Manimahesh Yatra concludes without final rituals at sacred lake

The fury of nature in Chamba district has not only devastated normal life but also disrupted centuries-old customs as priests from Sanchui village could not reach Manimahesh Lake to perform final rituals.

Ritual, called “Dal Todna” in a local dialect, is a practice of the priests swimming across the Manimahes Lake to mark its end. The ritual of crossing the lake is performed on the last day, while during the other day of the yatra, only devotees take a dip on one end of the lake.

On the auspicious occasion of Radha Ashtami, priests from Sanchui village set out early on Saturday to perform the ritual. As the group of priests reached Hadsar, the base camp of the yatra, they were forced to retreat as the trek towards Lake had been completely destroyed by landslides and flash floods. Huge boulders and debris blocked the way, while continuous rainfall made any further attempt life-threatening. In view of the perilous conditions, the priests unanimously decided to return to Bharmour, leaving the ritual incomplete.

Meanwhile, thousands of pilgrims from Doda, Bhaderwah (Jammu and Kashmir) and Chamba had on Saturday performed rituals at Chamba’s Chaugan ground, marking the spiritual conclusion of their journey.

The auspicious occasion of the last royal bath (Rajat Snan) of the yatra began on Saturday afternoon and was scheduled to end today.

Locals say it is the first time in living memory that the priests could not reach the lake to conduct the ritual. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, when public gatherings were suspended, the Sanchui priests had managed to perform the sacred ceremony at the lake. This year’s disruption, they say, highlights the unprecedented scale of destruction.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who conducted an aerial survey of Bharmour, Manimahesh and other disaster-affected areas yesterday, had admitted that the scale of devastation was far greater than the previous years.