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After 24 years, Hindu temple reopens in militant hub

The temple in Seer Jagir village in Sopore town was shut after Kashmiri pandits left the Valley in 1990.

The Nandkishor Asthapan temple in Sopore. (Source: Express photo by Shuaib Masoodi)

After remaining shut for 24 years, the Nandkishor Asthapan, a Hindu temple in north Kashmir, was thrown open to devotees Tuesday. This is the first Hindu temple to be reopened in Sopore, a militant stronghold in north Kashmir.

“It was a mesmerising moment to visit this temple after so long,” said Maharaj Krishnan, a Kashmiri pandit who had decided to stay back in the Valley. “My relatives from Jammu wanted to visit the temple, this is the first time after 1990 that we came here.”

The temple in Seer Jagir village in Sopore town was shut after Kashmiri pandits left the Valley in 1990. Security forces then took over the premises.

It was only recently that renovation work was completed at the temple. Sopore had a sizeable population of Kashmiri pandits before they migrated to Jammu and other places.

In a significant gesture, as devotees arrived at the temple to offer prayers, they were welcomed by Muslims from the village. This comes at a time when the Centre is in the process of rehabilitating Kashmiri pandits.

“About 37 temples have been renovated and opened for Kashmiri pandits in the Valley since the turmoil,” said Sanjay Tickoo, head of the Kashmiri Pandits Sangarsh Samiti (KPSS). He added that the focus should be on temples in areas where the number of Kashmiri pandits is more.

First uploaded on: 04-07-2014 at 00:31 IST

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