The temple of Kheer Bhawani is situated 14 miles east from the city of Srinagar in Kashmir, India. Kheer is basically a type of rice pudding, a common offering at this temple, which is why the name stuck and the temple is referred to with this in the name. According to Hindus, the goddess is called by the names - Maharagya Devi, Ragnya Devi, Rajni, Ragnya Bhagwati, etc. The Goddess is a roop or avatar of the goddess Durga. She is one of the more ancient Goddesses, who is said to have appeared in the times of Ravana. Wikipedia has this story added for reference -
Maharagya was pleased with the devotion of Ravana and appeared before him and Ravana got an image of the Goddess installed in Sri Lanka. However, the Goddess became displeased with the vicious and licentious life of Ravana and so didn't want to stay in Sri Lanka. Therefore, she is believed to have instructed Lord Hanuman to get the image from Sri Lanka and install it at the holy spot of Tul Mull. Zetha Ashtami is celebrated at this temple mostly in the month of May, wherein hundreds of migrant Kashmiri Pandits from around the world visit the temple.
Why is Kheer Bhawani famous? Well, the water of Kheer Bhawani, at very few instances, has changed to red and black in the past, deeming these incidents to be inauspicious because something bad always happens following this, according to locals.
Let's take a look at some notable mentions on Kheer Bhawani, maybe we'll know what this is all about. Notably, Swami Vivekananda spoke of Kheer Bhawani, even having heard the voice of the Goddess himself distinctly when he was conducting a ritual at the temple. He was one of the people to make account of the septagonal shape in which the holy waters reside and also noted the waters changing colour from time to time depending on the situation in the valley.
Accordingly to an age-old traditional folklore, the water of Kheer Bhawani changes colours depending on the situation or environment in the valley. The darker the shade of the water, the more dangerous the situation or event to occur. Locals believe Kheer Bhawani predicted the Kashmir floods in 2014, the flood that killed nearly 200+ people, leaving damages to over 40,000 people. The Kund, literally meaning 'pond' or 'spring' turned red just one day after the celebration of Janmashtami, and this alarmed the life out of the locals as this didn't happen very often. Around 15 days later, the floods caused devastation to the valley. A few other incidents I found on
Kashmir First, say:
In 1886, Walter Lawrence, the-then British settlement commissioner for land, during his visit to the spring, reported the water of the spring to have a violet tinge. Kashmiris claim to have observed a darkish or murky tinge to the water just before the assassination of Indira Gandhi and the 1989 insurgency in the valley. Some people say that before the exodus of the Pandits from Kashmir the colour had turned completely black in 1990!
 |
| The red waters of Kheer Bhawani |
After speaking to a few people who've visited the temple, I've gathered, like any other hot water spring should have - the steam emitted from the water is negligible or not there at all. Most of them visited in February-March when it's pretty cold, but I haven't found any pictures of it otherwise. Being in the hamlet of Tula Mulla, this spring is an outlet of what used to be the original spring so there's no guarantee with the environment the water is contained in right now, that it would be affected by the original hot water spring. It is also important to note the ground from where you see the temple so clearly was also quite hot, not letting anyone really stand for too long without footwear for more than 5 minutes.
A Kashmiri historian Kalhana wrote extensively on the history of Kashmir. In his chronicle 'Rajatarangini' published in the 12th century CE., he stated that the temple area earlier was on marshy ground, indicating it would have possibly been build on an existing spring. Being a part of the Tula Mulla spring, the waters in Kheer Bhawani let out a negligible amount of steam near the temple.
To find answers we have to look outside India. Let's also take a look at reasons science has to give for the change in colour. With hot springs, it's such - The colour of the water, especially the colourful shades we see, comes from temperature and effect of light on the microbes present in the water. Yes! These are heat-loving microbes that live in extremely hot conditions. Take the Yellowstone Park's Grand Prismatic hot spring for example. Take a good look at this picture, it's so gorgeous!!
 |
| The Grand Prismatic spring in Yellowstone Park, courtesy Huffington Post |
Let me explain the whole idea in short - From the centre of the spring outwards, the colour of the water changes from pure blue to different hues. The reason being - the water in the center is the hottest, so no microbes find that too favourable, therefore the colour of the sky is directly reflected here, clear water, super hot!
