Article Title: Kanwar Yatra
05-07-2023
History & Art and Culture Prelims Plus
Why is in news? Twelve day annual Kanwar Yatra begins in different parts of country
The 12-day long annual Kanwar Yatra, a pilgrimage organised in the Hindu calendar month of Shravana and began in different parts of the country.
The Kanwar Yatra will pass through Delhi, Meerut, Saharanpur, Ghaziabad, Shamli and Bhagpat districts in Uttar Pradesh.
Saffron-clad Shiva devotees generally walk barefoot with pitchers of holy water from the Ganga or other holy rivers.
Devotees participating in the yatra will collect the sacred water from the river Ganga.
Devotees chant slogans in praise of Lord Shiva and sing bhajans and kirtans while taking part in the yatra.
Devotees carry the pitchers of holy water on their shoulders, balanced on decorated slings known as Kanwars.
The water is used by the pilgrims to worship Shiva lingas at shrines of importance, include the 12 Jyotirlingas, or temples such as the Pura Mahadeva and Augharnath Temple in Meerut, Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, Baidyanath Dham in Deoghar, Jharkhand etc.
An important festival with similarities to the Kanwar yatra in North India, called the Kavadi festival, is celebrated in Tamil Nadu, in which Lord Muruga is worshipped.
The legend of the ritual goes back to the ‘samudra manthan’, narrated in the Bhagavata Purana.
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