Mata Kheer Bhawani: The spring that changes its colour

Kheer Bhawani is a unique septagonal spring dedicated to Goddess Kheer Bhawani that flows from west (head) to east (feet). The holy spring is said to change colour with varied colors of red, pink, orange, green, blue, and white, as observed by the people. The spring water's black hue is thought to be unlucky.

Mata Kheer Bhawani temple standing in the middle of the color-changing spring. Source: Wikipedia

One of the most revered Hindu pilgrimage places in Kashmir, Mata Kheerbhawani temple, also known as Tulmulla, is located 30 kilometres from Srinagar city. The Ragnya Devi shrine is highly worshipped among Kashmiri Pandits. Every year during the Zyeshta Ashtami festival, thousands of Pandits go to the Mata Kheer Bhawani in Tulmulla, in the Ganderbal region of central Kashmir. According to the priest and Pandit worshippers who frequent the temple, the spring occasionally displays changes in the colour of its waters, which are attributed to various manifestations of the goddess. This temple, which is built of marble stone, is situated in the middle of a spring, which is surrounded by a sizable space with a floor covered in gleaming and exquisite stones. It has enormous, mature chinar trees beneath which the pilgrims can sit or sleep on grass mats.

The spring water in the temple changes colour from white to red and black. It is believed that the colour of the water can foretell the future. If it turns black, it is interpreted as unlucky or as a sign of approaching tragedy. According to Kashmiri Pandits, the water had already turned black when they were forced to leave the valley during the 1990 militancy and migration.

One of the many legends has it that Ravana worshipped the goddess. After worshipping her, he offered the goddess kheer (rice pudding), which she accepted, and as a result, the temple came to be known as Kheer Bhawani. Ravana's devotion to Ragnya Devi pleased the goddess, who then appeared before him. He later installed an image of the Goddess in Sri Lanka. Ravana's predatory and licentious lifestyle, however, infuriated the Goddess, who decided she didn't want to remain in Sri Lanka. She is believed to have given Lord Hanuman the instruction to carry the image from Sri Lanka and place it at the sacred site of Tulmulla.

Kalhana's Rajtarangini mentions Kheer Bhawani and writes that Tulmulla's sacred spring is located in a marshy area. The spring's name is Mata Ragini Kund. In Rajtarangini, Tula Mula and the Maharagya spring are revered and the brahmins of Tulmulla are renowned for their spiritual power.  The sacred spring of Tulamulla in Kashmir was submerged by many floods thousands of years ago, and the holy site was lost to history. Finally, Kashmir's Yogi Krishna Pandit had a dream in which the Goddess appeared to him and told him that she would swim in the guise of a snake at the appropriate location and that he should stick large poles to demarcate the holy spot in the marsh region. The holy site was later found there once the floods subsided. This incident occurred in Samvat 4041 (Hindu lunar date).

In his book Aini-Akbari, Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak too mentions the territory of Tulamulla, which covers a hundred bighas (a unit of land area) and used to sink in the marshy areas during the summer.

A substantial layer of offerings had built up at its base in the past due to pilgrims' constant offering of milk and sugary candies in the spring. The remains of an ancient temple and slabs from a shrine that had figures etched on them were found once it was cleaned. Numerous images were also discovered here, but no one restored the temple until Maharaja Pratap Singh, a disciple of the Goddess, had a marble temple built in the middle of the spring that shines like a pearl in a shell. Some claim that a mulberry tree known as tulmulla in the local dialect once stood close to the holy site of Kheer Bhawani. However, Tulmulla is also believed to be derived from the Sanskrit word 'atulya mulya', which means great worth.

An annual festival known as Mela Kheerbhawani is hosted by the temple on the Sukhlapaksha Ashtami of the Jeshtha month of the Hindu calendar and is popularly known as Zyeth Atham. It has the largest gathering of Hindus in Kashmir. While there weren't many worshippers at the temple in the 1990s, the festival was revived more than ten years ago when a large number of Kashmiri pilgrims from Jammu and New Delhi also started visiting the temple on Zyeth Atham to pay their respects to Ragnya Devi. According to sevaks at the temple, about 10,000 pilgrims visit the shrine during the celebration.