Magh Mela begins amid Vedic hymns

Tribune News Service

Uttarkashi, January 14

The much-awaited Magh Mela 2015 began amid chanting of Vedic hymns and beating of drums at Ramlila Ground here today.

The mela has been organised by the zila parishad after two years with an objective to bring cheer among residents of Uttarkashi.

Chief Minister Harish Rawat inaugurated the mela in presence of zila panchayat president Jasoda Rana, Prakash Chand Ramola zila parishad vice-presidents Prakash Chand Ramola and Kuldeep Bisht.

The Chief Minister said the government was planning to link religion with modernity and tradition while conducting the Char Dham yatra in the future.

Artistes presented cultural programmes depicting tradition of the region on the occasion.

Earlier, the Chief Minister visited Kashi Vishwanath, Shakti temple and Kandaar Devta temple and sought blessing on the occasion. The festival of Makar Sankranti began with Magh Mela in Uttarkashi.

The palanquin of gods and goddess from around the villages of the district were immersed in the Ganga. However, the number of devotees was less as compared to other days due to confusion on the date of Makar Sankranti. The other reason for lesser number of devotees was the dilapidated condition of ghats that were damaged in the natural disaster in 2013.

Chief Minister Harish Rawat when asked about the delay in construction of ghats said he was not satisfied with the pace of work but as the damage was enormous it was taking longer time and hoped that within a few months, the ghats would come back to their old glory.