Kashmiri Pandits celebrated the annual festival of ‘Herath’ or Maha Shivaratri in the Valley on Friday. Scores of Muslims from the Valley also joined in to wish the Pandits on the occasion.
Pandits were seen busy with the festivities on Friday. Special pujas were held at Shankaracharya temple in Srinagar and the Kheer Bhawani temple in Ganderbal.
“As per our tradition, we celebrate Herath, which means ‘Har Rati’, in our respective homes. Puja starts after sunset till midnight. One person of our family, who performs puja, fasts on the day,” Sanjay Tickoo, president of the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS), said. Mr. Tickoo is among 3,000 Kashmiri Pandits who did not leave the valley in the 1990s, in the face of growing militancy.
Pandits, unlike the Hindus in the rest of the country, prepare special dishes, including fish, on the occasion.
“During the course of the day, preparations will go on from cooking delicacies and setting up of ‘Vatukh Raaz’ the deity for offering puja to solemnise the wedding of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi,” Mohit Bhan, a Pandit leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said.
The Department of Fisheries set up special fish points across the Union Territory for the community. A total of 8.810 metric tonne of trout and carp fish was provided to all the customers, an official said.
Restrained celebrations
However, several Pandits confided that the festivities this year were subdued in the Valley because of militant threats and targeted killings the community faced since the Centre ended J&K’s special status in 2019. Around 9,000 Pandits, who were posted in the government departments in the Valley, preferred to celebrate the festival along with their families in Jammu, a Pandit leader said.
Senior regional leaders, including Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, Sajad Lone and Altaf Bukhari, wished the community on the occasion. Many people wished the community on social media platforms as well.
