Committee Kashmir has been set up to revive the ancient Sharada temple, which used to be a major seat of learning in ancient India but now is in ruins in the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir after being plundered and ravaged by the invaders during the India-Pakistan war in 1947-48.

 

After a gap of 76 years, Goddess Sharada’s temple has been built up in Teetwal area and her idol has been brought up there from Shingeri Math in Karnataka.

 

Teetwal temple of Goddess was the base camp of world famous Sharda shrine before partition. The original temple and adjacent Gurudwara, located on the banks of Kishenganga river were destroyed by Pakistani raiders in 1947. Since then, neither successive governments nor any organisation took any initiative to rebuilt these religious places.

 

 

Sharda Peeth is the Kashmiri name of Goddess Saraswati. It was one of the foremost ancient universities of the Indian subcontinent between the sixth and twelfth centuries and scholars from Central Asia and India used to travel here for historic learning.

 

 

The installation of the deity's idol and the construction of the temple in Teetwal has been widely welcomed by the local Muslims who believe that the historic restoration will regain the area its long lost dignity and recognition as a holy place of pilgrimage.

 

 

Amongst scores of devotees and scholars who gathered at Teetwal to be part of the historic religious function on Wednesday, there are about 100 priests from the Shingeri Math in Karnataka.