Ganesh Bal, Hanad Chowalgam A symbol of faith and communal Harmony

O N Koul
Whole of Jammu and Kashmir is the land of temples, shrines and other places of worship in all most all places from north to south and east to west, it has been a highly spiritual and religious land and rightly Kashmir is known as Rishi Bhumi. One of the famous and most sacred shrines is the Ganesh Bal of Hanad Chowalgam in south Kashmir district of Kulgam and it is the beautiful and shining example of communal harmony as people of both communities of Hindus & Muslims frequent this shrine and pay obeisance to Lord Ganesh and in religious parlance the deity is known as Vighanhartar and so people pray to Ganesh for removing of obstacles in the performance of their works. Ganesh has the distinction of being worshipped first of all and in Hawans first Sahakar is Ganesh Sahkar. Hindus begin any new work with the salutations to Ganesh. Mahaganesh Asthapan is located on the banks of river Nand,on right side of the shrine flows river Nund and on left side flows a small rivelut called Doolrad and this adds beauty to the Ganesh Asthapan. It is a natural shrine as there was a big tree of Elm called in Kashmiri as Brunn which symbolizes Ganesh and people irrespective of faith pay obeisance to elephant god Ganesh and seek his blessings. The trunk of the Brun tree was large in diameter in length. There was a small spring beneath the tree and only the tip of the spring is visible, the main spring is hidden.People offer water, milk,ladoos,Yellow rice preparation called in Kashmiri parlance Tahar ,flowers, water AND milk etc go directly in the spring beneath the Brun tree.It is pertinent to mention that Bran tree is symbolic with Ganesh.But with the afflux ,passage of time,the Brunn tree grew older and its branches etc fell down and the Brunn tree is almost invisible from some years and it was decorated with vermilion -Sindoor and thus it presented a majestic look. Sudhar Sabha which is managing the affairs of this shrine has planted a new sapling of a Yari Kul-Himalayan Blue pine at the exact spot where most highly revered Brunn tree existed some years back.There is the Samadi of an ascetic called Dandi Swami located adjacent to this shrine and the saint did great penance in this village and his Samadi also stands renovated by DSS.
Before the wholesale migration of the KPs a yearly hawan used to be performed in the shrine to propitiate Lord Ganesh usually on the birth day of Ganesh which falls on the fourteenth day of the Hindu calendar month of Vaishak Shukal Paksh called Ganesh Chuttardashi and in Kashmiri Gana Chudda -the full bright moon day.
For many years after the migration of the Kashmiri Hindus no Yagya was performed at this highly revered shrine of Ganesh Bal,but now from some years the Davesthan Sudhar Sabha of this village performs annual hawan at this shrine with traditional gaiety ,pomp and show and devotees from Jammu in large numbers and those Kashmiri Pandits who reside in colonies of Shiekhpora Budgam,Vessue Anantnag and other KP’s still living far and wide in the district Kulgam ,Anantnag and Shopian pay visit to the shrine on Gana Chudda ,pay obeisance to Lord Ganesh ,seek blessings, participate in hawan and partake Prasad/ Naveed on the culmination of Yagya on Buddha Purnimashi which falls next day of Ganesh Chuttardashi. Dogri speaking Kashmiri Rajputs who still have good presence in a number of villages of Kulgam and Shopian district also visit the shrine on Ganesh Chuttardashi ,seek blessings from Ganesh who has the status of being the first deity in Sanatan Dharma and partake Prasad.A good number of devotees from Jagti camp and non -camp places of Jammu take yatra from Jammu in vehicles arranged by the government free of cost and visit the shrine ,pay obeisance to Lord Ganesh ,seek his blessings and stay for a full week at the accommodation constructed by the Davesthan Sudhar Sabha and participate in Hawan and take Prasad on Puranauthi.The district administration makes all security arrangements for those visiting the shrine on the auspicious occasion of Gana Chudda .There is much enthusiasm among the devotees visiting the shrine on this important festival of KPs.The Muslim baradari of the village and nearby villages welcome their Hindu brethren from Jammu and embrace them and some Muslims of this village make donations for the hawan.
There is also a sacred shrine of Baba Reshi which is highly revered by both the Muslims and Hindus and is frequently visited by both the communities. As already outlined at at the outset that whole land of JK is pious and abode of gods and goddesses. So few Kms away from the village of Hanand Chawalgam, there is situated village Guddar at a mountain and this village is very famous because the fair of Gaudawari which comes after every 14 years used to be held and people from far and wide and even outside Kashmir took part and had the darshan of the holy cow formed of a rock from whose nostrils Ganga flows and there is mention of this sacred Gaudawari in our sacred scriptures. Moreover some 16 miles from the village H.C. Gam is the sacred shrine of Kheer Bawani having a natural spring in village Manzgam where festival of Zaistha Ashtami and Har Ashtami used to be celebrated and a big fair/mela used to took place and thousands of devotees paid obeisance to Maa Ragyina Bhagwati. In brief, the shrine of Ganesh Bal dedicated to Lord Ganesh-the first among gods and the performance of Yagya on Ganesh Chaturdashi annually and the participation and encouragement by local Muslims is the shinning and living example of communal harmony ,mutual brotherhood and testimony to this fact.May Lord Ganesh make the dream of KP’s return to Kashmir possible.

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