Tirth Raj - Lok Bhawan
by Chander M. Bhat
Lok
Bhawan village is situated in Doru Tehsil erstwhile
Brang Pargana some 10 km from District Headquarter
Anantnag. A link road from Larkipora links the
village with the rest of the world. This village is
situated beneath a small hill.
A beautiful spring has its source at the feet
of this hill. Seventy households of Kashmiri Pandits
were residing in this village before 1990. There was
a complete fraternity between Muslims and Pandits.
This village is categorized as a backward area by
the State Government. This place is famous for the
ancient pilgrimage, the Lok
Bhawan pilgrimage. This pilgrimage, has a the
shrine, a small holy spring, at an elevation, and a
big spring, the Lok Bhawan Spring, which receives
water from the small holy spring above at the foot
of the hillock. The Lok Bhawan Spring has plenty of
water and abounds in sacred fish. The water from
this spring flows in the form of a blanket and
exists as a stream from the shrine. Devotees have a
bath near this exit.1 Total land under
this shrine is 20 kanals and two springs are spread
over an area of 8 Kanal and 10 Marlas. The big
spring is 60 feet long and 54 feet in width and the
small spring 10 feet in length and 8 km in width.
King Aurangzeb had the spring developed through his subehdar
Saif Khan who also laid out a garden name
Aurangabad. The name is commemorated in the well
known shrukh
of Sheikh Noor-ul-Din Noorani.
Lokabhawana
‘na’ chi kaji
A kaji
karan Siva
Saati
jahnavaran tsaji
Tin var
ditam deva
[Hail to the mute lade of Lok Bhawan, with dedication one
and all she served, away she departed with the
birds, Grant me, Lord, a boon as that.]
Tirth Raj Lok Bhawan is one of the old pilgrimage centres in
Kashmir. This ancient shrine was known by the name
of Lok-Punya,
reportedly named after Lalita Daitiya, the famous
ruler of 17th century A.D. The word Lok-Punya
signifies the Divine greatness of the shrine. With
the passage of time the word Punya was replaced by ‘Bhawan’. 
Lok Bhawan
In the low laying area of the hill there is a
temple in the name of Mata Saidha
Lakshmi. On the right side of this temple there
is a spring called Waman
Ganga. On the left side of this temple, there is
Saraswati Kund and in between these springs there
are holy feet (pad)
of Lord Vaishnu. On the top of the hill there is a
shrine of deity Bhariava.
At a distance of about 500 feet from this place
there is a beautiful spring called Naran Nag.
It is said the Lok Bhawan was an effluent
town in the days gone by. A local ruler named Lok
Nath is said to have laid the foundation of this
village. Previously it was known as Rudhra
Bhawan. Kalhana in his work Rajtarangni has also
made a mention of this village. Late Shri Anand Koul
‘Bamzai’ in his book ‘History of Kashmir’
has also mentioned that a king named Lok
Punya has laid the foundation of village Lok
Bhawan and after him, his son Damras developed it as
a centre of education. Tazak-i-Jahangeri
has also a mention of this fact. This town was
extended four km in length and two km in breadth.
Village Sidhwara and Shankerpora are also linked
with this village. It has a dense population right
from Shankerpora and adjoining area. But time proved
fatal for the area and only remains of that period
are visible now-a-days. Beehama was site of
Archaeological excavations and some idols were
un-earthed and even today, temple of Gadhadar
is still in its pristine glory. Even today there are
ruins of old buildings on the right side of Lok
Bhawan temple. There is a waterfall still available
in the shape of a pyramid and there is a stream
called Ganga going down the ground. There is also a
cave available which was forty feet long and four
feet high and the opening of this cave is now in
debris. The cave has concrete wall and idols of Lord
Rama, Sheshnag,
and Lord Ganesha
were inside the cave. It is said that royals were
coming to this cave shrine after having holy bath at
the adjacent spring.
It is said that a pious lady named Keij
Maej who was dumb and was a poor lady used to
come to this shrine and would offer water brought
from Harnag and this water has brought a spring into
existence by that time. A festival is observed on
the day of moksha
of this pious lady which falls on Har
Bhah, the day
of Ashad Shukla Paksha Dwadashi. This day was
being celebrated with gaiety, devotion and
enthusiasm ever since a century. It is said that
this festival has special significance for the women
folk, who would take bath in the twelve springs of
the shrine starting from Naran Nag to Amrit
Kund (spring of nectar), in the vicinity of Lok
Bhawan on Har Bhah and would get redemption from
their sins. The boon to Keij
Maej from Lord Shiva is also a great boon to
women folk of Kashmir Valley. It is said that after
the death women are questioned by the Lord of Death,
if they have performed Har
Bhah pilgrimage by having a dip in the twelve
springs at Lok Bhawan. This is evident from the
following saying which was on the tip of the tongue
of everyone in the area.
Lar
Lad Batnai Har Bhah Chaiyah Karmech?
(Have you performed the festival of Har
Bhah?)
In the 20th century there was a
population only comprising of illiterate people.
Under these circumstances a man named Shri Sarwanand
Raina started offering prayers at this place which
infused interest in other people about the shrine.
Shri Sarwanand Raina was working in Jammu &
Kashmir Police Department and his efforts proved
very beneficial for the shrine. Before 1968 this
shrine was being looked after only by elderly people
of the village and in later years youth also stepped
in. A Prabandhak
Committee under the name of Tirthraj
Lokbhawan was started which looked after the
construction of the shrine. The effort of this Prabandhak
Committee took a good leap towards its present
position.
In the year February 1986, this shrine and
the dharamshalas
was burnt down by anti-social elements and it was
during Governors rule that re-construction of the
shrine took place. After mass exodus of Kashmiri
Pandits in December 1992, this shrine again fell to
the desecration of anti-social elements and
everything left behind was either burnt down or
broken down. Now work on re-construction of this
shrine is under way and may take few more months to
restore its pristine glory.
Ever since exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from
Kashmir valley, Lok Bhawan Shrine also went in exile
like other shrines of the valley. The members of
Prabandhak Committee who also migrated to Jammu and
other parts of India continued their strenuous
efforts to re-establish the institution as Shri
Pushkara Swami Sewa Ashrama at Chinor, Jammu.
Another branch of the institution has recently been
opened at Kashmiri Colony, Vitasta Enclave,
Nafafgarh, New Delhi.
Notes and References:
-
Interview with Shri Durga Prasad Raina son of Shri Sarwanand
Raina, a resident of Lok Bhawan and presently
residing at Durga Nagar, Sector II, Jammu.
- Encyclopaedia: Kashmiri Pandit Culture and Heritage by
C.L.Kaul, published by Ansh Publications and
Distributors, New Delhi, 2009 edition.
- Place Names in Kashmir by B.K.Raina and S.L.Sadhu, Published
by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai and Indira Gandhi
National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi, 2000
edition.
- Superintending Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of
India, Gandhi Nagar, Jammu.
- Guldastai Kashmir (Urdu) by Hargopal Kaul, published by Arya
Press Lahore, 1883 edition.
- Rajtarangni by Pandit Kalhan and translated by Sh. M. S.
Stein, publisher Motilal Banarasidass, Delhi.
Image Gallery:
http://ikashmir.net/gallery/categories.php?cat_id=286
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