Srinagar, May 18 -- By Mudabir Jehan

The temple stood under the spring light in South Kashmir's Shopian district, its walls weathered by time and long winters. Inside the compound, 47-year-old Ghulam Qadir Sheikh dipped a paintbrush carefully into a small container and began tracing the "Om" symbol by hand.

Each stroke moved slowly, almost ceremonially, as if repetition itself had become devotion.

Many Kashmiri Pandit families who once prayed at the Kapalmochan temple left the valley decades ago. The courtyard gradually emptied, footsteps faded, and rituals became infrequent. The structure, however, never slipped into ruin.

Qadir continued arriving there year after year.

He swept the floors, lit diyas and cleaned the premises with a ...