‘Ashram purification after woman MLA’s visit brought rain’

KANPUR : Devotees at the Rishi Dhroom Ashram at Muskura Khurd in Hamipur district believe the heavy rainfall currently lashing Uttar Pradesh is a result of ‘purification’ of the ashram and the idol there after BJP MLA Manisha Anuragi visited the shrine for ‘darshan’ nearly three weeks ago.

The purification was undertaken as the entry of women into the ashram was prohibited, devotees and a priest said. Women are allowed to pray from the outside only at this ashram, they added. The ashram is said to date back to the Mahabharata period. Devotees believe the Pandavas had stayed at this place.

The devotees believe Rishi Dhroom gets angry with the presence of women, and his anger causes drought like conditions. Swami Dayanand, priest of the ashram, said: “We had to purify the whole place with Ganga water and carry the idol of Rishi Dhroom in a small palanquin all the way to Allahabad for a holy bath.”

“I was not around that day (July 12) or I would have told her not to go inside. She went inside due to ignorance and prayed. To uphold our tradition, we had to undertake the purification process. The entire campus was washed with Ganga water,” he said.

“The day she stepped inside, black clouds encircled (the area) but it did not rain. See, the purification has satisfied the seer and it is raining,” said Sanjay Raj Singh and Om Prakash, who went with the idol to the Sangam, confluence of the Ganga, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, in Allahabad.

“Next day, we gave Rishi Dhroom a bath at the Sangam. It (the rain) hasn’t stopped since then,” they said.

Some devotees said the region faced a drought four decades ago when a group of women performed rituals inside the temple. Since then, devotees have ensured that the practice is not repeated and if a woman has to offer prayers, she can do it standing a fair distance from the temple, said Om Prakash.

The MLA from Rath was near Muskura Khurd to distribute dresses to schoolchildren on July 12.

“People were saying so much about this temple; I became curious and wanted to pay obeisance,” said Anuragi.

“I was not aware of the tradition and local people were with me at that time,” she said.