E-Paper
Hindu jatha to leave for Pak to celebrate Maha Shivratri today
A Hindu jatha (group of people) will cross over to Pakistan via the Attari-Wagah border on Thursday for their pilgrimage to Katas Raj Temple Complex there for celebrating Maha Shivaratri.
A Hindu jatha (group of people) will cross over to Pakistan via the Attari-Wagah border on Thursday for their pilgrimage to Katas Raj Temple Complex there for celebrating Maha Shivaratri.
Pakistan high commission has issued visas to 114 pilgrims from 14 states. The visas were received on Tuesday night, said the pilgrimage’s organiser Shiv Partap Bajaj, who is also the national president of Kendrya Sanatan Dharam Sabha.
Bajaj said they had sent a list of 170 pilgrims for the visas on December 28, 2022, to the commission. “The visas were granted very late. Due to the late grant, many pilgrims have already opted out of the pilgrimage,” Bajaj said. He requested from the Pakistan High Commission that such visas should be granted on time so that the pilgrims don’t face any inconvenience.
“Many of the pilgrims, who have been granted the visas, have already arrived in Amritsar and the remaining will reach early on Thursday. These pilgrims will move towards the Wagah border after paying obeisance at the Amritsar’s Durgiana Temple,” he said.
“At the Katas Raj Temple complex, the main programme to celebrate Maha Shivaratri will begin on February 18. The pilgrims will take a holy dip at the Amar Kund in the ancient temple. The pilgrims will also light diyas (clay lamps) at the Amar Kund,” he said.
The pilgrims will also visit Sri Krishan Temple situated in Lahore on February 20 and take part in a religious function there. On February 21, the jatha members will pay their homage at the samadhi (shrine raised over the ashes of a deceased person) of Rama’s son Love in Lahore. On February 22, the jatha will return to India.
The pilgrims who have been granted visas are from Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and West Bengal.
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 religious festivals every year.
Katas Raj Temple, also known as Qila Katas, is in a complex of several temples connected by walkways and is located in the Potohar Plateau region of Pakistan’s Punjab province.
