History

Maharagya was pleased with the devotion of Ravana and appeared before him and Ravana got an image of the goddess installed in Sri Lanka. But the goddess became displeased with the vicious and licentious life of Ravana and so didn't want to stay in Sri Lanka. Therefore, under the command of the goddess, Hanuman got the image from Sri Lanka and installed it at the holy spot of Tula Mulla.

The mention of Kheer Bhawani is found in Kalhana's Rajtarangini. Kalhana writes that the sacred spring of Tula Mula is situated in a marshy ground. The name of the spring is Mata Ragini Kund.

Maharagini is the form of Durga Bhagvati. The Brahmins of Kashmir worship this spring and pilgrims from every comer of the country visit to have the darshan of the place.

In Rajtarangini Tula Mula is considered very sacred and the Brahmins of Tula Mula were very great and powerful. The spring of Maharagya was very sacred. Thousands of years ago many floods occurred in Kashmir and the sacred spring of Tula Mula also was inundated under its sway and the holy place could nowhere be traced. All around was water. At last Kashmir's Yogi Krishna Pandit had a dream in which the goddess appeared to him and ordered that she would swim in the form of a snake at the proper place and that he should stick large poles and when the water subsided there the holy spot was discovered. This event happened during the Samvat 4041.

Swami Rama Tirtha and Swami Vivekananda also visited here to have the darshan of the place.

With the pouring of milk and throwing of sugar candy in the spring by the pilgrims, a thick and solid layer was formed at its bottom. When it was cleared, the ruins of an old temple and shrine slabs engraved with figures were discovered. Here many images were also found but nobody rebuilt the temple till the Samvat 1969 when Maharaja Pratap Singh who was the disciple and worshiped this goddess, got a marvelous temple of marble made in the midst of the spring which shines like a pearl in a shell. The marble temple was completed in 1920s. Some people are of the opinion that there was a mulberry tree near holy spot of Kheer Bhawani which, in Kashmiri, is called Tul Mul. But Tul Mul is also derived from the Sanskrit phrase-Tul Muli-that is of great value. This means that all other pilgrim centres are of lesser value than this one. It is said that after Ravana finished the worship of the goddess he offered the kheer (rice pudding) to the goddess which she accepted and since then it is called Kheer Bhawani.

Birth of Divine Goddess in Human Form

Pandit Prasad Joo Parimoo, a Kashmiri Pandit, was a grahasta Saint of such tall order that his peers would profoundly call him Jada Bharata who was a legendary saint of Puranas times. He used to live in Sekidafer area of Srinagar in Kashmir. He was married but didn't have any children so he is said to have finally decided to adopt a son named Madhav Joo.He would regularly meditate at the holy spring and during one such session, while in Samadhi, he had a vision of the Mata Kheer Bhawani, who reprimanded him for his hasty decision of going for adoption when she was herself desirous of taking birth in his home. Nonetheless, She is said to have blessed him with the boon and eventually his wife gave birth to a daughter, who was Mata Kheer Bhawani herself in Human Form. Approximate year of her birth would be 1870-1880. He named her Haar Maal. In the course of time, Haar Maal got married to Pandit Narayan Joo Bhan and gave birth to a son in 1898 who later came to be called Bhagwan Gopinath in his life time.

Proposed New Look

In early 2008, there were plans to modify the basic design of the marble structure. The project was sponsored by Capt. Kapil Raina and family. However, Dr. Karan Singh, who is the Trustee of the Dharmarth Trust that looks after the affairs of this shrine and many other Pandit shrines of Kashmir, refused to carry this proposal forward. He believed Kashmiri Pandit community generally won't be happy with the act of changing the look of the old structure.

The Sacred Spring

Changing colors of the Spring
The main spring dedicated to Goddess Kheir Bhawani has an irregular septagonal shape with its apex called Pad ( feet ) to the East. The northern and the southern sides are longer than the western side which is called Shir (Head).

The mysterious holy spring of Kheer Bhawani which is widely known to change its colour from time to time. The water of the Spring changes its colour from time to time. It takes on various hues like red, pink, orange, green, blue and has often light green, red rosy and millky white shades. Abul Fazal in 16th century and Swami Vivekananda in the year 1894 have testified this fact. Any shade of black colour is supposed to be inauspicious for the inhabitants of the valley. This colour was prominent in the year 1947 when the Pakistani raiders attacked the peaceful valley. Many times rising of bubbles has been observed which form the mystic Chakra on the surface of the water. Such a sacred and mysterious spring is unique in India.