The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Wednesday that around 18,000 Kashmiri Pandits and other devotees visited the Kheer Bhavani temple in Kashmir Valley’s Ganderbal district on Jyeshtha Ashtami.
The statement comes in the wake of a string of targeted attacks against Kashmiri Pandits and members of the Hindu community in the Valley since October 2021. Many Pandits have left the Valley in the past few days citing threat to life. The festival couldn’t be held in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19.
The MHA said that over the years, the Kheer Bhavani congregation has become a symbol of communal harmony and brotherhood in Kashmir.