Spring of Goddess Ragnya Devi in Kashmir which change colours

Srinagar, Jun 12 (UNI) A holy spring in Khir Bhawani Temple at Tullamula, central Kashmir, associated with the Hindu goddess, Ragnya Devi, changes its colours from time to time.

It takes on various hues like red, pink, orange, green, blue and has often light green, red rosy and milky white shades.

The colour of the spring remained black in the year 1947, when the Pakistani raiders attacked the Kashmir valley.

Any shade of black was considered inauspicious for the inhabitants of the valley, Kashmir pandit priests, looking after the shrine, said.

Thousands of devotees from different parts of the country and within the state visited the shrine yesterday on the occasion of Mela Khirbhawani.

Many times, rising of bubbles has been observed which form the mystic 'Chakra' on the surface of the water.

Such a sacred and mysterious spring is found nowhere else in India. The people living round the holy spring have great veneration for the holy shrine as nobody enters the premises of the holy spring if he happens to have consumed meat on that day.

The spring, dedicated to Goddess Khir Bhawani, has an irregular septagonal shape with its apex called Pad (feet) to the East. The northern and the southern sides are longer than the western side, which is called Shir (Head). In the centre of the holy spring, where once stood a mulberry tree, there is one marble temple, which enshrines some idols found at the time of cleansing the spring.

In January 1970, an electric pump was installed to conduct the cleansing operation of the spring. Besides removal of mud and mire which had accumulated since long at the bottom of the spring a number of gold ornaments and silver pieces offered to the Goddess were recovered.

As a result of the silt clearance, a huge volume of milky white water bubbled out.

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