Srinagar, July 6 (IANS) The movement of Amarnath pilgrims towards the cave shrine was temporarily halted on Saturday from both north and south Kashmir base camps due to heavy rain in the area.

Officials said that the movement of Yatris from north Kashmir’s Baltal base camp and from south Kashmir’s Nunwan (Pahalgam) base camp has been temporarily halted due to heavy rain along the twin routes.

Yatris from Baltal base camp have to cover a 14 km-long track to the cave shrine on foot or on ponies, while those using the traditional Nunwan (Pahalgam) base camp have to cover 48 kms which takes four days (one way).

The Pahalgam-cave shrine axis involves Pahalgam to Chandanwari (24 kms), Chandanwari to Sheshnag (13 kms), Sheshnag to Panchtarni (5 kms) and Panchtarni to Cave Shrine (6 kms).

Those taking the 14 km-long Baltal base camp route return the same day to the base camp after ‘Darshan’ inside the cave shrine.

–IANS

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Jalna (Maharashtra), July 6 (IANS) Shivba Sanghatana chief Manoj Jarange-Patil will embark on a 7-day campaign across Marathwada to drum up awareness on the pending issue of Maratha quotas and appeal for restraint by the community, from Saturday.

The awareness drive, planned in multiple phases, will start from Hingoli and end in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar on July 13, covering other districts like Beed, Nanded, Osmanabad, Latur, Jalna; he will address massive rallies over the next one week.

Briefly interacting with media persons, Jarange-Patil said in Jalna that the government will have to consider the Hyderabad gazette which mentions the ‘Maratha-Kunbis’ and ‘Kunbi-Marathas’ and also take suitable steps to implement the demand of ‘sage-soyare’ (bloodline).

The reference was to the upcoming four-day long visit of the Justice Sandeep Shinde Committee to Hyderabad from Monday, to verify and collect the details of the state gazette there pertaining to the Maratha-Kunbi and Kunbi-Maratha communities.

Leaving his village Antarwali-Sarati for Hingoli along with thousands of supporters this morning, Jarange-Patil will be welcomed at Balsond with a 30-foot mammoth garland of roses, lifted by a crane.

After offering respects before a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, he will start the peace-cum-awareness march around 11.30 a.m., wending through different areas before culminating at 3 p.m. with a public meeting.

To a query by the media on whether he would put up candidates for the October Assembly elections, Jarange-Patil said he would take a decision on the issue after July 13 when the ongoing peace-cum-awareness campaign will end.

Earlier, the Shivba Sanghatana leader had threatened that if the state government failed to accept all his demands, the Marathas would contest all the 288 seats in the Assembly polls and also specifically target to defeat the ruling MahaYuti candidates of Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party-Nationalist Congress Party.

–IANS

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Srinagar, July 6 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir DGP, RR Swain, lauded his men and expressed gratitude to the President of India, Prime Minister, and the Defence Minister for awarding Shaurya Chakras to five personnel of the Union Territory’s police force for the first time.

For the first time in the history of J&K Police since it was established in 1873 and after Independence, five personnel of this organisation have been awarded Shaurya Chakras for their courage and bravery while serving the nation.

Shaurya Chakra is normally awarded to the personnel of the three Defence forces.

Lauding his men for being bestowed with this honour, DGP Swain in a statement thanked President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for recognising the valour and sacrifices of J&K Police in the service of the nation.

The five Shaurya Chakra awardees from J&K Police include selection grade Constable, Saifullah Qadri (posthumously), Dy SP Mohan Lal, Sub-Inspector, Amit Raina, Sub-Inspector, Feroz Ahmed, and Constable Varun Singh.

–IANS

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Jammu, July 6 (IANS) More than 1.50 lakh pilgrims paid obeisance at the Amarnath cave shrine in the last seven days as another batch of 5,871 devotees left for the Valley on Saturday.

Officials of the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB), which manages the affairs of the annual pilgrimage to the Himalayan cave shrine, said that over 1.50 lakh pilgrims have performed the ongoing Yatra in seven days so far.

“Another batch of 5,871 Yatris left Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in Jammu for the Valley today in two escorted convoys. Of these, the first escorted convoy of 2,112 Yatris left at 2.50 a.m. in 110 vehicles for the north Kashmir Baltal base camp while another escorted convoy of 134 vehicles carrying 3,759 Yatris left at 3.50 a.m. for south Kashmir Nunwan (Pahalgam) base camp,” the officials said.

