Union Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma will inaugurate daylong Chandra-Bhaga Sangam Parv in Himachal Pradesh’s lahaul-Spiti district on Monday. He will be accompanied by Haryana Chief Minister Haryana Manohar lal Khattar and Himachal Pradesh’s two-time former Chief Minister and BJP leader Prem Kumar Dhumal.
Sharma himself tweeted: “To participate in the Chandra-Bhaga Sangam Mahotsav, I am on a two-day tour of Himachal from today (Sunday).”
Taking a leaf from the success of leh’s Sindhu Darshan festival, locals of the picturesque lahaul Valley have decided to hold a similar event every summer at the confluence of the Chandra and Bhaga rivers that makes for a mix of virgin nature and Buddhism.
The festival, which aims to promote unity and communal harmony in the country, is the second in the series. The main attraction of the festival includes a concert by 100 violinists and a folk dance by over 1,000 local women, besides traditional ceremonies involving Buddhist prayers by senior lamas.
It is believed that Draupadi, the wife of the five Pandavas, breathed her last near the Chandrabhaga’s confluence and her mortal remains were immersed in the river.