Religious ceremonies held at Pahalgam
Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, July 5: While Special Puja was performed at Shri Amarnathji cave on the occasion of Ashad Purnima which is also known as Guru Purnima by Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) today, Mahant Deependra Giri- the founder of The True Trust performed religious ceremonies of Bhoomi Pujan, Navgrah Pujan, Chhari Pujan and Dhawajarohan at Pahalgam to mark the commencement of annual pilgrimage of holy cave.
Lt Governor G C Murmu who is also the chairman of SASB led the other Board members in Puja -Archana which was held this morning by chanting Vedic hymns and ringing of conch shells and bells by religious scholars present on the occasion.
The Lt Governor was accompanied by Chief Executive Officer, SASB, Bipul Pathak, Additional CEO, Anoop Soni, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, P K Pole, GOC 15, Corps, Lt. General B S Raju, GOC Victor Force , Maj Gen A Sengupta and CO 18 Rashtriya Rifles Colonel Harsh Yadav, Deputy Commissioners of Anantnag and Ganderbal besides General Manager Shrine Board Shiban Ji Koul and other officers of administration and Shrine Board.
The Puja was held for one hour at cave shrine situated at an altitude of 3882 meters in deep Himalayas of South Kashmir district of Anantnag by maintaining social distancing in view of COVID pandemic.
Sources said the whole area is snow bound but the track has been cleared from the snow. The Ice Shivlingam has the height of about 10 feet, sources added. The LG and other officers reached in special chopper to the holy cave for performing Puja and stayed there for over an hour before returning to Srinagar.
From today, the SASB has started telecast of the live darshan and Aarti at holy cave for half an hour both in morning and evening. It will continue up to Shravan Purnima which coincides with Raksha Bandhan festival falling on August 3 which is the last day of darshan at cave shrine when the Chhari Mubarak (holy mace) of Lord Shiva led by its sole custodian, Mahant Deependra Giri Ji Maharaj and Sadhus reaches there from Dashnami Akhara, Srinagar.
The live darshan and Aarti will be telecast from 6 am to 6.30 am in the morning and 5pm to 5.30 pm in the evening daily for the one month for those devotees who could not perform darshan due to unavoidable circumstances this year, sources said.
They added that the final decision of starting the pilgrimage to holy cave was likely to be taken in tomorrow’s meeting of the Shrine Board. It may be recalled that the Board in its meeting with the office bearers of Baba Amarnath and Buda Amarnath Yatri Niyas had given the indication of running the yatra for 15 days this year in view of the COVID pandemic from July 21 to August 3 but final decision in this regard is awaited.
The Board has also decided to restrict the yatra for the people above the age of 60 years and people embarking for the pilgrimage have to undergo COVID test also.
Meanwhile, to mark the commencement of annual holy Amarnath pilgrimage as per the tradition, the Bhoomi-Pujan’, ‘Navgrah-Pujan’, ‘Chhari-Pujan’ and ‘Dhawajarohan’ ceremonies were performed at Pahalgam today on the auspicious occasion of ‘Ashad-Purnima’. The sound of conch shell reverberated the whole atmosphere.
These are important rituals prior to main course of annual pilgrimage of Shri Amarnath Ji. Keeping in view COVID-19 pandemic, only selected number of Sadhus accompanied holy Mace from Dashnami Akhara, Srinagar to Pahalgam, the base camp of swami Amarnath Ji annual yatra.
Speaking on the occasion, about pandemic, Mahant Deependra Giri Ji, Mahant Chhari-Mubarak Shri Amarnathji said, “it is an extraordinary situation and we need to take extraordinary measure to meet this challenge”.
“People of Jammu & Kashmir irrespective of their caste, creed or religion have been cooperating, assisting and encouraging the pilgrims and Sadhus who come here from across the country and even abroad for this annual pilgrimage”, Mahant Ji added.
Prayers were also offered at Historic Martand Temple, Mattan (Anantnag) in a traditional way. The devotees at the shrine paid their obeisance to the holy mace.
Mahant Deependra Giri Ji appealed to the intended pilgrims and public in general to strictly follow the regulations laid by the administration of Union Territory of J&K and Central Government in letter and spirit to defeat the invisible enemy.
Mahant Ji expressed his satisfaction after performing these traditional rituals at Pahalgam and complimented the administration for making the arrangements for the event.
The event was organized by ‘The True Trust’ founded by Mahant Deependra Giri Ji in year 2004.
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