All the main roads leading to the State Capital witnessed a surge of religious fervour as devotees of Jhanda Fair performed city circumambulation (Nagar Parikrama) on Friday. Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Harish Rawat led scores of dignitaries in extending a warm welcome to the religious procession.
An important ritual in the 339 years old history of Jhanda Fair, the Nagar Parikrama started from Guru Ram Rai Darbar Sahib in the morning was attended by thousands of the devotees who chanted Sabats (holy verse) and Kirtanas on the way. The Sangat (religious procession) was blessed by Mahant Devendra Das at Guru Ram Rai Public School, Bindal.
The procession was greeted whole heartedly by the residents of the city during the Parikrama. The holy procession was offered refreshments and garlands by the locals on the way. The procession took rests at Guru Ram Rai public schools at Bindal, Bhandaribag and Mahant’s Samadhi at lakhibag during the city Parikrama.
On reaching the clock-tower, the Sangat was welcomed by the shop owners who threw floral petals on the procession. Chief Minister Harish Rawat welcomed the procession near Prince Chowk. The CM garlanded Mahant Devendra Das and congratulated him on the sacred occasion of Jhanda Fair. From there, the Nagar Parikrama went to Shri Guru Ram Rai Public School, Bhandari Bagh taking the route of ‘lakkal Mandi’. At this place devotees were distributed the holy prasad. The Sangat then paid homage to the former Mahants at their crematorium ground located at Matawala Bagh. The Nagar Parikrama then reached to Saharanpur Chowk and then finally concluded at Darbar Sahib the sanctum sanctorum of Udaseen sect. As a precautionary measure the management committee had deployed two ambulances with a team of doctors from Mahant Indiresh hospital during the ‘Nagar Parikrama’.
The Rajpur MlA and Parliamentary Secretary Rajkumar, Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana, BJP MlA from Cant Harbans Kapoor, Senior BJP leader Anil Goyal, Puneet Mittal, Shiv Sena district President Gaurav Kumar and many prominent personalities welcomed the Sangat during the Nagar Parikrama.
Mahant Devendra Das bid a warm farewell to the Sangat and Masandas (Head of religious groups) after the procession.