A Muslim man from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) has sent holy water from the Sharda Peeth Kund to Ayodhya, India, to be used in the Ram temple consecration ceremony on January 22.
The holy water was sent via a chain of carriers, as postal services between India and Pakistan have been suspended since the Balakot airstrikes in 2019.
The Save Sharda Committee Kashmir (SSCK) founder Ravinder Pandita said that the holy water was collected by Tanveer Ahmed and his team. It was then taken to Islamabad, where it was sent to Ahmed’s daughter Maghribi in the UK.
Maghribi then handed it over to Sonal Sher, a Kashmiri Pandit activist who came to Ahmedabad in India in August 2023. From there, it reached Pandita in Delhi.
Pandita said that the holy water had to travel to Europe and back to the subcontinent “all because postal services between India and Pakistan are temporarily suspended.”
The Sharda Sarvagnya Peeth is a Hindu temple located in PoK that has been inaccessible to Hindus since 1948. The SSCK has formed a civil society across the Line of Control (LoC) in PoK.
“They sent us soil, shilas and now water from the kund,” Pandita said. “It is a matter of pride that the same is being used in Ram Mandir pran pratishtha on January 22, 2024. This is second major event after the Sharda temple pran pratishtha on June 5 last year by the Shankracharya of Sringeri.”
Pandita said that SSCK member Manjunath Sharma handed over the holy water to Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) leaders who presented it to senior functionary Koteshwar Rao in Ayodhya on Saturday.
SSCK member will light diyas on January 22 at the Sharda Temple near the LoC at Teetwal in Kupwara district to celebrate the consecration ceremony.
