PEERZADA SAYEED
Minister of State for External affairs and Culture Govt. of India Ms. Meenakshi Lekhi paid a visit to Sharda Yatra Temple at LoC Teetwal today. “We feel pleased to have a first cabinet minister of present govt.on this occasion today” said Ravinder Pandita Head of Save Sharda Committee. Earlier she also visited many places in Kupwara district.
Sharda Peeth was once the center of learning of the Indian Subcontinent to which scholars flocked in reverence seeking scriptural and spiritual knowledge. Sharda script native to Kashmir is named after the Goddess Sharda (also invoked as the Goddess Saraswati), the goddess of learning and the main deity of the Sharda Peeth. Gurmukhi, Tibbettan, Pahari and even Urdu before Nastalik script is derivative of Sharda lipi. Sharda Peeth is one of the maha shakti peeths, Goddess Sati’s right hand is believed to have landed here. The Sagar Manthana(nectar) was carried by Myna (Brown coloured bird called Haerr in local dialect here) in her beak and was finally placed here. Two drops of nectar were spilled at Kaloosa in Bandipora and Gagloosa in kupwara, forming natural shilas. After long penance, Rishi Shandiliya was bestowed with darshan of Sharda Mai near Tejuvan village in the vicinity of Sharda Peeth.
Yogiraj Swami Nand Lal Koul Ji, a Kashmiri saint was the last to sit and manage Sharda peeth (POK) and migrated to Tikker in Kupwara in December 1948 after partition & tribal raids. One can still find His wooden house out there in Shardi village in POK.
The Sharda Yatra temple at Teetwal was completely burnt down in the aftermath of the partition and the subsequent tribal invasions which also resulted in the holy pilgrimage being abandoned. A gurudwara stood adjacent to this temple which was also destroyed. The locals preserved & handed over this plot to Save Sharda Committee Kashmir regd. headed by Ravinder Pandita on 14 Sept. 2021 on the occasion of annual Sharda Yatra upto the last point of LOC in Teetwal. While digging on the ground where the temple used to
exist, remnants of the earlier structure were found in the form of partial stone structure of the earlier temple, burnt wood frames, nuts and bolts and a smoking chillum.
The architecture and construction of this temple is in keeping with the heritage of the Sharda Peeth for which carved granite stone from Magadi near Bangalore, Karnataka, duly supported by Sharda Peetham Sringeri, has been used.
The Panchloha Sharda murti donated by Sringeri Mutt was taken to this newly constructed Sharda Temple at LoC Teetwal Kashmir beginning on 24 January’2023(Guru Tritya – annual Convocation day in Sharda University in ancient times) & was consecrated inside Teetwal Temple on Chaitra maas Shukla Paksh pratipada on Navreh (Ist. Navratra) 22nd March’2023. The temple was inaugurated by Hon’ble Home minister Sh. Amit Shah in presence of Hon’ble LG Manoj Sinha, Tejasvi Surya MP and Ravinder Pandita, Head of Save Sharda Committee Kashmir Regd via Live Streaming. On the occasion Sh. Amit Shah in reply to a question by Ravinder Pandita before a live audience candidly asserted that GOI will take steps to open Sharda Corridor on the lines of Kartarpur corridor.
The reconstruction of the temple is a step towards the revival of the ancient annual pilgrimage to the Sharda Peeth, which is in ruins and situated in Shardi, PoK as well as the exploration of Sharda Civilization. The role of Locals of Teetwal, Tangdhar in reconstruction of this temple is laudable. People to People contact on both sides of LoC on this issue is vivid. Like minded people assembled and greeted eachother on 14 Sept. 2021 and 4 Sept’2022, marking history after partition. Live seminars and interactions in Delhi event & Sherwani Hall Baramulla event, have proved a point, that people want cross LoC heritage & religious tourism to begin beyond faiths.
