Lord Shiv’s holy mace is taken to Shankaracharya temple for puja
Days before a select group of sadhus or hermits are schedule to carry “Chhari Mubarak” to Amarnath cave-shrine for the final puja and darshan on Shravan Purnima (Raksha Bandhan) on August 22, the holy mace of Lord Shiv was on Sunday taken to Shankaracharya temple overlooking Srinagar’s famed Dal Lake for special prayers.
Mahant Deependra Giri, the custodian of “Chhari Mubarak”, who led a group of saffron clad hermits to carry it to the historic Shiva temple at a height of 1,852.16 metre, said that the prayers were held to mark “HaryaliAmavasya” (Shravan Amavasya), an important occasion in Hindu calendar, “as per the age-old customs”.
A statement issued by his camp-office here read, “The sound of a conch shell charged the whole atmosphere. Pujan was performed chanting Vedic hymn”. It said that in view of the Covid pandemic only a selected group of sadhus accompanied the holy mace and participated in the prayers that lasted for more than 90 minutes.
“Collective pra-yers were also offered for peace and prosperity of the Jammu and Kashmir state,” the statement added.
Mahant Giri said that the Chhari Mubarak will be taken to the Sharika Bhawani temple in the foothills of Hari Parbat in the heart of central Srinagar to pay obeisance to the goddess on Monday.
The annual yatra to Amarnath at a height of 3,882m in lowerHimalayas in south Kashmir which was to begin from both traditional Pahalgam and shorter Baltal routes on June 28, coinciding with Ashaad Chaturthi, also an auspicious day in Hindu calendar, and conclude on Shravan Purnima on August 22 was, however, cancelled for the second year in a row amid Covid pandemic.
But the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) made dashan, puja, hawan, and prasad rituals at the revered place of Hindu worship accessible to the devotees on the virtual mode.