SRINAGAR, Sept 4: The Kashmiri Pandit community celebrated Janmashtami, marking the birth of Lord Krishna, with religious fervour and enthusiasm on Friday, organising a Shobha Yatra through prominent areas of Srinagar city.
The Shobha Yatra passed through several localities, including Habba Kadal, Regal Chowk and Lal Chowk, before returning to the main venue. Tight security arrangements were in place to ensure a peaceful yatra.
A Kashmiri Pandit leader said the festival holds special significance for the Kashmiri Pandit community and has become an occasion for people from different communities to come together.
He said the festival provides an opportunity for friends, relatives and members of the majority community to come together and celebrate.
“Our friends and relatives meet here, especially people from our majority community. They wait for this festival more than us because we all come together for Shobha Yatra,” he said.
Recalling the history of the celebrations, he said the festival was celebrated in Srinagar before the 1990s, but the tradition was disrupted following the deterioration of the situation in the Valley. “This was being celebrated before the 1990s. When the situation worsened in the 1990s, we started it again in 2007. Since 2007, we have been celebrating it continuously,” he said.
The celebrations witnessed participation from members of the Kashmiri Pandit community as well as people from other communities. Many young children were seen wearing traditional Kashmiri outfits, and carrying small idols of Lord Krishna. (Agencies)
