Uttarakhand govt to decide on allowing Kanwar Yatra after Centre’s guidelines on lockdown 4.0

Kanwar Yatra is an annual pilgrimage of Shiva devotees, known as Kanvarias to Haridwar, Gaumukh and Gangotri in Uttarakhand to fetch the holy water of the Ganga River.

Updated on: May 15, 2020, 15:38:23 IST

Hindustan Times, Dehradun | By Neeraj Santoshi

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The Uttarakhand government will take a decision on whether to allow the Kanwar Yatra that attracts over 3 crore devotees to Haridwar, after lockdown 4.0 guidelines are issued by the Centre.

Due to their arrival in huge numbers, the Uttarakhand government has to make special arrangements for their safety and to facilitate the smooth conduct of the yatra. (HT PHOTO.)

Cabinet minister and state government spokesperson Madan Kaushik said the matter will be discussed after guidelines for lockdown 4.0 are announced by the Central government.

Kanwar Yatra is an annual pilgrimage of Shiva devotees, known as Kanvarias to Haridwar, Gaumukh and Gangotri in Uttarakhand to fetch the holy water of the Ganga River. The devotees gather Ganga water (Gangajal) and carry it across hundreds of miles to offer the same in their local Shaiva shrines. In Kanwar Yatra which starts after monsoons, the devotees come from the states of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh to Uttarakhand

Due to their arrival in huge numbers, the Uttarakhand government has to make special arrangements for their safety and to facilitate the smooth conduct of the yatra.

Mahamandaleshwar Harichetnanand Maharaj of Shri Panchayati Bada Udasin Akhada said whether Kanwar Yatra should be allowed this year or not, depends on the containment of the coronavirus epidemic. “The portals of the Badrinath shrine were opened on Friday but only 28 people were allowed at the shrine. No pilgrims were allowed. The government is yet to take a decision on whether to allow the Char Dham yatra this year or not,” he said.

“So, if Covid-19 cases increase further we have to abide by the Union government guidelines as currently only ritualistic religious events are being allowed. As other pilgrimages are not being allowed in the state at present, we will have to wait for some time, nearly two months when the Kanwar Yatra starts. We hope till then the situation will normalize and the government can take the right decision based on the situation then,” he said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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