<p>Congress President Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Gandhi made an unscheduled visit to the Kashmir valley Thursday to pray at a famous shrine and returned to New Delhi the same evening.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Priyanka drove straight to the Mata Khirbhawani shrine in north Kashmir's Ganderbal district after arriving at Srinagar International Airport. The shrine is 24 km from Srinagar city. <br /><br />All traffic to and from Tullamulla town in district was stopped for her security during the visit."She was on a private one-day visit to Kashmir which was kept under wraps for security reasons. Even some top local Congress leaders did not know about this visit", a senior official of the state intelligence told IANS in summer capital Srinagar.<br /><br />Priyanka prayed at the Mata Khirbhawani Shrine for nearly an hour before returning to Srinagar city. <br /><br />Khirbhawani Shrine is the holiest shrine of the Kashmiri Pandit community. Priyanka's grandmother Indira Gandhi and great grandfather Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, both belonged to this community.<br /><br />Keeping alive the family tradition, Priyanka also visited the Swami Lakhsmanjoo Ashram in Nishat area of Srinagar. <br /><br />Her grandmother was a devout follower of late Swami Lakhsmanjoo who was a renowned exponent of Shaivite Hinduism which Priyanka personally is known to adhere to keep alive her Kashmiri Pandit ancestry.<br /><br />After praying at the two holy places, Priyanka Gandhi flew back to New Delhi.<br /></p>
<p>Congress President Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Gandhi made an unscheduled visit to the Kashmir valley Thursday to pray at a famous shrine and returned to New Delhi the same evening.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Priyanka drove straight to the Mata Khirbhawani shrine in north Kashmir's Ganderbal district after arriving at Srinagar International Airport. The shrine is 24 km from Srinagar city. <br /><br />All traffic to and from Tullamulla town in district was stopped for her security during the visit."She was on a private one-day visit to Kashmir which was kept under wraps for security reasons. Even some top local Congress leaders did not know about this visit", a senior official of the state intelligence told IANS in summer capital Srinagar.<br /><br />Priyanka prayed at the Mata Khirbhawani Shrine for nearly an hour before returning to Srinagar city. <br /><br />Khirbhawani Shrine is the holiest shrine of the Kashmiri Pandit community. Priyanka's grandmother Indira Gandhi and great grandfather Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, both belonged to this community.<br /><br />Keeping alive the family tradition, Priyanka also visited the Swami Lakhsmanjoo Ashram in Nishat area of Srinagar. <br /><br />Her grandmother was a devout follower of late Swami Lakhsmanjoo who was a renowned exponent of Shaivite Hinduism which Priyanka personally is known to adhere to keep alive her Kashmiri Pandit ancestry.<br /><br />After praying at the two holy places, Priyanka Gandhi flew back to New Delhi.<br /></p>