Once humming with festivities on the occasion of various Hindu festivals, the Habbakadal area of the old city on the banks of the Jhelum sans religious fervour ahead of Herath (Shivratri), that is scheduled to be celebrated on Sunday. Thanks to the migration of a majority of Pandits from the Valley with the eruption of militancy in early 1990, the festivities have lost that grandeur and ceased to continue at the same pace. At present, there are only 2,764 Pandits in 630 families living at 192 places across the Valley.…
Read MoreReligious fervour missing in Habbakadal
