Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday virtually inaugurated the Sharda Devi temple, located along LoC in the frontier district of Kupwara in north Kashmir.
The temple was inaugurated along with J&K LG Manoj Sinha, where he said he would try for a Kartarpur-style corridor to the original temple in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
The temple has been built by Kashmir’s Save Sharda Samiti and Sringeri Math to revive the Sharda pilgrimage, which stopped after 1948 as the original temple fell under Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in Sharda village along the Neelum River.
Teetwal, where a temple has been built now, was the historic base camp for devotees, who would go to Goddess Sharda’s shrine before partition.
Over the years, Kashmiri pandits have been demanding a Kartarpur-like corridor for them for religious pilgrimage. This is after 76 years that this temple of Goddess Sharda was revived. The idol traveled from Shingeri Mutt in Karnataka in a car for several weeks.
Shah told the gathering that “Ravinder Pandita (head of Save Sharda committee) has asked for Kartarpur-style corridor for Shardha yatra and that the government of India will surely make attempts in this direction, there is no doubt in that."
Union Home Minister also promised a visit to Sharda Temple whenever he comes to Kashmir.
“I congratulate the whole team for their struggle for this temple. Sharda Peeth was a source of knowledge. People used to come here from all over the country," Amit Shah said.
The land, where this temple has been built, was taken with the support of locals as it used to have dharmshala and a Sikh gurdwara, which is said to have been burnt down by tribal raiders in 1947 and later in 1948 the pilgrimage to Sharda Peeth was stopped after partition.
top videos
Local Muslims of the area welcomed the idol and burst firecrackers.
Read all the Latest India News here