As we go outwards, the water is comparatively cooler, allowing microbes to grow. Read more about these fascinating change in colours due to microbes
here and on
Smithsonian here.
How does this affect the waters of Kheer Bhawani? Or does it affect them at all?
I picked this piece of info from a study done by Smithsonian - As you get farther from the center of the hot spring, the temperatures get lower and there is a greater diversity of microbes that can survive there, Smithsonian's Natasha Geiling reported. The spring's outermost layer, at 131 degrees Fahrenheit (55 degrees Celsius), is a red-brown or burgundy color. Another carotenoid-carrying microbe also comes into play at this temperature: Deinococcus-Thermus Thermus creates "bright red or orange streamers," according to a blog by the American Geophysical Union (AGU). For instance, the Lower Geyser basin in Yellowstone has a reddish hue due to this bacteria.
So let's say if this was the far end of an actual spring, the part exposed to light would be under the influence of the dominating red bacteria that give the water its colour? Maybe so, yes. Let's consider this for a minute and make sense of the situations around. What we need to also know, importantly, is that HUMANS, yes humans have an effect on the changing colours in a hot spring, because of simple reasons. As also reported by Live Science: Researchers have gone a step further than showing that environmental features favor microbes that produce certain colors. As they reported in a 2015 paper published in the journal Applied Optics, a mathematical model was created to explain the colors within the springs. Consistent with what is seen at the Grand Prismatic Basin, the researchers, from Montana State University in the U.S. and Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany, found that in deep water, the color resulted mostly from the light's interaction (scattering, absorption) with the water itself, whereas in the shallow areas, the color came from the reflection of light from microbial mats, whose composition depended highly on temperature.
They also reported that humans might have influenced the colors of Yellowstone's geothermal features. In the past, the temperatures of Morning Glory Pool were significantly higher, and its color was a deep blue, they reported. As trash accumulated in the pool, somewhat clogging the vent, its temperature cooled, allowing for microbial growth and giving rise to orange-yellow microbial mats that give the pool its psychedelic appearance, according to a statement from The Optical Society.
Oh well, the last time something like this happened at Kheer Bhawani was a day after Janmashtami. Even though there wasn't any direct colourant added to the water to give it the colour, there might have been an accumulation near the source of the waters, cooling them down and allowing for the growth of these microbes.
Then they said the water turned black. Damn! Now this, is something I am not too sure about but this could make sense. We all know around the world that springs are supposed to contain loads of sulphur, and hot water springs are considered to have 'healing' or medicinal properties. The steamboat springs in Colorado, USA are completely black. This has not affected the texture of the water, nor is the water dirty, just pumping black! Chemistry 101!~ The incidence of rotten egg odor or black water in hot water lines is due to the reaction of sulfates and micro-organisms in the water that create Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S). This is a water chemistry condition, rather than a water heater problem. Hydrogen sulfide dissolved in water corrodes metals such as iron, steel, copper and brass. The corrosion of iron and steel from sulfur forms ferrous sulfide or "black water." We all know minerals exist naturally, so no ruling out that. Let us also not forget that Kashmir is very rich in Borax and Sulphur.
An article on Kashmir First openly speaks about these occurences have strongly to do with the spiritual peace in the valley. Blood was shed on the concert night of the Bavarian Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta, after which the water at Kheer Bhawani turned to red, the first time in ages. This was is 2013.
I believe a mountainous region is very affected by the existence of physical structures (mountains in this case), sound and the effect of sound (no denying the effects of echoes and landslides) and many other things we have not come to understand or fully accept. All of this affects our surrounding in general, maybe to the very depths of the spring geysers to the very heights of the waters in which microbes exist. If I knew more science I'd be able to look for more answers and come to conclusions but safe to say, much of the earth's geology plays up and this has to do heavily with the energy even people produce. The earth knows us more than we know ourselves, and we are a product of the planet, so our connection is not necessary physical and tangible, it is more than we think it is. Every temple as we know is built on places that are high in energy, so it should come to us as no surprise that Kheer Bhawani was also one of these places.
Maybe the few other times people saw the waters change colour, their fear manifested the incidents that followed, or maybe Kheer Bhawani was only offering the calm and healing waters to indicate times are going to be rough, and you need some healing!
More from me, very soon!
