Goddess Tara temple Qazigund

 

Praraan praaran Tarawatyay alley nazaar traav 

kharaan poozaye jhafer phateye atay nazaar traav

-Samad Mir

(For long have i sought thee, reveal thy true self to me of Tarawati, caskets of marigolds will I entreat you with reveal thy true self to me)

(translation by Shri Rashneek Kher) The above lines, in praise of goddess Tara are written the famous poet of Kashmir Samid Mir. The temple dedicated to goddess Tara, in Kashmir can be found in the village Taragom, near Qazigund.

Goddess Tara (one of the dasha-mahavidhyas) is primarily a Hindu goddess who, later, manifests in the Buddhist iconography as well, but the goddess described by our poet is the one as she is described and worshipped in the Hindu pantheon. The worship of goddess Tara is not unknown to Kashmiris.

There are, at least, two villages in Kashmir that owe their name to goddess Tara. One is Tarragon, near Kulgam from where the MLA Mohammed Yusuf Tarigami hails and the other is the village of Tarragon, near Qazigund. The village, near Kulgam, has no temple dedicated to the goddess today but the village near Qazigund, has a temple, dedicated to the goddess and is of considerable antiquity The goddess manifests herself in the form of a tree, bren (elm) The temple seems to be centuries old and many. antique sculptures are found around it and the nag (spring), dedicated to the goddess. 

The temple, thankfully, has survived the attacks from the jihadis and miscreants in early 90s, mostly due to strong belief and respect held even by the local Muslim population The villagers of Tangom, irrespective of religion, try their best to avoid immoral activities as they believe that the goddess will punish them.

During my visit, an anecdote was shared with us by a local Kashmiri Pandit, who stayed back in the 90s. He said  that a Muslim policeman posted at the minority picket (police pickets around Hindu minority religious institutions or groups of houses) close to the temple had consumed alcohol one night. That night a lady with a divine glow and in a white sand came to him and asked him not to repeat the mistake. The policeman never dared to drink again.

It is believed that the goddess travels to Kishtwar during winters and comes back to Tarragon in spring.

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Courtesy:- Amit Raina   and Koshur Samachar 2018, January