Srinagar// Save Sharda Committee Kashmir Regd began on 24 January a trans nation yatra of carrying Sharda Murti from Sringeri in Karnataka to LoC Teetwal.
The yatra has reached Pune after point to point stay at Bangalore and Mumbai. Earlier,on invitation of Sringeri Dakshnayam Sharda Mutt, SSCK received panchaloha ( 5 metals) Sharda Murti for the newly constructed Sharda Temple at LoC Teetwal in Kashmir. The members of Save Sharda Committee is carrying the murti in a newly purchased & decorated vehicle from Point to point kashmiri pandit bhawans enroute various cities as per tour itinerary. A large number of devotees are thronging the KHS bhawan on Dhanori Road, Lohegaon in Pune. The yatra is scheduled to move to Ahmedabad on 3rd February. Here is the legend of the newly constructed Sharda Yatra Temple at LoC Teetwal in Kashmir : The Sharda Yatra temple, Teetwal, Kashmir is located on the pilgrimage route to Sharda Peeth PoK. From ancient times, an annual pilgrimage to the Sharda Peeth took place on the ashtami (eighth day) of Shukla Paksha (waxing phase) of Bhadrapada month of the lunar calendar. A holy mace (charri Mubarak) would be taken out from Teetwal to Sharda Peeth. This would be the official pilgrimage to Sharda peeth, out of the four traditional routes (Keran, Liddervan-Jumangarh, Gurez, Teetwal) 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. 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. The Sharda Yatra temple at Teetwal was destroyed/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 Bidadi, Karnataka, duly supported by Sharda Peetham Sringeri has been used. The Panchloha Sharda murti donated by Sringeri Mutt is being 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) & shall be consecrated at Teetwal Temple on Chaitra maas Shukla Paksh pratipada on Navreh( Ist. Navratra) 22nd March’2023. 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.
