Jammu
Kashmiri Pandits of Poonch to celebrate the Kheer Bhawani mela at Shri Budha Amarnath Shrine
Kashmiri Pandits of Poonch to celebrate the Kheer Bhawani mela at Shri Budha Amarnath Shrine
POONCH TODAY NEWS
POONCH: Hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits of Poonch will perform hawan on the auspicious occasion of Jyeshtha Ashtami on the 22nd of June, 2026, to celebrate the traditional Mata Kheer Bhawani mela at the historic Shri Budha Amarnath shrine. 
This was stated by Vinay Mohan Misri, who is the president of the ad hoc committee formed for the event. During a press conference organised by the Kashmiri Pandit community of Poonch, in which committee members comprising Vinay Mohan Misri, Vijay Puri, Jai Kishore Kapoor, and others said that after a long time, the Kashmiri Pandits of Poonch have unanimously decided to organise the Mata Kheer Bhawani mela at Shri Budha Amarnath Shrine, Mandi. In this connection, all the arrangements have been made for the main event, which is to be held on the 22nd of June 2026. The committee members said that the Kheer Bhawani mela is a traditional and historic mela of the Kashmiri Pandit community which is regularly celebrated at Tulmulla, Ganderbal, every year in which thousands of Kashmiri Pandits participate to seek the blessing of Mata Kheer Bhawani. On the day of Jyeshtha Ashtami, the Kashmiri Pandit devotees make offerings of kheer, milk and flowers to the holy spring of Mata Kheer Bhawani, which has a huge historical and traditional significance for the community. For the displaced Kashmiri Pandits, this annual Kheer Bhawani mela used to serve as an emotional reunion among the pandits who were forced to leave the valley during 1990. In the Bhawani Nagar area of Janipur, Jammu, also, the Kashmiri Pandits have built a replica of the original Kheer Bhawani temple, situated at Tulmulla, Ganderbal, where Kashmiri Pandits visit the shrine to pay their obeisance regularly. It is pertinent to mention here that the same mela was organised more than two decades ago by the Kashmiri Pandits of the Poonch district at Shri Budha Amarnath Shrine, Mandi. Now after more than two decades, huge efforts have been made by the Kashmiri Pandits of Poonch to celebrate the holy occasion of Jyeshtha Ashtami on the 22nd of June at the Shri Budha Amarnath shrine. The committee members said that a number of Kashmiri Pandits of Poonch who are living at different places are likely to attend the holy occasion. Talking to the press, Vinay Mohan Misri, president of the committee; Vijay Puri, secretary; Jai Kishore Kapoor; and others said that Kashmiri Pandits of Poonch have taken an initiative after a long time to celebrate the historic mela of Mata Kheer Bhawani at the renowned shrine of Shri Budha Amarnath Mandi, and in this connection, various committees have been formed for the main event, which is to be organised on the 22nd of June. The committee members have appealed to all the Satanis to participate in the annual hawan to take the blessing of Mata Kheer Bhawani.
