Shah e-inaugurates Sharda Devi temple, says reviving old culture

New Delhi, March 22

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday inaugurated Mata Sharda Devi temple near the Line of Control (LoC) in Karnah sector of Kupwara district through videoconferencing, as he said the abrogation of Article 370 was taking the Union Territory (UT) back to its old traditions, culture and the ‘Ganga-Jamuna Tehzeeb’.

Mehbooba welcomes move

• PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti welcomed the opening of the Sharda Devi Temple. She also hoped of resumption of cross-LoC trade.
• “We need to engage, reconcile and resolve things. It is something that the Kashmiri Pandits were looking forward to,” she said. PTI

He also asserted that the opening of the temple was the beginning of the new dawn and quest for reviving the Sharda culture. “The Mata Sharda Mandir is being thrown open for devotees on the auspicious occasion of our new year. This is a good omen for the devotees across the country,” he said. Lamenting that he could not physically attend the opening ceremony, Shah promised that he would soon visit and offer prayer at the temple during his next visit to the UT.

The Home Minister said this was the beginning of a new dawn, which has been made possible by the blessings of Mata Sharda Devi and by the joint efforts of the people, including civil society on both sides of the LoC.

Taking note of the demand made by Save Sharda Committee president Ravinder Pandita for opening the Peeth across the LoC on the lines of the Kartarpur corridor, Shah said the Centre would make efforts.

“This is not just the renovation of a temple, but the beginning of the quest for reviving Sharda culture,” he said, adding that once the Sharda Peeth was considered a centre of education in the Indian sub-continent.

“After Article 370 was abrogated due to PM Narendra Modi’s efforts, peace has been established in Kashmir and it has taken the Valley as well as Jammu back to its old traditions, culture and Ganga-Jamuna Tehzeeb,” the minister said, while noting that the UT administration had taken initiatives in all sectors towards social and economic change, under which the renovation work was going on at 123 selected places of religious significance.

Many temples and Sufi places, including Ziyarat Shareef Reshimala, Ram Mandir, Safakadal temple, Haloti Gompa temple and Jagannath temple, are being renovated. A budget of Rs 65 crore has been allotted and 35 places will be renovated and revived in the first phase, he added.