SRINAGAR: A group of 400 Kashmiri Pandits from across the country participated in the Mahanavmi Puja at the Bhadrakali temple at Handwara in Kupwara district.

Over 1000 Muslims came to welcome the visitors to the border district, said Senior Superintendent of Police, Haseeb Mughal, adding that all the necessary security arrangements have been made at the venue. The Kashmiri Pandit community is celebrating Dussehra, the Hindu festival which commemorates the victory of good over evil, after two decades.

Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti, a party representing the non-migrant Pandit community, had made the arrangements for the celebrations, said Samiti president Sanjay Tickoo.

The effigies of Ravana, Kumbhkaran and Meghnath were set ablaze at Hauzaribagh. All Parties Migrant Coordination Committee led by Vinod Pandit reopened 600 year-old Mata Shiva Bhagwati shrine in Anantnag district after a gap of 20 years.