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| 'Charri Mubarak' leaves for Amarnath | | | Srinagar: Despite incessant rains, the holy mace of Lord Shiva today left amid chanting of Vedic hymns for the Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir to mark the ritual culmination of the annual pilgrimage.
Custodian of the 'Charri Mubarak' (mace) Mahant Deepindra Giri led a group of 'sadhus' who offered the saffron-robed mace special prayers at its abode Dashnami Akhara temple at Badshah Chowk in the heart of the city before leaving for Pahalgam around 8 am as per the scheduled programme, official sources said.
About 31 sadhus boarded a state transport corporation bus and several other private vehicles at the chowk and left for Pahalgam, where special worship would be performed before onward journey on Sunday afternoon to the 3,880m high holy cave, the sources said.
On way to Pahalgam, which serves as the traditional base camp for the annual pilgrimage, worship was performed by the accompanying Sadhus at Sureshwar temple at Sonawar, Shiv temples Pampore and Bijbehara and 'Martand-Tirth' Mattan, the sources said.
Rains failed to deter a large number of devotees from visiting the temples and joining the mace on its journey. It is scheduled to reach the holy cave on August 9, marking the conclusion of the two-month yatra.
Although the weather along the twin tracks of Baltal and Pahalgam to the shrine was cloudy with intermitten rain, pilgrim traffic was going on smoothly, the sources said.
Meanwhile, official sources said a sadhu from Uttar Pradesh died of cardiac arrest at a hospital here, raising the death toll during the pilgrimage, which commenced on June 11, to 47.
Ram Sevak Dass (45) complained of acute chest pain at Panjtarni a few days back and was immediately rushed to SMHS hospital here where he breathed his last yesterday, the sources said.
His death raised the toll during the yatra to 47. These included two muslim youths who died in separate accidents while providing services to the pilgrims to reach the cave. |
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