‘Chhari-Mubarak’ pooja at Amarnath marks end of Yatra

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, August 3

The “Chhari-Mubarak” pooja at the cave shrine of Lord Shiva in south Kashmir Himalayas marked the formal end of this year’s Amarnath Yatra on Monday.

Though a special pooja had been performed at the shrine on July 5 that was attended by Lieutenant-Governor GC Murmu and officials of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board, the pilgrimage was later called off amid a spike in the Covid cases. Live aarti from the cave shrine was, however, being telecast for devotees.

Mahant Deependra Giri, who led a group of sadhus to perform the “Charri-Mubarak” pooja, said the holy mace was airlifted to the shrine in the morning.

“On the auspicious occasion of ‘Shravan-Purnima’, ‘Chhari-Mubarak’, one depicting Lord Shiva and another Shakti Goddess Parvati, was carried to the holy shrine from Dashnami Akhara, Srinagar, through the aerial route. Traditional rituals and poojan were performed with the chanting of Vedic hymns at the holy shrine. A limited number of sadhus accompanied the holy mace due to Covid. We prayed for the early end of the pandemic,” the mahant said.

He said the sadhus had reached Pahalgam – the base camp for the traditional yatra route in south Kashmir in the afternoon after pooja at the cave shrine – and would perform the “visarjan” ceremony tomorrow on the banks of the Lidder.

“The final rituals connected with the culmination of the ‘Chhari-Mubarak Swami Amarnath’ will be performed tomorrow. The poojan and visarjan ceremonies shall be performed on the banks of the Lidder,” the mahant said.

Meanwhile, he urged people to make collective efforts towards carrying out their social responsibility by wearing masks, maintaining social distance and frequently sanitising hands so that the pandemic was wiped out and the normal life was back without any restrictions.

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