Palanquin, signs of deity Ganga brought from Gangotri shrine

Tribune News Service

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Haridwar, March 29

From the revered Himalayan shrine of Gangotri, a palanquin and signs (nishaan) of the deity Ganga were brought to Maa Ganga Aahwan Akhada, Ardh Kumbh camp, in the Gauri Shankar Mela sector here today. The palanquin and signs will be put up at the Akhada till April 2, when rendition of Shri Ganga Katha, that commenced today, will conclude.

Shiv Prakash Maharaj, Rawal of Gangotri Dham, accompanied the palanquin and signs with traditional folk musical instruments of the hill region. They were first taken to Neel Dhara Ganga ghat for religious rites. Women devotees then fetched holy Ganga water in earthen pots (kalash) from the Ganga ghat in a religious procession till the Maa Ganga Aahwan Akhada camp.

Folk instruments, dhol-damau and ransingha, were the major attractions of the religious procession.

Maa Ganga Aahwan Akhada founder member Sri Mahant Prem Puri said it was for the first time in the Ardh Kumbh fair that religious discourse on the deity Ganga was being organised to disseminate information and awareness about keeping the holy river free of pollution.

Urging people to come forward to ensure mother Ganga ‘s sanctity and purity, kathawachak Pt Ravindra Semwal said the Ganga river was a salvation provider, on whom the livelihood of millions of people depended. Yet, it was quite unfortunate that we polluted it.

He cautioned people against throwing religious material, polythene bags , sewer waste and industrial effluents into the sacred river. It was a sin in religious terms too as we regard the Ganga as mother deity, he stated.

Ghanshyam Shukla, Ajay Sharma, JP Badoni, Bhagirath Gehlot, Aswani Saini, Nitin Dimiri, Dr Dinesh Chandra Jain, Kartik Shukla, Manish Joshi, RK Aggarwal and Mahesh Gaud were present at the occasion.