“The Yatra has been going on smoothly without any interruption since it started on June 29,” they added.

The weather department has forecast generally cloudy weather on both the Yatra routes with the possibility of light rain and thundershowers during the day.

Yatris take either the 48 km long traditional Pahalgam-Cave Shrine route or the shorter 14 km long Baltal-Cave shrine route to perform the Yatra.

Those using the Pahalgam route take four days to reach the cave shrine while those taking the Baltal route reach back to the base camp the same day after having ‘Darshan’ inside the cave shrine.

The cave shrine situated 3,888 metres above sea level houses an ice stalagmite structure that wanes and waxes with the phases of the moon.

Devotees believe that the ice stalagmite structure symbolises the mythical powers of Lord Shiva.

Extensive arrangements for security have been made this year all along the nearly 300 km long Jammu-Srinagar highway, at the twin Yatra routes, at the two base camps and at the cave shrine to ensure smooth and incident-free pilgrimage.

–IANS

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Bhubaneswar, July 6 (IANS) The stage is all set for the grand annual Rath Yatra or the chariot festival of Lord Jagannath and his siblings, scheduled to begin on Sunday, in the holy coastal city of Puri in Odisha.

Hundreds of traditional carpenters and painters are busy giving finishing touches to the three huge chariots of the Lords.

“The Rath Yatra, observed on the second day of the bright fortnight of Ashadha month of the Hindu calendar every year, is the most important festival of Jagannath temple when the holy triad embarks on the annual nine-day sojourn to their birthplace, Gundicha Temple (the Yagnya Vedi or the Garden house of the Lord) around three kilometres far from the Jagannath Temple. The devotees cutting across all the sects and creeds get a glimpse of the divine siblings during the Rath Yatra,” Jagannath culture researcher, Bhaskar Mishra, told IANS.

As per the tradition, Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabadhra and Devi Subhadra fall sick after the three are bathed with 108 pitchers full of scented water during the Snan Yatra on the full moon day of the Jyeshtha month in the Hindu calendar (considered as the birthday of the Lord Jagannath).

The deities remain in seclusion and devotees are not allowed to have the darshan of the holy triad for 15 days, popularly known as the ‘Anasara’ period, when some secret rituals are performed by a particular group of servitors called ‘Daitapati’.

The holy siblings are usually offered ayurvedic herbs, fruits etc. so that they recuperate fast from fever caused due to the sacred bath. The deities after recovering fully give darshan to the devotees popularly called ‘Nava Youvan Darshan’ which is usually observed a day before the Rath Yatra.

However, this year the Nava Youvan Darshan, Netrotsav (an important ritual carried out by the priests) and Rath Yatra are falling on the same day after a gap of 53 years throwing a big challenge before the priests and the administration to complete all the rituals to ensure the pulling of chariots start by 5 p.m. on July 7.

The state government has also declared the day after Rath Yatra a holiday as the pulling of chariots will continue the next day too.

“It is a unique and rare Rath Yatra which will be celebrated for two days (July 7-8). So, a decision has been taken to declare the day after Rath Yatra as a holiday,” Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced on Tuesday.

CM Majhi during the review meeting on Rath Yatra in Puri on Tuesday sought the cooperation of all the stakeholders including servitors, district administration and the local public for smooth and hassle-free conduct of the Rath Yatra festival.

“Such a situation last occurred in 1971 around 53 years ago when Nava Youvan Darshan, Netrotsav and Rath Yatra fell on the same day. The last time the Pahandi Bije, the ceremonial procession of holy siblings along with other deities from the 12th century shrine to their respective chariots, started at 2 p.m. while the pulling of chariots started at 7 p.m. in the evening just for the sake of ritual,” senior Daitapati servitor Binayak Das Mohapatra told IANS.

“However, this time we will try hard to complete all the rituals inside the temple an hour before 1 p.m., the time fixed for the Pahandi rituals on July 7. It is also expected that more devotees will gather on Rath Yatra as they will fail to have a glimpse of the lords on Nava Youvan Darshan,” he added.

–IANS

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