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88-member Hindu jatha to visit Pakistan temple today
The members of the jatha have started arriving at the Durgiana temple in Amritsar from where they will leave for Pakistan
A Hindu jatha will cross over to Pakistan for paying obeisance at the Katas Raj temple through Wagah border on Friday.
The members of the jatha have started arriving at the Durgiana temple in Amritsar from where they will leave for Pakistan at around 9 am, said the temple’s president Ramesh Sharma.
The jatha, which is being led by Kendriya Sanatan Dharam Sabha, will return back to India on December 19. Sabha’s president Shiv Pratap Bajaj said they have got the visas from the Indian government on Wednesday.
Earlier, Pakistan High Commission on Thursday said it had issued visas to 88 Indian pilgrims to visit the temple in the country’s Punjab province.
In November and December, the Pakistan High Commission here said it had issued visas to two groups of Hindu pilgrims to visit religious sites in Pakistan.
A group of 57 Indian pilgrims has already returned from Pakistan where they participated in the 311th birth anniversary celebrations of Shiv Avtari Satguru Sant Shadaram Sahib at Sukkur in Sindh from November 24 to December 5, the Pakistan High Commission said in a statement.
The second group of 88 Indian Hindu pilgrims was issued visas on Wednesday for visiting Katas Raj temples, also known as Qila Katas or complex of Katas temples, in Chakwal district of Punjab from December 13 to 19, it said.
Under the Pakistan-India protocol on visits to religious shrines of 1974, a large number of Sikh and Hindu pilgrims from India visit Pakistan to observe various religious festivals every year.
Meanwhile, Bajaj informed that the ancient temple was believed to be on the same site where Pandavas in exile had engaged in a riddle contest with Yakshas.
Bajaj said, “Religious programmes will be organised at the temple from December 15 to 16. We will take holy dip at Amar Kund on the ancient temple’s premise on December 17.”
Katas Raj temple is a complex of several Hindu temples. It is surrounded by a pond named Katas which is regarded as sacred by Hindus.
