The two-day Kanda mela of Pauri-Garhwal district concluded peacefully on Friday without any animal being sacrificed. This is the eighth consecutive year when no animal was ritualistically sacrificed by way of propitiating the deities at Dehalchauri temple in Srinagar tehsil.
The Kanda religious festival is celebrated every year on the occasion of Bhai Dooj with about one lakh people offering prayers at the temples dedicated to lord Shiva and Goddess Kali during Chota and Bara Kanda Mela.
The devotees from different parts of the district and from some neighbouring states visit the temple to worship the deities at the shrine to have their desires fulfilled on the occasion of the mela. On both days of the mela, devotees in large numbers reach the temple premises with their flags (called Nishan) to the beats of drums. They either pray to the deities to fulfill their wishes or thank them for fulfilling their desires.
The Srinagar Tehsil administration made proper arrangements for the religious festival and sufficient police force was deployed to ensure peace.
Talking to The Pioneer, sub- divisional magistrate Raza Abbas said that things had gone off peacefully. Srinagar police station in-charge inspector Uttam Singh, who had camped at the mela site along with SDM Srinagar Tehsil said the devotees had fully cooperated with the administration and police to maintain law and order. Nearly 50 Nishans were brought to the temples by the groups of the devotees from different villages, he added.
Singh further said that 100 security personal had been deputed in the Kanda Mela area from PAC, police and lIU.