Here, childless couples flock to perform Khara Diya
SRINAGAR GARHWAL: Every year during Vaikunth Chaturdashi Fair, Kamleshwar Mahadev temple here is crowded with devotees. They all come here to seek fulfillment of their desires or to thank God after their wishes come true.
Childless couples especially flock to Kamleshwar Mahadev temple during this time of the year. It is believed those who offer Khara Diya to Lord Shiva are blessed with a child within a year or two.
This year more than 200 women have arrived here from various parts of the country to seek blessings for a child -- more precisely - a male child. The childless women and those who desire to have a male child, dress up for the occasion and stand all night in Kamleshwar Mahadev temple premises with earthen lamp (diya) in their hands.
At about four in the morn- ing, they take a holy dip in Alaknanda river and make offerings to the God. The head priest presents them a coconut as a blessing of God. The devotees believe those who offer Khara Diya are blessed with a child within one or two years.
According to information sought from temple committee records, Divya, who had come all the way from Bikaner (Rajasthan) to perform Khara Diya at Kamleshwar Mahadev temple in 1999, is a proud mother of a 13-year-old son. She said: “My 13-year-old son is now a junior national pistol shooter and a Judo player. My son’s birth is due to Lord Shiva’s blessings.”
Another devotee, Niti Jakhmola of Delhi, who could not bear a child even after 8 years of her marriage despite various medical treatments, offered Khara Diya at the temple and is now blessed with a child.
“I am happy to be blessed with a girl child who is now 3-monthold,” she said.