A surge of religious fervor was witnessed during the annual ‘Nagar Parikramma’ (city circumambulation) ritual of Jhanda fair on Sunday as thousands of devotees thronged the major roads of the city.
An important ritual in the 441 years old history of Jhanda Fair, the Nagar Parikrama started from Guru Ram Rai Darbar Sahib in the morning and was attended by thousands of the devotees who chanted Sabats (holy verse) andKirtanas on the way. The Sangat (religious procession) was blessed by Mahant Devendra Das. The procession was greeted with open hearts by the residents of the city during the Parikrama.
People jostled past each other to have a glimpse of the majestic procession. They showered floral petals and chanted Bhajans as the Sangat marched forward during theParikrama. The holy procession was offered refreshments and garlands by the locals on the way.
The Nagar Parikrama is held on third day of the Jhanda fair. A sangat (devotees) numbering about 25000 devotees started the Parikrama from the historic Guru Ram Rai Darbar Sahib at 9.10 am. From here the procession reached Shri Guru Ram Rai Public School, Bindal via Saharanpur Chowk and Kanwali Road. Here the ‘Sangat’ devotees were distributed the ‘Prasadam’ of ‘roasted grams and Jaggery (Gur) ’. The ‘Nagar Parikramma’ then reached to Tilak Road and then proceeded to clock-tower via Tilak Road and Tagore Villa. On reaching the clock-tower, the Sangat was welcomed by the shop owners who threw floral petals on the procession.
Speaking on the occasion, Mahant Devendra Dass said that the ‘Sangat’ devotees from Indian and abroad reach Dehradun to be a part of the ‘Nagar Parikramma’ (City Round). He said that every year, the residents of Dehradun display a lot of affection, care and love for the ‘Sangat’ devotees.
The effect of this love is that every year the ‘Sangats’ reach in large numbers, he added.
Former Chief Minister Harish Rawat, Cant MlA Harbans Kapoor, Rajpur road MlA Khajan Das, former MlA Rajkumar and many other dignitaries were present on the occasion to welcome the majestic procession.
After the ritual of Nagar Parikramma, the process of the farewell (Vidai) of the ‘Sangats’ and ‘Masandas’ (head of sangats) started in the evening.