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| Pandits restore idol of goddess Kali in Badarkali shrine in north Kashmir on Navreh | | idol of goddess had a circuitous journey | 
Handwara, March 20, (Scoop News)-An ancient idol of goddess Kali was installed on Navreh (Sunday) at its original place, Badar Kali temple, near Handwara in Kupwara district after a lapse of nearly four decades.
The idol was stolen by smugglers in 1980. Local Pandit community members held protest demonstrations then and demanded immediate restoration of the idol. Kashmir Police, however, recovered it after three years and retuned the same to the management of the shrine who in turn handed it over to the head priest, Jagan Nath Sharma. The head priest kept it under his personal supervision.
Thereafter, Sharma would put it (idol) put on display on special events but when the family had to leave the valley in a huff in 1990, the idol was left behind. Few years later, the house was sold by the head priest’s daughter to a Muslim family. The new owner found the idol in a room and contacted his old Pandit neighbour and friend and informed him about the same. Pandita who originally belongs to Handwara, resides at present near Patoli managed to bring it to Jammu.
Last year, local Pandits approached the sector commander of army for help in installing the idol of goddess Kali in the sancro-sanctum of the shrine. It was on this Navreh that the idol was finally restored to original place.
Not only Kashmiri Pandits but even some of their goddesses also got dislocated from their native places after the outbreak of terrorism in the valley in 1990. Several idols, held in highest reverence by the community members, were smuggled out of the country and one such precious antique idol of 8th century was returned to the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, by the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, over two years back.
Badarkali, is a most revered shrine of KP’s. A majority of the community particularly from north Kashmir is aligned to this shrine (Badarikali Kun) while others are affiliated to Mata Kheerbhavani (Tulmul Kun).
According to local Pandits, the Kali idol was discovered in the courtyard of a Muslim family in Srinagar in 19th century during Maharaja Partap Singh rule. It is said the goddess visited a local priest, Sarwanand, in his dream and asked him to extricate her idol from the courtyard of a Muslim family at Khanyar in downtown city. The priest directed his son Keshav Nath to bring back the idol of goddess Kali and install it at its place in Badarkali temple.
“Hundreds of Pandit temples and shrines were vandalised during Mughal and Afghan rule in Kashmir and their idols were either desecrated, buried or thrown in the rivers,” said Jawahar Lal Raina, an avid analyst of Kashmir history.... |
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