Amid chanting of hymns in the presence of over lakh of people and mahants of several religious math, Mahant Avaidyanath was given ‘Samadhi’ at the Gorakhnath temple near his Guru’s samadhi in Gorakhpur on Sunday.
Several BJP leaders including Vinay Katiyar, UP BJP president laxmikant Bajpai and devotees were present while the Mahant Avaidyanath was laid to rest. The rites were performed by mahants of other ashrams and maths.
Thousand of devotees from Nepal and other far flung area also thronged the Gorakhnath temple since morning to witness the Samadhi rituals and to pay their last tribute to the departed Mahant. Earlier BJP president Amit Shah was scheduled to visit Gorakhpur to pay tribute to the Mahant but was cancelled on the last moment due to bad weather.
Before the Samadhi of Mahant Avaidyanath, firebrand BJP MP from Gorakhpur and successor of Gorakshpeth Yogi Adityanath was accorded the Raj Tilak to give him the post of Pethadheshwar thus entitling him to use title of Mahant.
According to Gorakhnath temple priests, the ‘Abhishek’ of Adityanath, was performed by Mahant Yogi Chandnathji Maharaj of Haryana and Chetainathji Maharaj. Several other Mahants were also present during the abhishek function. Mahant Avaidyanath passed away on Friday after a prolonged illness. Several senior BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and senior leader lal Krishna Advani, also paid their tributes to the Mahant.