Work To Construct Sharda Temple Close To LoC In Northern Kashmir Begins

Jammu, March 28 (PTI) The work to construct Mata Sharda temple and centre close to the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir's Teetwal belt has begun, officials have said.

The temple located in northern Kashmir's Kupwara district will be built with a view to revive centuries-old pilgrimage to Shardapeeth temple in the Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), said officials of the Save Sharda Committee (SSC).

'Sharda yatra temple committee (SYTC) started construction work of ancient Sharda temple and centre at the LoC in Teetwal area in Kashmir.

'A puja was held at the construction site in which Kashmiri Hindus from various parts of country took part,' SSC head Ravinder Pandita said.

He said a large number of Sikhs and locals too joined the event.

The committee laid the foundation of this project in December 2021 after demarcation of land.

The temple plan and model has already been approved by the Sringeri South Mutt and the artwork granite stones to be used in the temple are being carved at Bidadi in Karnataka.

Sharada Peeth -- 'the seat of Sharada' -- is the Kashmiri name for the goddess Saraswati. Sharada Peeth was one of the foremost ancient universities of the Indian subcontinent.

Sharda Peeth is an abandoned temple located in Sharda village along the Neelum River. It is regarded as one of the 18 highly revered temples across south Asia.

Pandita, who supervised the beginning of construction work, said a holy mace (charri Mubarak) would be taken out from here to Shardapeeth temple that would head to Chilhana village, now in PoK.

'We demand that Sharda peeth should be opened for pilgrimage on the lines of Kartarpur,' said Pandita.

He said this base camp at Teetwal will be reclaiming one of the traditional routes of Sharda peeth yatra and would increase religious tourism.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)