For the first time in 72 years, a Hindu couple of Indian origin was able to perform puja at the Sharada Peeth in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

PT Venkataraman and his wife Sujatha, a Hong Kong-based Hindu couple of Indian origin, performed the puja near the Sharada Temple through coordinated efforts of 'Save Sharda Committee' and civil society in PoK.

The couple travelled to PoK on a valid visa and offered prayers to Goddess Sharada near the shrine.

This came even as people from the PoK are marching towards the Line of Control (LoC) for the past three days to protest the Indian government's move to end the special status to Jammu and Kashmir by abrogation of Article 370. Keeping this in mind, the members of civil society in PoK were requested to take care of them and provide necessary protection.

After performing the puja, the couple handed over the photographs of the Goddess Sharada and Swami Nand Lalji to the civil society members in PoK so they that they could be installed at the shrine after the relaxation in the tensions between India and Pakistan and the ongoing ceasefire violations across the LoC.

Earlier this year, a five-member delegation led by Dr Ramesh Vankwani had visited the Sharada Temple on June 24 with the help of Pakistan Hindu council (PHC).

There have been demands from various quarters to open a route between Jammu and Kashmir and PoK so that devotees in India can offer prayers at the Sharada Peeth, one of the the eighteen Maha Shakti Peethas.

The 'Save Sharda Committee' was formed by a Delhi-based Kashmiri Pandit - Ravinder Pandita - and some other people to launch a campaign for re-opening of the pilgrimage route and restoration of the shrine of Goddess Sharada, one of the holisest site in Hinduism. The revered shrine is situated in Neelam Valley across Karnah tehsil of Kupwara district.

The committee is seeking the protection of Sharada Peeth and other Hindu temples and also permission to restart pilgrimage to this site, like that of Amarnath pilgrimage.

The Supreme Court of PoK last year converted a letter it received from Pandita into a petition and directed its government to protect the shrine.

Kashmiri Pandits remain highly devoted towards this ancient temple. The place was also once a celebrated centre of learning in the subcontinent like Nalanda and Taxila. The native script of Kashmiri language, Sarada, is also named after the deity of this temple Sharada Devi.

The abandoned temple site was heavily damaged in the October 8, 2005 earthquake. Earlier, in 2014 and 2015, two citizens of PoK — Rehmatullah Khan and Ghulam Nabi — had approached the court seeking restoration and reopening of temples and gurdwaras.