Kanawariyas/Bhole returns from Haridwar with holy “Ganga Jal” on Thursday in New Delhi. Kanwar Yatra is an annual pilgrimage in Hindu religion in which the devotees of Lord Shiva goes to place which has some resemblance with Lord Shiva such as Gaumukh, Gangotri and Haridwar in Uttarkhand and Sultanganj in Bihar to bring the holy waters of river Ganga or Omkareshwar and Mahakaleshwar(Ujjain) to bring the holy waters of river Narmada. Millions of participants gather chaste water from solemn rivers and carry it across hundreds of miles to dispense it in the Shiva shrine which is nearby their residence as offerings.
Kanwariyas/Bhole returns from Haridwar with holy “Ganga Jal” on Thursday in New Delhi. Millions of devotees of Lord Shiva gather to chaste water from solemn rivers in containers dangling on either side of the pole and carry it across hundreds of miles to dispense it in the Shiva shrine which is nearby their residence or specific temples such as Augarnath temple in Meerut, Kashi Vishwanath, Omakreshwar in MP, Deoghar in Jharkhand, Mahakaleshwar in Ujjain, Pura Mahadev and Baidyanath in Bihar as offerings. Kanwar Yatra has been named after Kanwar (कांवड़), A Kanwar is made up of a single pole which is usually made of bamboo with two approximately equal loads flaccid from opposite ends. The kānvar is carried by balancing the middle of the pole on one or both shoulders.
Kanwariyas proceed towards Kashiviswanath Temple at Dashashwamedh Ghat in Allahabad. The Kawariyas carry covered water-pots in Kanwars hung up across their shoulders. According to Puranas, In Treta Yuga Ravana bought virtuous water by using Kanwar and poured it on Lord Shiva’s temple in Puramahadev. The festival runs during the monsoon month Saavan, Kanwariya are mandated to travel barefooted and in saffron outfit carrying their Kanwars for 105 km by various routes and usually in groups made of family, friends and or neighbors, and return to their own local or other more prestigious and larger Shiva Temples to pour blest water on Lord Shiva\Shiv Linga.
Kanwariyas at Har Ki Pauri in Haridwar. The Kanwar pilgrimage to Haridwar, in particular, has grown to be India’s largest annual religious gathering with an estimated 12 million participants in the 2010 and 2011 events. The devotees come from the surrounding states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and some from Jharkhand, Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Heavy security measures are undertaken every year by the government and the Delhi-Haridwar national highway (National Highway 58) is diverted for the period of time when Kanwar Yatra is under process. On the march pilgrims continuously chants “Bol Bam” and sing Bhajans to praise Lord Shiva and bless them the power to complete the pilgrimage.
Faridabad: This is the beauty of Kanwar Yatra, devotees of Lord Shiva are carrying their parents on their shoulders on their journey back from Haridwar. Many people can not go to the devotional pilgrimages on their own many times their children take them to the places on their own. There is the same kind of story available in the Hindu mythologies too in which Shravan Kumar carries his blind parents (Shantnu and Gyanwati) to the “Chaar-dhaam Yatra” on his shoulders The month of Saavan is dedicated to Lord Shiva and devotees observe a fast on Mondays during the month
