Aarti was performed after 75 years on the Kishenganga riverbed at LoC

On Wednesday, in the Kupwara district of north Kashmir, Ganga aarti was performed for the first time on the banks of the Kishenganga river in Teetwal, near the Line of Control (LoC).

A statement said that the aarti was performed at the recently built ghat for the first time in 75 years.

Numerous pilgrims from throughout the nation participated in the occasion. The statement said that this was the first time since Partition that the worshippers who came to Sharda Temple in LoC Teetwal bathed in the sacred Kishenganga River, which is near Sharda Mata Mandir.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah dedicated the Sharda Devi Temple in Teetwal, Kupwara district, in March of last year. Nestled near the Line of Control (LoC), this new shrine is situated on the banks of the Kishenganga river.

In Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), the original Sharda Temple, also known as Sharda Peeth, is a venerated historic temple and center of learning located in Neelam Valley beyond the Line of Control. In Pakistan, the river that is called Kishenganga in India is called Neelum.

When Muslim locals donated land for the project in 2021, the foundation for the basic temple at Teetwal was built.

The construction of the temple has rekindled demands for the reopening of the LoC for pilgrimage from a variety of political groupings and Kashmiri Pandit organizations. Mehbooba Mufti, the previous chief minister, shared this view when she called for the restoration of the pilgrimage path that had been cut off since the 1947 Partition.

A bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad was launched in 2005 with the goal of bringing together families that were split up and living on different sides of the Kashmir divide. But since 2019, bus services and cross-LoC commerce have been indefinitely suspended.

first time following division

Ganga aarti was performed at Teetwal, near the Kupwara district’s Line of Control (LoC), on the banks of the Kishenganga river.
After a 75-year break, the aarti was performed for the first time in the recently built ghat next to Sharda Temple.
Numerous pilgrims participated in the event from all throughout the nation.